The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 360

"Mr. Hayes! For Giselle's sake, let go!!"

Gideon's bloodshot pupils trembled violently.

He slowly turned his head, his gaze landing on the freezing corpse lying silently beneath the white sheet just a few feet away.

Giselle... didn't like it when he killed people.

When Giselle was little, she would cry her eyes out just seeing him bruised from training.

"Urgh... cough, cough!!"

In that exact second, the man's fingers seemingly lost all their immense power, abruptly releasing their lethal grip.

Deprived of the brutal support holding her up, Nora slid limply down the icy wall, collapsing into a heap on the unforgiving floor tiles.

Clutching her throat with both hands, she gasped greedily for air, violent, agonizing coughs tearing from her ruined throat, expelling tears and stomach acid onto the ground.

Gideon stumbled backward as if drained of his soul, his broad back crashing heavily against the opposite wall.

He stared at his hands—covered in Giselle's blood and Nora's tears—trembling uncontrollably in the air. He looked at his own bluish fingernails before sliding down the wall and collapsing onto the freezing floor.

He wrapped his arms around his head, burying his face deep into his knees. His towering, invincible spine curled into a devastating arc of absolute despair.

"Did you know... she was terrified of pain since she was a little girl...

"From that high up... how much agony she must have felt when she fell... She bled so much... and she didn't even get to say a single word to me..."

Julian completely erased every trace of emotion from his face.

He didn't spare a single glance for Gideon sobbing on the floor, nor for Nora coughing violently in a heap.

He moved his long legs, his steps remarkably heavy and staggered. With every forward motion, his breathing grew increasingly ragged.

Julian walked over to the bed and stopped.

At the edge of the mattress, peeking out from beneath the pristine white sheet, was a slender, ghastly pale hand.

Now, every single one of those plans had shattered into dust before this freezing white sheet.

Julian opened his eyes, the rims burning crimson. He lifted the ring from the velvet box.

Bowing his head, he delicately placed the glittering pink diamond ring right into the center of Giselle's icy palm.

Then, with agonizing care, he folded her fingers inward, one by one, forcing her hand to grip the ring that belonged to her.

"Giselle."

"I brought your ring. Keep it safe."

Julian leaned down, pressing his violently trembling lips against the freezing back of her hand.

"Don't worry. The people who ruined our plans... the culprit who pushed you over that edge..."

"I won't let a single one of them go."