The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 40

She was putting on a show of absolute resolve just to catch him off guard and trigger a sense of crisis. She wanted to use this unpredictable behavior to make him panic, forcing him to track her down and ultimately apologize.

As long as he kept his cool and ignored her little performance, she would eventually run out of whatever money she had. Once she faced the brutal reality of living without the Hayes family's protection, she would quickly realize her true place.

This farce wouldn't last long.

"Stop tracking her."

Gideon tossed the blank bank statements into the trash can and issued his order to Liam.

Liam paused for a second before nodding.

"If she wants to suffer out there, let her suffer a few more days."

Gideon waved a hand, dismissing Liam from the room.

"Leave her supplementary cards active. When she's done throwing her tantrum, she'll know to swipe the card and buy a ticket home."

The office fell back into silence.

Gideon stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking down at the steel forest of the city. The traffic and crowds blurred into abstract colors below him.

He thought of Nora. For ten years, the way she looked at him was always terribly cautious, filled with an almost pathetic desperation to please.

She memorized his every preference. She remembered he hated heavy garlic and onions, and that he only drank pour-over Blue Mountain coffee.

No matter how late he came home, there was always a light left on in the living room and a perfectly warm cup of tea waiting on the table.

Her meticulous care had seeped into every corner of his life, as silent and invisible as air. He had never considered it valuable; he just assumed it was what she was supposed to do as Mrs. Hayes.

Gideon walked into the kitchen and pulled open the double-door fridge. It was completely bare. The floral arrangements Nora used to meticulously tend to in the corners of the living room had long since withered and yellowed, their dried petals scattered across the expensive rugs.

The emerald jewelry box he had carelessly tossed aside that night still sat on the coffee table.

Gideon walked over and flipped the box open. The jewels sparkled coldly under the lights. He remembered how Nora had stared at this very set at an auction preview, her eyes filled with unconcealed longing.

Yet she hadn't touched it.

Gideon snapped the box shut in irritation and threw it into a drawer. He sat down on the sofa, looking around the space that felt simultaneously familiar and alien. Every corner held traces of Nora's existence.

But now, it all felt like a hollow shell stripped of its soul.

For the first time, he realized the house was far too big.