The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 102

If things blew up and drew the attention of Gideon or the elders, Nora would always be the one to suffer. They would pin all the blame on her, completely severing her final lifeline in this house.

Nora took a deep breath, her chest aching faintly with the heavy rise and fall of her lungs.

Her fingers quietly slipped into her trench coat pocket, relying on muscle memory to tap the screen and start recording.

Nora looked up, her gaze returning to its icy composure.

"You don't need to flaunt your triumph in front of me."

Nora stared into Giselle's eyes, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "You only ever have the guts to run over here and talk tough when nobody else is around."

"Would you dare say these things to Gideon? Would you dare tell him that you actually wish I were dead? What can you do besides playing these shady little tricks behind everyone's backs?"

She tried to provoke Giselle, hoping to get this arrogant girl to expose more of her true colors on the recording.

"Keep playing your fragile victim act. In my eyes, you're nothing but a pathetic clown begging for a man's pity."

However, Nora underestimated Giselle's malice, and how utterly fearless she was.

"A clown?"

Giselle laughed as if she had just heard the funniest joke, covering her mouth. "But they fall for it every time. Look, I only shed two tears, and Gideon was so heartbroken he chased right after me. Meanwhile, you got hot soup thrown in your face, and did anyone even cast you a second glance?"

Giselle took a step forward, closing the distance.

"Don't think just because Gideon mentioned you at the cemetery yesterday that you've secured your place in this family."

"Do you really think he wants a life with you? Stop dreaming. He just uses you as a shield. With you occupying the position of Mrs. Hayes, the old men won't force him into a business marriage, and I won't have to deal with the attitudes of other socialites."

Nora's heart painfully contracted.

"You're worse than a maid in this house. At least maids get paid. And you? You get bullied by me for free, insulted by everyone else, and you're still expected to be endlessly grateful for the title of Mrs. Hayes."

Those two words reduced her three-year marriage, and her ten years of silent longing, to absolute worthlessness.

Nora pulled her hand out of her coat pocket.

She gripped the phone in her palm. The screen was lit, the red timeline of the recording interface finally stopping.

She wouldn't throw this recording in Gideon's face now; she knew it would be useless.

Until Gideon completely saw through Giselle's true nature, any evidence she held would just be dismissed as a calculated attack.

She couldn't alert her enemy too early.

She had to wait for the perfect moment—a moment when Gideon could no longer show favoritism, and the rest of the Hayes family could no longer make excuses for her.

She wondered if, when that time came, Gideon would still think his precious Giselle was just an innocent girl who made a careless mistake.