Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan) novel Chapter 3113

He set the plates down one by one. "You two go ahead and eat. I'll head back to the kitchen to prep the rest."

Estelle nodded.

Once Damian hurried off, she dropped the food into the boiling broth and focused on the meal.

When the first batch of meat was ready, she placed a piece in Xavier's bowl. "Eat."

They ate in silence for a while. When they were mostly finished, Xavier finally spoke. "I really mishandled the situation with Norah. I should have been more ruthless from the start."

She paused, chopsticks hovering over her plate. "Are all those obstacles really that insurmountable?"

He stared down at the table, refusing to answer.

Realizing there was no point in pushing, Estelle just offered one last piece of advice. "You can cut ties with her and ban her from the restaurant if you want. But whatever you do, don't force yourself to date someone you don't even like just to push her away."

He gave a curt nod. "I know what I'm doing."

A beat of silence passed before he added, his voice low, "Check on her when you have time. Help her forget about me so she can live her life."

She couldn't hide the regret in her tone. "I will. But I hope you take some time to really think this through."

Xavier just smirked, looking entirely dismissive of the warning.

*

A week slipped by. Norah continued to show up at work, though a heavy cloud of depression hung over her.

Terrified of straining the relationship between the Lamont and Hanson families, she forced herself to put on a brave face in front of her grandparents. But the moment she was alone in her room, the grief crashed over her from all sides.

Insomnia set in. There were nights when she didn't sleep a wink until dawn.

Desperate to snap her out of it, Adrian Chambers organized a Friday night out, inviting the entire department to 9th Mansion.

Adrian watched her walk away, a suffocating tightness gripping his chest.

Norah wandered out to the terrace bar, ordered a drink, and slumped into a chair by the iron railing, staring out at the city skyline.

Tall, decorative trees shielded each table, creating a quiet, dimly lit sanctuary.

She tilted her head back, looking up at the moon. Suddenly, she remembered running into Xavier here during the Mid-Autumn Festival a few years ago.

She had covered his eyes and asked him what was prettier—the moon or her.

Looking back, she really had loved him for so long.

She had never felt the time dragging on, and loving him had never felt like a chore.

Even when he gave her nothing in return, she had still been wildly happy, blindly optimistic that he would eventually fall for her.