Chapter 8

Nora didn’t die.

A kind sanitation worker found her on the roadside and rushed her to the hospital.

She stared at the pale white ceiling for a long time before realizing she was still alive. Still breathing.

When she regained enough strength, she asked for the worker’s bank account and promised to repay her kindness.

As she stepped out of the hospital, sore and aching from head to toe, she thought she saw two familiar figures slip past. But she was too exhausted to care. She just wanted to go home.

From a distance, she spotted her assistant pacing anxiously outside the gate. The moment he saw her, he ran over.

“Miss Bishop, thank God! I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Since you left the ball last night, a foreign number’s been calling non-stop. If we don’t respond soon, your company’s accounts are going to be frozen!”

“It’s okay. Give me the phone. “Nora took the new phone he handed her and tossed him a bank account number.

“Transfer two hundred thousand to this account. Don’t…”

“...Don’t let Mr. Penn know,” her assistant complete the sentence and nodded. “Understood. Mr. Penn won’t know a thing.”

Nora gripped the phone tightly as she stepped into the house and immediately dialed Kane’s number.

“Kane…”

The moment he heard her voice, Kane let out a sharp breath. The weight in his chest—one that had been there all night—finally lifted.

His voice trembled. “I’m two hours away from Beiridge. Nora, I need to see you the moment I arrive. Not a minute later. Not a second.”

“I’ll be there,” she whispered. Her voice was hoarse, but her heart—finally—felt a touch of warmth.

The house was too quiet. The sunroom, once filled with flowers and warmth, now sat in silence, cold and barren.

Nora didn’t pause. She went upstairs, packed the essentials and made sure Damien’s “gift” had already been sent.

Just as she was about to leave, the front door creaked open.

“Damien,” Hadley’s voice was soft, almost shy, “I know these past years have been hard on you… Going as far as getting a vasectomy just to avoid having kids with my sister… But now you’ve recovered…”

Damien chuckled. “Hadley, you’ve always been the one I wanted. You’re the only woman I’ve ever imagined having children with.”

“Let’s not talk about Nora,” his voice turned sharp. “God, even the thought of her disgusts me. I heard she’s on a business trip again. Earliest she’ll be back is for my birthday. That gives us plenty of time to get to… more important things.”

He scooped Hadley into his arms and headed upstairs.

Panicking, Nora ducked into the cabinet. Her skin was still covered in allergic welts and when her elbow hit the wood, a dull groan escaped her lips.

But they didn’t hear.

Moments later, their bedroom filled with the sounds of passion—unfiltered, loud and intimate.

Nora now knew for sure the familiar figures she saw at the hospital were them.

There had been a time she had begged Damien for a child. Timed everything just right. She’d thought he wanted one too. Thought he loved her.

She had been so stupid.

He had never wanted a child with her. Never wanted a life with her.

Nora’s eyes remained dry. She had no more tears left.

All the bitterness, all the pain—it sank deep into her chest. A hollow ache only she could feel.

Upstairs, the two lovers made no effort to hide their ecstasy.

Quietly, Nora crept downstairs.

At the door, she turned for one last look at the house—a place that held nothing of hers anymore. Not a single object. Not a single memory worth keeping.

She closed the door.

Eight years of love, betrayal and illusion—shut away behind a single click.

She didn’t look back.

From this moment on, Nora Bishop was no more.