The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 294

She was already exhausted enough as it was. She had absolutely no desire to get dragged into the endless, toxic tug-of-war between this brother and sister.

Gideon leaving right now was honestly a massive relief.

"Alright."

Nora nodded, her voice easily snapping back into its usual calm, graceful tone. "Drive safely."

"Get some sleep. Liam is already handling the paparazzi your parents hired, so just relax at home. I'll have a driver take you to the studio tomorrow."

Dropping those final words, Gideon turned on his heel and strode out the front doors of the villa.

The aggressive roar of the Maybach engine quickly echoed through the courtyard. The sweep of the headlights flashed briefly across the living room windows before vanishing entirely into the dark.

The sprawling villa instantly returned to dead silence.

Nora turned and headed upstairs to her bedroom.

After finishing her nightly routine, she changed into soft silk pajamas and sat down at her desk.

She woke up her tablet and pulled up her work schedule.

Recently, Lawrence Atelier had miraculously survived the industry blacklist, and the capital injection from Julian Pierce had finally cleared the bank.

The studio was stabilizing, and everyone was pulling their weight. They had just secured a high-profile custom jewelry project for a massive domestic fashion brand.

This was a critical stepping stone for Lawrence Atelier to reclaim its standing in the industry, and there was zero room for error.

Nora scrolled through the screen, meticulously double-checking her itinerary for tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning, she had to personally visit the Suburban Gemstone Refinery.

Her mind kept pulling her back to that empty dessert shop—the image of Gideon bursting in, out of breath and sweating, looking at her with absolute sincerity as he wished her a happy birthday.

She slowly reached out with her right hand, plucked the heavy diamond ring from its black velvet cushion, and slid it onto the ring finger of her left hand.

The fit was flawless. The cool metal pressed against her skin, grounding her in reality.

Nora held up her left hand, letting the warm lamplight hit the sheer perfection sparkling on her finger.

She would treat these fleeting, fragile, doomed moments of warmth as stolen birthday gifts in a life completely riddled with holes.

At least this gift carried a brief, undeniable trace of her—of Nora.

When this was all finally over, she would take this ring off herself and hand the title of Mrs. Hayes back to their family for good.

Nora pulled the duvet up, tucked her left hand close against her heart, and closed her eyes.