The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 260

Bending down, she pressed her cheek near the transparent bulletproof glass.

The blueprint painstakingly detailed the cutting angles and structural load-bearing points for every single accent diamond. The legendary, long-lost classical royal pave-setting techniques were laid out right in front of her eyes.

She was completely mesmerized. Without realizing it, she lifted her bandaged hands and began tracing the phantom lines of the diagram in the air, right over the glass.

Over the recent months, drowning in commercial sketches designed solely to pander to superficial clients, she had nearly lost her original passion for design.

Standing in this vault, gazing at these centuries-old blueprints crafted purely to elevate a gemstone's ultimate beauty, she felt a fresh surge of adrenaline pump into her exhausted, burned-out heart.

Gideon didn't approach or interrupt; he simply stood quietly a few feet away.

His eyes tracked Nora's every move, watching her morph from defensive and rigid to entirely captivated.

He watched her stop in front of each antique sketch, leaning in to scrutinize the complex structural notes.

The stiff tension melted from her spine, and her usually guarded, icy eyes now shimmered with radiant brilliance.

The warm yellow lighting cascaded over her profile, wrapping her pale skin in a soft glow. The suffocating aura of defeat vanished completely, replaced by pure, undeniable passion and vitality.

Seeing her look so vibrantly alive, the corners of Gideon's lips curled up in a faint smile.

Over the past few days, he had invested serious effort into pinpointing Nora's exact tastes.

He had always assumed Nora was just another basic gold-digger who had clawed her way into his family, desperate to feed her vanity with the title of Mrs. Hayes.

But he never imagined that what Nora truly adored were these dusty, ancient blueprints and primitive tools that most outsiders would label as garbage.

Seeing the raw focus and wonder in her eyes, he felt his meticulous planning over the past few days had finally paid off.

Any problem that could be solved by throwing money and power at it was never a real inconvenience to him.

Except...

Gideon's gaze drifted away from Nora as his hand unconsciously dropped into his pocket, his fingers brushing against his personal phone.