The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 160

Nora watched helplessly as Janie was repeatedly struck across the face. Listening to the sharp, sickening cracks and Janie's muffled cries of agony, Nora felt her heart shatter so completely she couldn't breathe.

Janie had stood up for her, and this was the price she was paying.

Nora turned her head, her bloodshot eyes glaring at Gideon.

She had publicly exposed Giselle's scar, and now Gideon was using this barbaric punishment on her assistant. He wasn't just avenging Giselle; he was making a brutal example out of Janie.

Gideon was proving with absolute violence that crossing Giselle led to total destruction. Nora's dignity as his wife had been ground into dust by a single tear from Giselle.

Nora shoved desperately at the assistant blocking her path, tears streaming down her face.

"Stop! Tell them to stop!"

Nora begged Gideon, her voice raw and hoarse. "I'll apologize! I'll apologize to Giselle! Gideon, let her go, I'll take the blame for all of it!"

Gideon stood rooted to the spot, covering Giselle's ears and holding her tight against his chest so she wouldn't have to hear the agonizing screams.

He looked coldly at Nora, who was teetering on the edge of a total breakdown. A flicker of irritation crossed his mind, but he quickly shoved it down.

"It's too late."

One hundred slaps. That was the sentence Gideon had handed down. Until that number was reached, no amount of begging would change a thing.

As for Nora, publicly tearing open Giselle's wounds meant she wouldn't get off lightly either.

The slapping continued. Janie's face was already swelling beyond recognition. Her cries grew weaker, reduced to pained whimpers.

Gideon looked down, tightened his grip on the sobbing Giselle, and turned to leave this sickening place.

Just before he stepped through the glass doors, he paused.

Liam listened respectfully. The only reason Lawrence Atelier had secured the massive contract with Mrs. Zimmerman in the first place was because Gideon had secretly provided an invisible financial guarantee. Now, he was personally ripping that umbrella away.

Gideon glanced up toward the high-rise windows of the studio.

"Have Mrs. Zimmerman scrutinize their designs using standard corporate protocol."

Gideon's voice carried zero warmth. "Push all auditing standards to the absolute maximum level."

Stripped of financial backing and invisible guarantees, and facing extreme pressure from their client, the studio's cash flow would shatter in an instant.

And as the lead designer, Nora would be crushed under the full weight of the responsibility and the blame.

Liam closed his tablet and bowed his head.

"Understood, Mr. Hayes. I'll handle it right away."