The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 279

Gideon's gaze grew unfathomable.

She had been acting completely out of character lately, treating him with nothing but coldness. She locked herself in her study pulling all-nighters to draw, refusing the sweet soup he sent up, and brushing off his revision suggestions.

After being bullied at the Pierce Group, she had attacked him with her sharpest words. At the club, she had relentlessly mocked him right to his face.

If Nora had known about the Xavier family's scheme all along, then her recent coldness, resistance, and all those hurtful words...

Were they all just calculated acts put on purely for his benefit?

Had she accurately read his recent tolerance and concessions toward her, and purposely used this game of hard-to-get to systematically lower his defenses?

And then, when his guard was completely down and he willingly accompanied her to the family dinner, she would collude with her parents to trap him right here at her birthday banquet.

If she knew, what was she after?

Did she want to use such a dirty trick to conceive a Hayes child, permanently cementing her status as Mrs. Hayes? Did she want to use the Hayes bloodline as leverage to salvage her family's failing business?

Did she want to use a child to bind him to her side forever, ensuring he could never escape this marriage?

After acting for so long, putting on that aloof, unyielding facade, resorting to every trick in the book—was this what she really wanted?

Recently, he had started reflecting on his coldness over the past three years. He had begun to feel that perhaps this dutiful wife wasn't as repulsive as he had imagined, finally managing to shift his perspective on her just a fraction.

But.

Gideon's gaze meticulously swept over Nora's face.

For a woman who buried all her emotions and could be so ruthless to herself to achieve her goals, what was stopping her from colluding with her parents to secure the Xavier business and her position as Mrs. Hayes? Slipping him spiked red wine didn't seem so impossible.

Gideon scrutinized Nora's aloof eyes, trying to spot even the slightest hint of guilt or a flaw in her expression.

Seeing her indifferent response, the temperature in his eyes dropped straight to absolute zero.

She wasn't even willing to offer him a single word of warning.

Gideon withdrew his gaze, revealing no emotion on his face.

The Xavier parents' scheme was nothing but a clownish trick in his eyes. With his current status and power, he had no reason to fear a spiked glass of red wine.

In fact, he actually thought that playing along with them and drinking it wouldn't be such a bad idea.