The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 253

Gideon's dry throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. He took a step forward, stopping at the edge of the examination bed.

"What Giselle said earlier, you..."

Gideon began, his voice terribly hoarse, laced with obvious exhaustion and hesitation.

He wanted to make excuses for Giselle.

He wanted to claim that Julian had deliberately provoked her, that she was just speaking out of anger and didn't mean those vicious words.

He hoped Nora wouldn't take the insults to heart or hold a grudge against Giselle.

But before he could finish his sentence,

Nora turned her head slightly, cutting him off completely.

"Mr. Hayes, there is no need to reiterate it for my benefit."

Nora didn't even bother to lift her eyelids. Maintaining her stiff posture, she offered a weary, cynical smile.

"Every single word Giselle said was absolutely correct. I am a scheming bitch. I used every underhanded trick in the book to stay in the Hayes family, and I deliberately designed those pieces to hurt her. As for seducing you... Rest assured, Mr. Hayes, I would rather seduce a stray dog on the street than spare you a second glance."

She braced herself for Gideon's rebuttal, or his explosive anger.

In the past, the moment Nora showed even a hint of disrespect toward Giselle, or used that mocking tone, Gideon's face would darken, and he would crush her pathetic rebellion with the harshest of warnings.

All the counterattacks she had prepared, all the grievances and resentment boiling in her chest, felt utterly pathetic and ridiculous in the face of Gideon's devastated state.

He wasn't letting her sarcasm slide or abandoning his defense of Giselle because he suddenly felt bad for her. He certainly hadn't realized he was in the wrong.

He simply didn't care enough to listen.

She was sitting right in front of him—a living, breathing person who had just sustained serious injuries to stop him from making a colossal mistake. Yet, he couldn't even be bothered to decipher her sarcasm. His mind was entirely consumed by another woman's feelings.

His seemingly guilt-ridden inquiry had just been an automatic reflex. The moment he spoke, his toxic obsession with Giselle dragged his focus right back into the abyss.

Her pain, her fury, and the vile insults she had endured were completely worthless compared to his sheer panic over losing Giselle.