  Recap
   “Since you have asked me to stay away from Mr Kingston, pointing out to my ‘non-fancy profile’ so that he would give chance to his potential suitress with high stature..”
Henry hissed.
“..I guess I have given enough time, but to my surprise, he still remains single. So I have decided to claim what is supposed to be MINE”
“Oh, is that arrogance, that I smell here?” Sr Kingston laced his words with venom to deflate her confidence and to show his authority over her.
“Not at all sir, I was naïve, immature, did not realise my self worth back then, now that I have grown enough sense to fight back, I may sound like that”
He raised his eyebrows at her reply.
“Now I don’t think I would bring any disgrace to Mr Kingston if I am associated with him personally and lucky enough to win his heart over, as I have proved my worth and marked my name in the corporate world in a year” she felt light after giving a befitting reply to his remarks after a year with her head held high.
   “With all due respect, I would like to take leave and let you enjoy your evening peacefully” she left then and went straight to meet the man of her dreams excitedly.
   Sr Kingston did not know that he was being eavesdropped by his grandson, said, “Passed my test with her resilience”
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Henry was extremely pissed at how ruthless his grandfather had plotted behind his back in chasing Julie off. He and his sick ways of testing people had become his obsession.
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   Finally, the mystery was solved as he got the picture of the incidents happened that day in Kingston Manor between his grandfather and Julie. While the drama was completely about him, none of them had disclosed anything about it to him. He felt betrayed, angered, cheated, disrespected by both of them. He was not bothered about his grandfather much, but Julie could have come to him, I was never unavailable to her he thought.
   Ben left the room to give Henry some privacy as he looked very upset. He walked down to find Julie near the stairs watching something on her phone. She hesitantly asked,
“Hello Mr. Ben, I.. I would like to meet Mr Kingston” she paused ” if he approves” the voice became feeble.
Though Henry had suffered because of her disappearance, Ben felt pity on her, he never disliked this girl as her intentions were never wrong. Though she ran away, it was not her mistake or done wishfully. She was manipulated and too young to comprehend the conspiracy. She fell prey to the twisted ploy that staged against her naivety. He called Henry about Julie’ request and he asked her to come. Ben said “Lounge A2”
   Ben knew the challenges she had faced, he patted her head and left. Julie finished watching the video that her friends had gifted her one more time before she climbed the stairs and knocked at his door.
   “Come in” his raspy voice kicked in all her senses and blood rushing to her body, making her feel hot. The moment she opened the door, she launched herself onto Henry, in excitement of knowing that he had never taken off her bracelet since a year.
   Henry was caught off guard by this unexpected attack. The feeling of holding him when she thought she would never meet him at all, felt heavenly. His scent hitting her nostrils had blessed her nostalgia. The serenity, the warmth, the peace that spread over her was undescribable.
   Julie looked up at his eyes, Henry’ eyes were closed and his face was tensed. She realised that he did not hug her back, it was only Julie who was holding him. She slowly unlocked her hands and took a step back as nervousness and fear crept through her mind. She shouldn’t have hugged him abruptly.
   “Sir, I am sorry!” Julie said in a low voice.
“Sorry??” Henry raised his eyebrows and gave a hollow laugh.
“Sorry for what?
For running away from me?
For not giving a thought about me?
For betraying me?
For not trusting me and have enough faith in me?
For keeping me in the dark?
For not coming to me when you had an issue?
For ignoring me all this while?
Tell me dammit for what?”
He shook her shoulders in frustration as he let out his piled up emotions.
Julie’s eyes teared up, though she did not flinch at his outrage.
“It took nearly 12 months for you to finally come out and meet me? Why did you come now?” He held her hands,
“Tell me” he asked in a pained voice.
“Did I not give you the freedom to approach me?”
   He slumped in the couch wearily. Julie did not know that her actions have troubled him so much. She slouched down to her knees, she felt weak, she looked at his bracelet, she was clueless as to why he still wears it when he was so upset with her. She stroked his bracelet ever so lightly.
   Henry noticed, “It was the gift made for me before you have decided to disappear. I respect that efforts, thoughts and love behind this gift, I would always cherish it. It reminds me of how beautiful and natural our bond was”
Julie’s heart ached.
   Henry picked up a decorative porcelain vase from the side table.
“How does it look?”
“Very beautiful” She said.
He gave it to her, while she extended her hand, he dropped it before she could grasp it. It was broken into pieces. She was stunned and looked at him alarmingly.
“This is what happened to us”
Fresh set of tears rolled down her cheeks.
“You know how much it hurts?” He tapped his heart.
   Julie could feel that he is not angry but distressed. Deep inside he was extremely disturbed and wounded. All she could see was his lonely poor little heart that has been put to test every single time when he bounce back from his previous blow. She was a coward, felt embarrassed to take such selfish decision that day without considering his feelings.
   Henry walked off to the window when he received a call from the officials for signing some documents. He called Ben, “A vase was broken in the room, settle the bill” he ended the call.
   He turned towards Julie and said, “There is after-party in the banquet Hall, see you there, I got to go now” he looked at her teary eyes and left.
Julie was too consumed in her thoughts to react. She took the broken pieces of the vase in her hand and stared at it. She was looking at the intricate details of the vase, it was lovely, she did not have the heart to leave it there, so she took it in her bag.
Chelsea called Julie and asked her to meet them in a location near the event place.
   Angela and Chelsea were thrilled when they got out and found this happening street market in the downtown. They kept walking around like crazy shoppers, once they were thirsty, they looked out for a place to sit with drinks and relax. They spotted a perfect place and asked Julie to join them. Both of them were earnestly waiting to know every detail of the iconic meeting between Mr Kingston and Julie.
   Julie came dejectedly, she shared every thing that has happened. How she gave back to Sr Kingston, which earned a hi-five from Angela, where as Chelsea was proud of her courage as she finally spoke up for her.
   After minutes of discussing about Mr Kingston’s reaction towards Julie,
Angela said,
“From his point of view, he was completely right and logical. He was not at fault, he had always respected you, which he expected the same from you. If you have gone to him that day when the old man cornered you, you both wouldn’t have suffered a whole year”
   Chelsea sighed, “Right! But she was too inferior about herself, also she did not try to know his interest towards her. She just ran away, thinking she’s doing something good to him.”
“However this one year had changed many things for you. First, you realised your own self worth and etched your name in the history. You are not a no one anymore.”
“How about your love for Mr Kingston?”she asked.
“Always the same, though he was far away, he was never out of my thoughts. He would always be my love” Julie stated.
   “Then go fight for it” Chelsea remarked.
“His eyes conveyed more than his words did. I actually broke him. The fact that knowing his childhood trauma very well, of all, I have inflicted so much pain in him just haunts me, I have always wished only for his happiness” Julie cried.
They both rubbed her back.
“He said we had a beautiful bond and I have destroyed it beyond repair” she sobbed.
“Do you think he hates you?” Angela questioned.
“I don’t know”
“If he did, he wouldn’t be wearing your bracelet still. You see, he’s hurt, deeply hurt. You said he’s broken so why don’t you fix him? Listen Julie, He did not push you away, he could have ignored you, but met you now. Also he said he will meet you in the party, what does that mean?”
“I am so incoherent, I can’t think straight” Julie sighed.
“Remember what you said last night about Lucas? what healed him?”
“Love of course” Julie said at once.
“That’s it! You got the solution for your problem”
“Act wisely” Chelsea motivated her.
   Julie felt like she saw the light finally after all the chaotic thoughts in her mind, but she is yet to find the way out to reach it. She took her bag and said,
“Girls thank you. I need some time to boot my system, here is the apartment key, I will come back soon” Julie wandered aimlessly around the streets thinking about Henry and ways to get back at him, minutes later, something caught her attention.
   She came to a halt and observed the pictures. It’s said Kintsugi Art studio. The pictures and the quotes made her curious.
   She walked inside to find the most stunning art pieces.
The lady welcomed her and said, “Do you know about Kintsugi?”
Julie shook her head.
“In Japan, it’s an art, we would mend the broken pottery with gold or silver powder, to put it back and make it stronger. It is to emphasise the beauty of imperfection and accept the flaws and embrace it.”
   Julie was amazed at this beautiful Art and the philosophy behind it, she took out the broken vase and asked if she can mend it. The lady put it back to its shape with golden patches and fixed it.
   With the repaired, beautified vase and a gleam in her eye, Julie swayed her hips and walked towards the banquet hall to pursue Her Man.
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*Who all want a double update, pls raise your hand!!
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