His Frozen Heart, Reborn To Beg My Cold Ex-Husband

Julian Hayes forced me to marry him, taking me away from my fiancé and keeping me trapped in his mansion. During our three years of marriage, I demanded a divorce every other day. The worst time, I lost my mind in a fit of rage and stabbed a kitchen knife into his right arm. The nerve damage left his hand permanently crippled. Later, my adopted sister and I were kidnapped by armed thugs. My parents and my fiancé rushed over, paid the ransom for my adopted sister, and left me behind in a collapsing warehouse. Julian was the only one who came back into the burning hell to save me. In the end, the roof caved in, crushing both of us beneath the rubble. Right before darkness took him, he whispered, "Scarlett, I'm so tired. In our next life... I'll let you go." I stared down in a daze at the signed divorce papers in my hands. "I signed it. Let's just end this cleanly." I opened my eyes, and there was Julian, tossing the papers onto the coffee table right in front of me. His eyes were pitch black and cold as ice as he turned and walked out. This was the second time I had asked for a divorce. Wait... in my past life, Julian ripped these exact papers to shreds right here. No. No, this can't happen. Panicking, I grabbed my phone and dialed his number. His voice came through the speaker, harsh and cold. "I already signed the papers. What else do you want?" Hearing that freezing tone broke my heart. That was the tone he used to reserve for strangers and women he couldn't stand. He had never spoken to me like that before. A lump formed in my throat. "Julian, I don't want a divorce anymore. Can you come home? Can we please just talk?" A bitter scoff echoed from the other end. "Scarlett Vance, you threw a tantrum wanting out. Now that I signed, you suddenly change your mind? Do you think my life is some kind of sick game to you?" With that, the line went dead. His icy rejection hit me like a physical blow. I covered my face with trembling hands and burst into tears. I curled up on the couch, waiting for him to come home. Somewhere along the way, exhaustion took over, and I drifted off. Around two in the morning, a faint click from the front door woke me. Julian was back. He glanced at me curled up on the sofa, then headed straight for the stairs without a single word. I scrambled up, rubbing my swollen eyes. "Julian, can we please talk?" His footsteps paused. When he spoke, his voice was void of all warmth. "Sorry. I'm going to sleep." He vanished into the master bedroom. I checked the clock—past 2:00 AM. I let out a shaky sigh. I would just have to try again in the morning. The next morning, I woke up at sunrise and prepared a full breakfast for him. Just as I plated the food, Julian came downstairs in a crisp suit. "Julian, breakfast is ready!" I forced a bright, hopeful smile. He glanced at the spread on the dining table, didn't stop for a second, and walked right toward the door. I rushed forward and grabbed his sleeve, my voice trembling with unshed tears. "Julian, even if you're mad at me, you still need to eat." "Please, just give me five minutes to explain." My vision blurred. A tear slipped down my cheek. Seeing me cry, Julian didn't soften at all. His gaze remained completely flat. "Scarlett, you wrote that you'd leave with nothing in the divorce agreement. But I'll give you a townhouse and plenty of cash. Just pack your bags and move out as soon as possible. There's nothing left for us to discuss." He took two steps forward, then paused without looking back. "Scarlett, in this lifetime, let's not torture each other anymore." My entire body went rigid. A violent shiver ran down my spine, and tears poured down my cheeks. He was reborn, too. Julian was really giving up on me. "It's okay," I told myself through the crushing pain. "In our last life, you carried all the weight and loved me endlessly. In this life, it's my turn to fight for you." At noon, I packed a homemade lunch and drove to his corporate headquarters. Right at the entrance, I ran into his assistant, Mark, who apparently hadn't heard about our divorce yet. He smiled warmly and escorted me straight up to the executive floor. I pushed open the heavy office doors, only to freeze in my tracks. Julian was sitting on the leather sofa, having lunch with Nicole Vance, a junior colleague from his alma mater. He was listening to her ask work questions with a gentle, patient expression I hadn't seen in forever. The moment he saw me, the warmth on his face vanished, replaced by sheer disgust. "What are you doing here?"Seeing the stark contrast in how he looked at her versus me made my chest ache. "Julian, even if you're trying to punish me, you don't have to bring another woman into your office just to spite me." Nicole looked caught off guard, her face flushing with awkward embarrassment. Julian softened his tone as he turned to her. "Nicole, give us a minute. Wait outside." Once the door clicked shut, I cleared away the takeout boxes they had barely touched and neatly arranged the dishes I made on his desk. "Julian, come eat. It's my first time cooking for you. Don't I have talent?" I looked at him, desperate for a shred of approval. Julian stared darkly at the spicy, heavily seasoned food, a cold smirk touching his lips. "Scarlett, are you sure you want me to eat this?" I nodded eagerly, my eyes shining with hope. Without saying another word, Julian picked up his fork and began eating in silence. Halfway through the meal, his face turned chalk-white. Fine beads of cold sweat broke out across his forehead. Panicking, I grabbed his wrist to stop him. "Julian! What's wrong?" Julian looked up at me with a hollow, mocking smile. "Scarlett, are you satisfied now?" My eyes widened in horror as reality hit me like a slap to the face. Right. In our past life, I fought with him constantly and demanded a divorce every week. While running a multi-billion-dollar empire, he spent every spare second managing my meltdowns. He had barely eaten a proper meal in three years. He had developed severe chronic stomach ulcers. The slightest bit of spice triggered unbearable, agonizing spasms. Watching the color drain from his lips, I tried to pull him to his feet in a panic. "Julian, I'm taking you to the ER right now!" He shoved my hands away with surprising force. "Save the fake tears. What, do you think the settlement money isn't enough?" I twisted my fingers together, choking back a sob. "No... I swear, I just didn't know. It was my first time cooking..." Back then, he was the one who cooked every single meal. But I always sneered, flipped the plates, or refused to touch a bite. And if I didn't eat, I wouldn't let him eat either. I had been such a monster. Julian dialed Mark, who rushed in and drove him to the hospital. I followed right behind them, sick with worry. Nicole showed up shortly after. When the doctor finally emerged from the examination room, his face was storm-dark. "With gastric ulcers this severe, who fed him spicy food? Are you people trying to kill him?" I shrank back, guilt suffocating me. Nicole whipped around, glaring at me with raw hatred. "Scarlett, what is wrong with you?! Are you not going to stop until you literally kill him?" Embarrassment and guilt made me lash out defensively. "He's an adult! If he can't eat spicy food, why didn't he just say so? He chose to eat it!" The words had barely left my mouth when I saw Julian walking out behind the doctor. His face was ghostly pale, his dark eyes chillingly hollow. He had heard every word. A flicker of cold amusement crossed his gaze. "Scarlett, can you just disappear from my life?" "I'm letting you go. Please, let me go too." Without waiting for an answer, he let Nicole support him by the arm as they walked toward his private suite. Julian stayed in the hospital for an entire week. Every single time I tried to visit, Mark blocked me at the door on Julian's strict orders. One afternoon, I sat in the living room sketching jewelry designs, trying to pick up my old passion. The front door opened, and Julian walked in, Nicole right behind him. "Wait downstairs," Julian told her casually. "I'll grab the contract files, and we'll head back to the office." He didn't even spare me a glance before heading up the stairs. Nicole stepped forward, a smug, venomous smirk on her lips. "Scarlett, you're already divorced. Sticking around like an unwanted stray is pretty pathetic, don't you think?" I rolled my eyes and kept my voice icy. "None of your damn business." Her lips curved into a twisted grin. "Tell me... do you think Julian will still defend you unconditionally like he used to?" Before I could process what she meant, she snatched my drafting pencil off the table and jammed the sharp graphite point straight into her own palm. "Ahhh!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs, shoved me hard against a decorative side table, and knocked over a massive ceramic vase. The vase shattered into jagged pieces across the hardwood. My hands slammed down directly into the razor-sharp porcelain shards. Blood welled up instantly, staining the white ceramic bright red. Heavy footsteps pounded down the stairs. Julian rushed down, taking in the bloody scene. When his eyes landed on Nicole's bleeding hand, he whipped his head toward me, fury burning in his gaze. "Scarlett! What is wrong with you?!"My chest tightened with raw agony, but I forced myself to speak. "Julian, I didn't touch her! She did it to herself!" Nicole was already sobbing hysterically, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Julian, it's my fault... I said something wrong and upset her. Please don't be mad at her..." Julian turned on me, his jaw clenched tight. "Scarlett, after everything, you're still the same spoiled, violent brat! You attack people the second you don't get your way!" I bit down hard on my lower lip, my vision swimming. "Julian... is that really who I am to you?" Julian let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "Isn't that exactly who you've always been?" The words cut deeper than any knife. I couldn't take it anymore. "Shut up, Julian! You know damn well who she is! Don't act like you're blind! Why are you blaming me?!" "Scarlett, did you honestly think I would protect you unconditionally like I did in our past life?" The tears spilled over, hot and bitter. "Julian... look at my hands! I'm bleeding too!" I held up my hands, shredded and dripping crimson onto the floor. His expression didn't waver. He looked at my bloody palms with pure indifference. "You brought that on yourself." I completely lost it, screaming, "Julian Hayes, come back here! Apologize to me!" He didn't turn around. He wrapped his arm around Nicole's trembling shoulders and led her out the door, offering only a cold, dismissive glance over his shoulder. I bit my lip until I tasted copper. "Julian... in our past life, you could see through cheap tricks like that in a heartbeat..." That evening, Julian returned to the villa alone. Seeing me still sitting on the couch with bandaged hands, he did something unusual—he walked straight over to me. A small, hopeful smile touched my lips, but before I could utter a word, his deep voice cut through the silence. "Scarlett, pack your things. You're moving out tomorrow." I scrambled to my feet, hurt and indignant. "Just because Nicole got hurt, you're kicking me out?!" "We're divorced! Living separately is standard procedure, isn't it?" Perhaps I had been spoiled too much by his fierce, suffocating devotion in our previous life, because I snapped. "Julian! I told you I don't agree to this divorce! Can't you give me a single chance to make things right?!" Julian stared at my outburst, his eyes gleaming with biting mockery. "Make things right? Where was this remorse before, Scarlett?" He leaned in, his voice dripping with venom. "What? Did you finally realize your beloved fiancé and your precious parents never gave a damn about you? Is that why you're clinging to me like a leech?" My breath hitched. The air was knocked clean out of my lungs. I never imagined Julian could say something so cruel to me. He knew. He knew how brutally they had destroyed me. In my past life, my fiancé, Liam Carter, had pretended to love me while sleeping with my adopted sister, Chloe, behind my back. Even my own parents favored Chloe over me. She was just the orphaned daughter of their late friend, taken in out of charity. Yet slowly, she stole my family, my fiancé, and my life. The kidnapping in our past life was staged by Chloe herself. She just didn't expect the rickety warehouse to actually collapse on top of us. My eyes burned, my throat tight with tears. "Julian... how could you say that to me?" "Am I wrong? Scarlett, who else would ever want you now?" Leaving those words hanging in the air, he grabbed his keys and slammed the front door shut behind him. A choked sob tore from my throat. "You liar. You told me in our past life that you would stay by my side forever." "How can you throw me away like garbage now?" "You absolute liar!" Furious and heartbroken, I stormed upstairs and threw my clothes into a suitcase. If he didn't want me, fine! I didn't want him either! I dragged my suitcase out the front gates and marched into the chilly night air. But anger is the worst advisor. After wandering the empty streets for hours, shivering in the cold, I found myself standing back in front of the villa gates at three in the morning, dragging my heavy luggage behind me. Julian probably didn't even know I had packed up and left. I lifted my trembling hand and punched the passcode into the digital lock. "Beep. Error." I froze. I carefully entered the numbers again, one by one. "Beep. Passcode Incorrect." He changed the code? The moment I walked out, he wiped my access? I pulled out my phone and dialed his number. "The number you have dialed is currently unavailable." He blocked me. Desperation clawed at my chest. I pounded on the heavy wooden door with my fists, screaming his name into the night. "Julian! Julian, open the door!" After what felt like an eternity, the door clicked open. Julian stood in the entryway, looking down at me with utter irritation. I sniffled, my voice small and pathetic. "Julian... why did you change the code?" "Was my message not clear enough?" Julian's lips curled into a cold, derisive sneer. "Nowhere else to go, Scarlett? So you came crawling back, shamelessly begging at my door?" "Julian, stop talking to me like that!" "I know I was wrong before," I pleaded, tears streaming down my face. "I know I hurt you. But I truly regret it! Why won't you give me one single chance to make it up to you?" Julian let out a low, humorless laugh, a wave of profound sorrow flashing beneath his dark eyes. "Scarlett, who gave you the right to think a casual 'I'm sorry' entitles you to my forgiveness?" His gaze pierced straight through my soul. "In our past life... did you ever give me a single chance?"