Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

The once pristine white rose petals were now marred by the dark stain of Julien's blood.

"Let's end it here."

Julien's voice was soft, yet those four words shattered Jonah's heart into fragments.

"Julien, I will not allow you to leave me!" Every muscle in Jonah's body trembled with desperation. A ferocious rage ignited in his eyes. "I know who I love. You are not a substitute for anyone! Julien, don't leave me... I cannot let you go!" Panic coursed through him.

He cried and pleaded, desperately trying to hold Julien back. Torn between gentleness and force, he was willing to accept any outcome as long as the man he adored stayed with him.

The first time it happened, Jonah had barely survived the emotional turmoil. If it happened again, it would drive him to the brink of insanity and death.

His breathing became ragged; his bloodshot eyes blazed with determination.

With open arms, Jonah moved to embrace Julien, who had been reduced to pieces. But just as he leaned in, a sharp pain shot through his left eye.

"Don't touch me!" In a moment of uncontrolled rage, Julien had grabbed another rose, dragging its thorny stem across Jonah's face.

Jonah was fortunate to have closed his eyes just in time; otherwise, that thorn could have slashed his eyeball, leaving him blinded.

Julien stared at the bloodied cut on Jonah's face, momentarily forgetting his own pain. Dazed, his hands trembled as the instinct to care for Jonah flickered within him. Yet he fought against it, forcing out the words, "Jonah, you need to go to the hospital-" Jonah couldn't be bothered about himself. A drop of blood trickled down his face. Fiercely, he pulled Julien into his arms. "Promise me, then... Don't break up with me!"

"Jonah, I admit that I still love you. But now that it has come to this, I'm unable to convince myself to stay with you."

Despite allowing Jonah to hold him, Julien's eyes were vacant. All the passion that he once had in his eyes had disappeared.

"Even if I force myself to stay in this relationship, living by your side in the future will only make me feel like I'm acting as somebody else. That initial purity of your love for me is now gone. Yet, what I want, in particular, is just that bit of purity."

As he said that, he smiled. In a throaty voice, he continued, "I really envy you and him. It was thanks to him that I was able to have such an unforgettable relationship with you. Jonah, that's enough. This is it for us..."

By the time Alyssa and Sean arrived, Julien had already left.

a forlorn shadow of

man before her was alive but resembled an empty shell, crushed and

questioned anxiously. He had been probing her the entire journey there but was unable to

for a few years when Jonah was KS Group's president.

breath, forcing herself to remain composed. "Sean, wait

He had no other option but to retreat

at Jonah's downcast expression, Alyssa welled up with tears. She walked to his side slowly, knelt down, and picked up the roses that had scattered across the floor, one at a time. When she picked up the greeting card containing Julien's heartfelt confession, she couldn't contain herself any longer.

not hold back when her loved ones were suffering! Moreover,

up such a huge commotion on such an important day was

had rattled

you are both in

have to be honest with one another physically, it's the same emotionally too. You

the fact that you were once attracted to him because of how much he resembled your ex. "You should have been frank with him much earlier on. But Jonah, you didn't. Instead, you hid

it? How could he continue to stay by your side? He's such a proud person... He's risked everything to be with you. Yet, you

like Blake... Other

alike at all..."

bitter

isn't gentle. He's capricious,

and rebellious. At times, he's

turning his life into a hopeless wreck. Gasping for breath, Jonah raced into the villa, which was cold, dark, and silent. Suddenly, memories he had buried deep surged back, overwhelming him. He gripped the hem of his shirt, struggling to steady his breathing while anguish clawed at him. Since Blake's death, he had never

Julien's name again and again as he searched every room

spotted lights flickering in the home theater. His heart raced as he

"Julien!"

sat alone on the couch, a dazed look in his eyes. Scattered around his feet were

muted. Julien was staring straight at it. Slowly,

couldn't turn the screen off. He could only block Julien's view by standing in front of him. "Uri's targeting