Boss, Your Ex-Wife is Unreachable Now! novel Chapter 267

Juliette gave a wry smile. “Clear-headed? Hardly. Put me somewhere private, and I doubt I’d have handled things any better than you.”

Willow could tell Juliette was only saying that to comfort her.

She’d come over hoping to offer support, but somehow it was Lettie who ended up soothing her instead.

With a soft sigh, Willow asked, “Where do you keep your first-aid kit?”

Even though Juliette had already told her over the phone that she and Lionel hadn’t gone all the way, Willow—having been through something similar—knew just how rough and forceful a man could get under the influence of those kinds of drugs.

Even if you went along with it, you could still be left covered in bruises afterward—she knew that all too well. And Lettie had tried to fight back, so who knew what state she was in now…

Juliette caught Willow’s meaning. She reached out and pointed to the top shelf of the living room cupboard. “Up there.”

After her shower, Juliette had changed into long-sleeved pajamas and wrapped herself in a thin blanket, all to hide the marks on her skin.

Willow got up and fetched the first-aid kit, ready to tend to Juliette’s injuries.

Juliette hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Willow and asked, “Are you sure helping me won’t... bring back bad memories for you?”

She understood now, more deeply than ever, that even if the person who forced you was someone you cared about, it still left a scar. And Willow, after everything that had happened with Beasley, was already uneasy.

Juliette worried that when Willow saw the bruises and bite marks on her body, it might trigger something painful.

Willow opened the kit, took out some cotton and a soothing ointment, and offered Juliette a gentle smile. “If I said I wouldn’t think of it at all, that would be a lie. But it’s not so bad that I’ll be having nightmares tonight.”

After two months on her therapist’s medication, the nightmares had mostly faded. She could even talk to other men now without feeling on edge, as long as nobody touched her unexpectedly.

“Willow,” Juliette whispered, “do you think a man, in that state, really knows who he’s holding?”

There was curiosity in her voice, but more than that, a kind of wounded pride.

It mattered to her, deeply, that Lionel had made love to her as if she were the woman he truly loved. When she realized what was happening, she fought back, hard.

At first, before she’d resisted, Lionel had still managed to be gentle. But then, she’d heard him say her name again—not Cordelia, not any of his exes, but her childhood nickname: Letty.

No one but her parents ever called her that. Lionel knew it, too.

What did it mean?

Juliette couldn’t stop wondering, even if she was afraid of where her thoughts might lead.