The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 196

If Gideon hadn't ordered someone to slap Janie a hundred times in public at the atelier just to vent Giselle's anger...

If he hadn't used the full weight of The Hayes Group to cut off all of Lawrence Atelier's escape routes, forcing her into a dead end, she never would have willingly walked into Julian's trap like a desperate beggar.

Now he stood here, striking the triumphant pose of a ruler, lecturing her with the authority of a husband. His hypocrisy was utterly nauseating.

"There's no need to do this to yourself," Gideon said coldly.

"Regarding what happened at the atelier, you were the one who tore open Giselle's old wounds, and your assistant was the one who actually hit her. Do you have any idea how much you hurt her?"

His tone remained flat. "If you had just apologized to Giselle sooner and earned her forgiveness, I could have pretended none of it happened. The Hayes Group's funding wouldn't have been pulled, and our financial backing would have continued."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Nora's soaking-wet suit.

"And your assistant wouldn't have met such a miserable end."

If Nora would just admit her mistakes, bow her head to Giselle, and apologize for her vicious remarks about 'bloodlines' and 'adoptees,' he could immediately lift the commercial ban on Lawrence Atelier.

He could even have his assistant inject fresh capital behind the scenes, allowing the atelier to resume normal operations.

But Nora was too stubborn. She would rather beg the scheming Julian, would rather sit in the freezing rain looking like a complete wreck, than yield to Giselle for even a second.

Sitting on the steps, Nora listened to his self-righteous, entitled lecture. She didn't even have the strength left to scoff.

Apologize.

It was always about an apology.

He stared at her slender shoulders violently trembling in the freezing wind, but ultimately held back from reaching out to pull her up.

Slowly bending down, he pressed the heavy black umbrella into her freezing hands.

"I don't care why you're here today, and I don't care what underhanded methods you used to find this place."

Then, Gideon straightened up.

"For my grandfather's sake, I can pretend the last incident never happened, and I won't interfere with Julian's capital injection."

"But you'd better drop these shady little schemes of yours and stop trying to bully Giselle behind her back."

With those parting words, Gideon stepped past Nora and strode purposefully through the blue-and-white iron gates of St. Jude's Children's Home.