He Loves Me Right, Finally novel Chapter 197

"All set?" Adriel asked. "Anything you need help with?"

Wynette shook her head. "Nope. Everything's ready."

Calling in Adriel for something this small was overkill.

Adriel had shed the ice-king persona entirely today. He radiated warmth.

The transformation made everyone at the show who knew him do a double take.

More than a few suspected he'd been body-swapped.

Because there was no other explanation for Adriel being this gentle in front of Wynette.

Wynette.

The very woman he'd once publicly eviscerated in front of every camera in the city.

What had he said again?

He'd publicly suggested she see an eye doctor to make sure she wasn't blind.

Wynette had fired back by posting a perfect vision test result.

Adriel had immediately posted an image of a pair of eyes wearing pants.

Half the internet had pulled up a chair, grabbed snacks, and settled in for the show.

It had fizzled.

Wynette couldn't be bothered to engage with his childishness and had simply ignored him.

And now? These were the same two people?

Nobody could sense a shred of hostility. Instead, a sickening cloud of sweetness hung in the air.

That stench of love—where was it coming from?

Everyone watching was confused, and honestly, nobody wanted to dig deeper.

Adriel was here as an invited guest.

Wynette had seated him beside her parents.

She still had to do one last backstage check.

She hadn't expected to run into Noah on the way.

Noah had been discharged a few days ago.

Rumor had it that the day after he left the hospital, Adam had called a family meeting about naming a new heir.

Justin and Noah had both fought the proposal.

Adam had insisted. Rumor had it that someone from another branch in the family had reportedly seized on Noah's permanent infertility to publicly humiliate father and son.

Noah had snapped, beaten the man half to death, and triggered a full-scale family crisis.

Beyond that, Wynette neither knew the details nor wanted to.

Even if the Shepherds imploded, it had nothing to do with her.

Some news had still trickled out.

Apparently, Adam had dropped the plan to cultivate a branch-family replacement.

Why the sudden reversal? Nobody outside the family knew.

The Shepherds had locked everything down tight.

Payton's former company had registered for this fashion show.

Even though Payton and her company had crashed, Shepherd Group had taken it over.

Thus, Wynette wasn't overly surprised to run into Noah at the show.

Wynette narrowed her eyes and met his loaded stare with ice.

How could a person lack this much self-awareness?

How had she changed so completely? He could barely recognize her.

If today weren't this important—if she could afford to cause a scene at her own fashion show—

Wynette would have slapped him several times just for the gall of showing up in front of her.

The man physically revolted her.

She barely swallowed the urge and spoke again. "Get this through your head: you and I are nothing to each other. I'm with Adriel now, and a decent ex should stay exactly where they belong—six feet under and silent.

"Given how badly we burned our bridges, you should consider yourself dead to me by now. So, do us both a favor: stay in your grave and stop haunting my personal space. When I look at you, I don't feel 'nostalgia'—I just feel like I'm looking at a corpse, and it's making me sick."

With every word, what little color Noah had left drained from his face.

He was left speechless; every word and sentence dripped with her loathing for him.

Noah still couldn't understand how they'd ended up here.

Wynette had no interest in watching his belated regret or tortured-lover act.

She just wanted this disgusting man out of her life. Permanently.

What was going on with the Shepherds lately? So quiet that Noah had time to come harass her over and over.

She turned to leave.

Forget backstage. She'd just call Alice.

Running into this piece of garbage had ruined her entire mood.

Noah watched her—the disgusted look, the way she was practically sprinting away from him—and something snapped. He straightened up and reached for her arm.

He'd finally gotten her alone. No way he was letting her go.

"Noah!"

A soft, sweet voice from behind.

It stopped both of them in their tracks.