The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 161

Gideon's footsteps faded away at the end of the corridor.

After executing exactly one hundred slaps, the bodyguards casually rolled their wrists and walked out of the studio without a shred of emotion.

A deathly silence reclaimed the room.

Janie's legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor. Her cheeks were swollen grotesquely, blood trickling from the corners of her mouth. She was in too much agony to even speak.

Nora immediately rushed over, falling to her knees. With trembling hands, she pulled Janie by the shoulders into her arms, heavy tears splashing down onto Janie's clothes.

The office was a total disaster area.

Torn sketches were scattered everywhere, trampled by chaotic footprints.

Sloane and the other employees cowered in the corners, staring in absolute terror at Nora and Janie on the floor. No one dared to step forward to help, and no one dared to make a sound.

Nora looked down at the lifeless girl in her arms, a tearing pain ripping through her chest.

It was her fault.

It was her fault for not stopping Janie.

If she had held Janie back sooner, if she had just kept her mouth shut instead of arguing with Giselle, if she had only pushed those bodyguards away harder, it wouldn't have ended like this.

Janie had only just graduated. The girl always hovered around her at work, sweetly calling her name, bringing her coffee during late nights, and diligently learning every gemstone setting technique Nora taught her.

Janie didn't understand the Hayes family's absolute power in this circle. She didn't understand the tyrannical rules of the billionaires.

She simply couldn't stand watching Nora get bullied, and she stepped up to defend her. This was her reward.

It was a long time before the silence broke.

Sloane slowly stood up from behind her desk. She looked at Janie barely clinging to consciousness, then at Nora's tear-streaked face. The terror she had felt facing Gideon was rapidly fading, replaced by panic and fury over her own future.

"Ah!"

Sloane let out a piercing scream. Stomping in her heels, she marched right up to Nora and pointed directly at her nose.

"Nora! Look at what you've done!"

"Are you two completely insane! What the hell were you thinking! That was Mr. Hayes! The CEO of the Hayes Group! And you dared to hit the heiress of the Hayes family!"

Sloane's voice pitched into an unbearable screech, warped by panic. "Arthur trusted you with this massive project, and this is how you repay him? The studio is finished, and you've doomed us all! If you want to die, fine, but why did you drag the entire studio down with you!"