The Love I Begged For Was Never Real novel Chapter 41

Nora's little tantrum had dragged on far longer than he anticipated.

Pushing open the master bedroom door, he noticed a section of Nora's closet was empty. A few of her usual suitcases were gone, and the vanity was wiped completely clean—not a single bottle of skincare was left behind.

Gideon stared at the empty vanity for a moment before letting out a cold scoff.

Irritation climbed up his chest like creeping vines. He yanked at his tie, his mind involuntarily flashing back to the origins of this marriage.

From the very beginning, this marriage had been a transaction with a clear price tag.

Back then, his grandfather had laid in the ICU, using the future of the Hayes family and filial piety as leverage to force him to marry Nora.

"Gideon, the Xavier family saved our lives once. Nora is a good girl, and she is the only one fit to be the matriarch of the Hayes family. Marry her. This is my last dying wish."

He had never wanted to get married. To him, marriage was a shackle, a burden that would drain the energy he needed to protect Giselle.

He admitted that part of his reason for agreeing to the union was for Giselle's sake.

His grandfather was right. The Hayes family needed a hostess to keep up appearances, and Giselle, with her fragile health and innocent nature, shouldn't be burdened with those trivial social obligations.

If his grandfather hadn't used his own life as a threat, Gideon would have happily stayed at the family estate forever, guarding the sister who needed a lifetime of protection.

But Nora had insisted on forcing her way in.

She had chased him for seven years, and relying on that ancient favor her family had done for the Hayes, she comfortably claimed the title of Mrs. Hayes.

If Nora had a shred of self-respect, she would have called off the engagement herself, and he wouldn't have been locked into these chains. It was her one-sided obsession that forcibly tied them together.

That ungrateful woman, parading around as the Xavier heiress, had practically lived at the hospital just to suck up to the old man. Right in front of his grandfather, she had sworn with red eyes that she would take care of Gideon and be the perfect Hayes wife.

That forced, fragile smile had stabbed Gideon in the chest. It haunted him for a long time, making him feel like he had failed to protect his sister, forcing her to walk on eggshells around an outsider in her own home.

He believed he had fulfilled every obligation of a husband during their three-year marriage.

Nora wanted the title of Mrs. Hayes? He gave it to her. She wanted public dignity? He escorted her arm-in-arm to every major event.

She wanted money? He gave her a supplementary card with no limit. He never messed around with other women or kept any mistresses in the dark.

Even in business, he handed the Xavier family several highly lucrative projects, single-handedly keeping their crumbling empire afloat.

He had offered the absolute maximum sincerity a billionaire CEO could give. In this marriage, Nora had gained the wealth and status countless people could only dream of.

What else could she possibly want?