The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 355

He raised his blood-soaked palm and gently wiped at the grime on Giselle's face, desperately trying to clean her.

But the more he wiped, the more blood seemed to appear. He couldn't wipe it away.

Giselle lay silently in his arms, offering no response.

Those eyes, always filled with a spoiled, willful smile, would never again crinkle into beautiful crescents at the sound of his voice.

"Giselle... Giselle..."

Gideon's voice was completely shattered. He pressed his cheek against her freezing forehead over and over again, letting his scalding tears and her icy blood mingle against their skin.

"Look at me... just look at me, okay? Say something to me..."

"I'm right here... I'll take you home right now. It's too cold out here, we won't stay. Giselle, please don't scare me, I'm begging you..."

By the time Nora reached the first-floor outdoor garden, panting heavily with a face as pale as a sheet, the area was already cordoned off by three deep layers of media, guests, and hotel executives.

Before the police tape could even be fully deployed, the crowd was already buzzing with vicious, pointing whispers.

Julian Pierce had also arrived. His normally gentle eyes were completely bloodshot with absolute madness. His hands shook as he tried to lunge forward, only to be forcibly restrained by the Hayes bodyguards.

Nora pushed through the crowd, taking step after step forward.

The moment the onlookers saw her, they recoiled as if she were a plague, pointing fingers and hurling malicious speculations that filled the air.

"That's her! I looked up and saw it perfectly clearly. She was standing right at the edge of the roof looking down..."

"How venomous can you be? It's the Hayes Princess's birthday tonight! Even with a massive grudge, how could she strike a fatal blow like that..."

"I heard she's held a grudge against Giselle for ages. A woman who uses any dirty trick to climb the social ladder is capable of anything."

Hearing the crowd's accusations, Julian whipped his head around.

Even during that horrific accident at The Suburban Gemstone Refinery that nearly cost him half his life, when his ribs were shattered by tons of falling stone and he was covered in blood, he had maintained absolute, chilling clarity.

This was the very first time Nora had ever seen him cry.

The first time she had seen this man—who always controlled the board, who never let a single emotion slip—completely lose his mind and break down into pieces.

Nora's heart trembled uncontrollably.

She stopped just two steps away from him, her face as pale as a sheet of paper.

"Gideon..."

She managed to drag her feet forward another half-step. Her voice was cracked and shaking, her eyes so red they looked ready to bleed. She reached out her hands, desperate to explain, to tell him exactly what had happened up on the roof.

"It wasn't me... Gideon, you have to believe me. When I got up there, she had already fallen... I didn't push her..."