The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 182

The minutes ticked by.

Nora took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and quickly tapped the screen.

"I accept your terms."

She hit send.

A dozen minutes later, the screen lit up again.

"Tomorrow morning at ten. See you at the Pierce Group headquarters."

The next morning, a light, persistent drizzle blanketed the city.

Janie didn't show up at the atelier that morning. She simply sent a resignation letter to Arthur's inbox and exited all the work group chats.

Arthur's assistant went to check the basement apartment Janie rented, only to find it completely emptied out. All that remained on the bedside table was a dog-eared copy of a jewelry design fundamentals textbook.

Janie was gone. She had packed her bags and quietly slipped out of the city where she had once harbored so much hope and ambition under the cover of the early morning darkness.

Before Nora left the house, she called Janie countless times, but was always met with the cold, mechanical voice of the operator stating the phone was turned off.

She had refused Nora's offer to see her off, completely severing all means of contact.

Nora's grip on her phone tightened.

She understood Janie.

Janie had every right to resent her. Anyone forced to endure such senseless collateral damage, bullied into abandoning their dreams and leaving town, would harbor resentment.

If it wasn't for Nora being the wife of Gideon in name only, Janie would still be happily sketching away in the atelier. She would never have suffered the humiliation of a hundred slaps, nor would she have had to forfeit her dreams and flee back to her hometown like a wanted criminal.

Nora slipped her phone into her purse, grabbed the prepared project files, and walked out of the villa.

She hailed a cab to the Pierce Group headquarters in the downtown business district.

There were only hurried office workers around. No men in black suits, no familiar license plates, no one stepping out to block her path.

Standing before the soaring skyscraper, Nora actually felt a fleeting sense of surprise.

Gideon hadn't made a move to stop her.

Did Gideon think Lawrence Atelier was just an ant he could crush at will, completely unworthy of starting a massive war with the Pierce family over her right now?

Or was all of Gideon's attention currently focused on comforting Giselle, leaving him no time to care about what she was doing?

Nora gave a self-mocking smirk.

Gideon was probably too busy preparing that highly anticipated birthday gala for his precious sister to care about the futile death throes of a redundant outsider like herself.

Whatever the reason, she was already standing here.

She no longer cared how that man viewed her.