The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 299

"Mr. Hayes!"

"Call an ambulance! Someone call 911!"

Total chaos erupted at the refinery.

Ambulance sirens tore through the city skyline, blaring all the way as they raced into the emergency bay of Metropolis Central Hospital.

The doors to the trauma bay snapped shut, a glaring red light blinking to life above them.

The hallway reeked of harsh antiseptics, wrapped in a silence so thick it was suffocating.

Nora sat on the cold plastic bench outside the emergency room like a soulless puppet.

The once-pristine white coverall she wore was completely dyed crimson with Gideon's blood. The liquid had dried and crusted on the fabric, stiff and freezing to the touch.

Her hands, cheeks, and neck were plastered in a gruesome patchwork of scarlet.

Even the diamond ring Gideon had given her just last night on her left ring finger was completely caked in thick blood, stripped entirely of its dazzling brilliance.

Uncontrollable shivers wracked Nora's entire body.

The horrific scenes from inside the ambulance on the way from the refinery played on a relentless loop in her mind.

Gideon lying lifeless on the stretcher, his chest barely rising. Blood pouring relentlessly from his body, nearly soaking through the paramedics' uniforms.

The rhythmic beeping of the monitors, the urgent shouts of the medical staff, the weak, fluttering line on the EKG—it all trapped her in a waking nightmare.

The critical condition notice handed to her by the nurse, listing clinical terms like multiple rib fractures and severe internal hemorrhaging, struck her chest like a sledgehammer.

Why?

In Gideon's eyes, she had always been a ruthless social climber who would stop at nothing to secure her status.

Throughout their desolate, three-year marriage, he had given her nothing but a cold shoulder and condescending charity. For Giselle's sake, he had callously shoved her onto the gravel at the equestrian club without even a second glance.

For Giselle's birthday party, he had allowed Julian Pierce to blackmail her by holding the livelihoods of dozens of Lawrence Atelier employees hostage.

He valued Giselle above all else. He should have taken care of himself so he could watch over the sister who couldn't survive without him.

If he died in that workshop today, who was going to protect the precious Giselle he treasured so dearly?

Why the hell did he come to save her?

If he hadn't saved her—if she had died in that facility today—he could have cleanly ended their loveless marriage. He could have found Giselle a much more suitable sister-in-law, or simply devoted the rest of his life to looking after her.