The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 38

Gideon ignored the report, his tone flat.

"Hasn't her father called to beg for a reconciliation?"

As far as he was concerned, a woman like Nora had zero survival skills. Leaving the Hayes villa meant her only option was to run back to her family.

The Xavier family's business was practically on life support, funded entirely by the Hayes Group. Mr. Xavier would never dare let Nora act out in public.

He fully expected the Xavier family to put Nora under strict lock and key before finding the perfect moment to humbly return her to the villa to apologize.

Liam flipped open his ledger, his expression turning serious.

"Mr. Hayes, she hasn't returned to the Xavier residence this entire month. Chairman Xavier hasn't made any calls regarding the matter either."

The relaxed line of Gideon's brow slowly pulled into a deep frown.

She didn't go home.

This fact completely defied his expectations, planting a seed of irritation in his chest. Things were slipping out of his control.

"Where did she go?"

Gideon's voice dropped several degrees.

Liam flipped to the next page.

"We had people stake out the Xavier estate, and we confirmed her car never showed up. Shall I run a trace on her vehicle's GPS and travel logs right now?"

Gideon raised a hand, stopping him. He didn't need to launch a massive manhunt for a runaway wife.

"Go to accounting. Pull the statements for all her credit cards, and get me the transaction logs for her supplementary black card."

He knew exactly how women in their circle operated. Whenever they felt wronged or upset, their favorite outlet was going on wild shopping sprees. Moving out meant she needed money for daily expenses, hotels, and food.

She had quit her job and had no income. Her family was a bottomless money pit that would never fund her. Her sole source of income was the limitless credit cards he had provided.

Gideon slammed the papers down onto the desk.

He stared at those zeros for a solid thirty seconds, the crease between his brows deepening.

This wasn't the script he had anticipated at all.

In his mind, within three days of leaving the villa, Nora should have cracked under the pressure of fending for herself.

She was supposed to take that supplementary card—which he had specifically doubled the limit on—and burn through cash on limited-edition bags and jewelry to vent her frustration.

Once she had spent enough to cool off, she would naturally find someone to pass a message, looking for an excuse to quietly crawl back.

But half a month had passed. Not only was she still gone, but she hadn't touched a dime.

For the first time, Gideon's absolute certainty began to fracture.