I Choose Him, Your Worst Enemy novel Chapter 157

Adam lay in the hospital bed, his face pale and tired.

Tom stood beside him, quietly trying to comfort him.

When Wynette and Adriel walked in, the tension on Adam's face ease a little.

"Oh, you're here." Adam raised his hand and waved her over.

Then he noticed Adriel standing beside her. "You came too."

"Mr. Adam." Adriel greeted him politely with a nod.

Tom had already told Adam everything. Adriel had stayed at the hospital with Wynette all night to look after him.

Adam carefully looked Adriel over for a moment. It only took him one glance to notice where the young man's attention was. Adriel's eyes followed Wynette the entire time.

The old man immediately understood.

Wynette walked up to the bed and asked softly, "Mr. Adam, how are you feeling? Is there anywhere that still hurts?"

"I'm alright. Still hanging on," Adam sighed.

Thinking about everything the family had gone through lately, he could not help taking a long, heavy breath. What a disaster!

Wynette sat beside the bed, unsure how to start the conversation.

Adam's family problems were not really something she had the place to comment on.

Adam looked at her several times, clearly wanting to say something, but he kept stopping himself.

Every now and then, his gaze drifted toward Adriel too.

Adriel naturally picked up on it. He could tell Adam wanted to speak to Wynette alone but felt uncomfortable with him there.

So Adriel acted like he noticed nothing at all. He casually dragged over a chair and sat beside Wynette.

Adam could say whatever he wanted. But asking him to leave? Yeah, that was not happening.

He wouldn't let him get what he wanted.

Wynette glanced at Adriel and could not help smiling a little.

Adam looked at the two of them before finally speaking. "About the shares I mentioned before..."

He still wanted Wynette to accept them.

Wynette rejected the idea again. "Mr. Adam, my answer hasn't changed. I'm not the right person to take Shepherd Group shares. You should leave them to someone within the family. If I accept them, it'll only create more unnecessary trouble.

"I'm a Jewell, not a Shepherd. If I get involved in your family business, people will definitely have opinions. Every family should handle its own affairs. I'm sure you understand that better than anyone."

Adam paused after hearing her honest answer.

This time, her attitude was especially firm.

Quietly, he asked, "Can't you just do this for me?"

Wynette met his eyes and gently shook her head. "I really can't."

"Then can you tell me why?" Adam asked again.

Wynette pressed her lips together and stayed silent.

She never wanted to completely tear away the last bit of peace between them.

Adam seemed to notice the change in her mood.

Since things had already come this far, Wynette decided there was no point avoiding it anymore.

After a brief silence, she slowly spoke. "Can I ask you something? Do you know someone named Dawn Ferguson?"

For the longest time, Wynette could not figure out why Justin had obediently held himself back all these years, never making a move to crush or take over her family business under Adam's watch.

Not until Lorelei sold her another piece of information that day.

But his desire to protect his family had also been real.

Giving her those shares had been a safety net from the very beginning. A way to protect the Shepherds for the day she eventually learned the truth.

By then, Wynette would already be tied to the family through shared interests. She would never turn around and seek revenge against them.

But despite all of Adam's careful planning, he never expected Justin's real goal had always been to swallow up the Jewells entirely.

And he never expected his grandson to be so indecisive, unable to hold firmly onto the person he claimed to love.

Wynette understood it all now.

Adam looked at her anxiously. "Sweetie, it's not like that," he hurriedly explained. "Justin did make mistakes, and I really did want to make up for them. But I truly cared about you. Noah was the one who never deserved you. He's the one who let you down.

"I gave you those shares willingly. It wasn't because I wanted to trap you with Shepherd Group forever. You misunderstood me."

Maybe he really had thought that way once. But as time passed, those thoughts had slowly faded.

At some point, he had genuinely wanted to make amends.

Wynette looked at him for a long moment. "Mr. Adam, you don't need to explain anymore. I won't take the shares. And I won't forgive what the Shepherds did to the Jewells either. I don't have the right to forgive them for my parents."

She slowly rose to her feet. "No one is kind to someone for no reason unless guilt is involved. And I can't accept your apology either. Please focus on recovering. I should leave now."

Now that everything had been said out loud, Wynette no longer saw any reason to stay.

The moment she stood, Adriel stood beside her without hesitation.

Adam looked panicked, wanting to explain more. But when he saw the coldness in Wynette's eyes, every word got stuck in his throat.

Deep down, he knew it too. Nothing he said now would change anything.

In the end, all he could do was watch Wynette leave with Adriel.

A heavy sigh escaped him. The rest of his life would probably be spent carrying this guilt, never truly able to let it go.