The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 187

Like a radiant blossom.

Radiant. Giselle.

Nora's pupils slowly dilated. As she stared at Julian's still-smiling face, a deafening roar erupted in her mind.

Everyone in the city knew the eldest daughter of the Hayes family was named Giselle. Gideon held her close to his heart, softly calling her Giselle over and over again.

She remembered the standoff between Julian and Gideon right in front of her at the product launch back then. He had said he had someone worth missing in the country, so of course he had to come back.

She remembered how every single time Gideon and Julian were in the same room, the air pressure would drop to a suffocating level. Every conversation they had was laced with daggers, and every clash of their eyes was filled with vicious intent.

She remembered Gideon's repeated warnings for her to stay away from Julian.

He had said, "Nora, stay away from Julian."

"He is deeply calculating. You better drop whatever inappropriate thoughts you're harboring."

Nora had thought Gideon was jealous, that he was simply defending his laughable, territorial pride as a husband.

He wasn't.

She had it all wrong.

She recalled the muffled words she hadn't quite caught outside the private room yesterday.

Gideon's threatening voice, and Julian's furious, suppressed retort.

"Stay away from her."

"Vow."

"Protect her for a lifetime."

"Visit her tomorrow."

Those words that had been distorted through the crack in the door suddenly pieced themselves together automatically in Nora's brain.

"I recall Mr. Hayes making a vow in the courtyard of the manor years ago, swearing to dedicate his life to only one person, to protect her for a lifetime."

"I didn't expect you to still get married and take a wife of equal social standing."

"How has Giselle been lately? I won The Parisian Music Box she loved so much as a kid at an auction in Paris. I was actually planning to visit her at the manor tomorrow."

Julian paused for half a second before spitting out the words.

"The Radiance."

Nora's body swayed. She had to grip the hard edge of the desk desperately with her left hand just to keep herself from collapsing miserably right in front of Julian.

The woman Julian loved.

Was Giselle.

The person Julian was in love with was actually Giselle.

The very same Giselle who caused Janie to suffer a hundred slaps, the Giselle who nearly drove Lawrence Atelier to bankruptcy. The same Giselle who hoarded all of Gideon's devotion while mercilessly trampling Nora into the dirt.

Nora stared at the man sitting across from her. Her stomach churned violently, a suffocating wave of nausea surging up her throat.

She finally understood.

She finally understood why Julian had demanded that first condition. Demanding Janie leave the industry and the city entirely—it was never about risk management, and it certainly wasn't for the benefit of Lawrence Atelier.