The Captain I Married by Chance novel Chapter 281

"I—" Aaron opened his mouth to explain, but the words caught in his throat.

He wanted to say he couldn't just be a desk doctor for the rest of his life.

He couldn't just follow the standard procedure, grinding away his youth until he was old enough to be promoted to chief or higher.

But if he said all that out loud, wouldn't he just be slapping himself in the face?

"I do love you."

Aaron tugged at his hair in agony.

"We were together for seven years, and you were the one I chose to be my wife. Why can't you just understand me a little?"

"Are you saying you planned for the heiress of the Hayes Group to be your side piece?"

Aaron's eyes darted nervously.

"I... I never said that."

"Then how were you going to marry me? How was I supposed to be your wife?"

Aaron lowered his gaze, his frustration mounting. "If I said I was going to do it, then I would have. You already waited seven years, so why couldn't you wait a few more? If I used the Hayes Group's influence to climb to a higher position before proposing, wouldn't that have made you look better, too?"

"But I don't want that."

In the past, Nora would never have discussed this so calmly with him.

But now that she had moved on, everything felt crystal clear.

She refused to live in hatred, which gave her an extraordinary sense of calm.

"We were together for seven years, and you never had a clue what I actually wanted."

If it was power, status, and money she was after, she shouldn't have waited for Aaron to climb the ranks. She should have just run back to Leonard Hayes and called him Dad.

Even if Leonard didn't have a shred of guilt left for her and her mother, that profit-driven man would have played the part of a loving father perfectly if they chose to return.

Nora would become the undisputed heiress of the Hayes Group.

They both shared the same last name, yet one was born at the very top of the pyramid while the other was forced to claw her way up from the absolute bottom. What was he supposed to do?

Any idiot would know who to choose. Was he wrong for that?

Besides, wasn't his ambition to climb the ladder ultimately for their future?

If he became the hospital director one day, wouldn't he have more time to spend with Nora, along with more money and love to give her?

"Save that speech for someone else, but don't start believing your own lies."

"When you were sleeping with Mia, I never even crossed your mind. Now you're running back here claiming you did it all for me? Don't you think that's a little pathetic?"

Aaron's face cycled through shades of pale and red.

He hadn't realized he had just spoken his inner thoughts out loud.

Nor had he expected Nora to tear through his excuses without a second of hesitation.

He looked entirely defeated, staring at her as if she were some kind of monster.