The Billionaire Ex-Wife and the Beggar He Became novel Chapter 256

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"You can't choose between Winona and Felicity, can you?" Mayo asked.

"It's not a choice. Of course, he should pick Winona," Claud said without hesitation.

"Bullshit," Mayo scoffed, shooting Claud a look. "You're just a masochist. When someone is nice to you, you can't stand them. Now that she won't give you the time of day, you suddenly think she's great."

"So you're saying you don't want Julian and Winona to get back together?" Claud retorted.

Mayo fell silent. Honestly, it was easy to judge from the outside. He used to think Julian and Felicity were a match made in heaven, and Winona was just an annoying obstacle in their way. They had all wished she would just disappear. But now, after everything that had happened, he was starting to see things differently. Felicity was wonderful, brilliant, a genius architect—but what good did that do them? Winona, on the other hand, was warm, genuine, and felt more like family.

"Look… it's not my call," Mayo finally said, raising his glass to Julian. "It's Julian's life. It has nothing to do with us. Julian, whether you choose Winona or Felicity, Gallagher and I will support you."

Julian slumped onto the table, his words slurred with alcohol. "Do you guys ever feel like… like Felicity is just a carefully crafted persona? A public image? Like she's not… real?"

Claud and Mayo exchanged a look but said nothing. They had both noticed it, but neither had dared to say it out loud.

"I need a partner," Julian mumbled, "a mother for my child, someone to share my life with. Someone with all the messiness of real life, the arguments, the mistakes… not some perfect, polished facade."

He poured himself another glass and downed it in one go. That was the one that finally did him in. As he passed out, he slumped onto the table, a choked sob escaping his lips. "Winona," he whispered, "will you ever come back?"

Winona, of course, couldn't hear him. At that moment, she was just leaving the police station, where Helga, Mia, Zane, and Yves Prescott were waiting for her.