Chapter 110
Because I once said I loved roses. He even bought the building across from my gallery, and every day he sat in his office, staring at me from across the street.
But to me, all of it felt like a belated, meaningless act of self–admiration.”
My heart had long since withered from those three years of repeated disappointment and that final, cold exile.[
That day, as I was about to close the shop, Felix Shaw’s assistant, Henry Chen, suddenly appeared.
He looked anxious. “Miss Grant, please come see Mr. Shaw.”
“He’s been shut in his studies for three days, refusing to eat or drink, and he won’t open the door when called.“”
I packed up my supplies without expression.”
“That’s his business, not mine.”
“Miss Grant!” Henry Chen was near tears. “Mr. Shaw has been looking at your old photos and the kidnapping reports. He says he can’t remember how he lost you.””
“He says he deserves to die.“N
My hand paused.
Finally, I followed Henry Chen to the villa where I’d lived for three years. The study door was locked.”
I asked him to find a spare key and open it.”
The room was a wreck, broken bottles strewn across the floor.”
Felix lay unconscious beside the desk, his forehead feverish.@
A pile of photos lay scattered on the table.
There were pictures of me in a white dress, copying Claire Green.R
There were also reports on Claire that he’d taken from the safe.
And in the middle, a yellow newspaper lay.”
The headline read, “Police Solve Major Kidnapping Case, Ten Children Rescued.“}
I took him to the hospital.
The doctor said it was acute gastroenteritis with a high fever. Any later would have been disastrous.
He slept for a day and a night.”
When he woke up, the first thing he saw was me. It felt like a hallucination.
“Sarah?”
He struggled to sit up, but I held him gently. “Don’t move, you’re still on an IV.”
He lay back obediently, his eyes fixed on me, as if afraid I’d vanish in a moment. “You… You’re willing to see me?”
I said nothing, only handing him a peeled apple.
He took it, touched, and cautiously bit into it.”
“Sarah,” he said, eyes filling. “Let’s start over, okay?”
“I’ll give you all my shares in the Shaw Group, and even my life, if you just come back.”
I pulled out a tissue and wiped my hands.”
“Felix, I saved you not because I still love you.”
“I saved you because you risked your life to save me twenty years ago.”
“Now, we’re even.“”
I stood to leave./
But he suddenly yanked the needle from his hand, bolted upright, and hugged me tightly from behind.” Scalding tears fell on my neck. “Don’t go, Sarah, please, don’t leave me.”
He cried like a child, stripped of dignity, humbled to the ground.”
“I know I was wrong. I’m a bastard, I’m not a man! Hit me, scold me, anything, just don’t leave me.“”
“I can’t live without you.”
My body stiffened, and I let him hold me.”
My heart, however, was as still as a frozen pool, never to stir again.
“Felix,” I whispered softly, “it’s too late.”W
From then on, Felix changed completely.”
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10:39 AM p p.
“Felix,” I whispered softly, “it’s too late.”
From then on, Felix changed completely.
He was no longer the almighty CEO of the Shaw Group, but a shadow that followed me everywhere. He watched every opening and every visitor, hovered outside my studio at odd hours, and shadowed even my simplest errands, like an anxious guardian, day and night, constantly.
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