Chapter 8
1026words
Men who have the ability to join forces with the Sinclair family and stand against him are few and far between.
He made up an excuse of overseas investigation and flew to the seaside city renowned for its art.
In the open-air gallery on the top floor of the hotel,
from a distance, he saw me sitting in front of an easel, my long hair gently swaying in the sea breeze.
And Evan Hart, who had always avoided him like the plague, was now kneeling beside me.
Patiently cleaning my paintbrushes, his eyes full of focus and tenderness.
A surge of jealousy suddenly rose from the depths of his heart.
Adrian strode forward and grabbed my wrist, his grip so tight it made me furrow my brows.
"Mira! You've been hiding from me just to be with him? What exactly is your relationship?"
I shook off his hand, my eyes showing not the slightest ripple of emotion.
"Adrian, how is this any of your business?"
I turned to Evan Hart, my tone softening, with deliberate intimacy:
"Evan, I'm tired from sitting so long. Carry me back to the room."
Evan Hart, this man known for his cold and decisive nature in the business world, immediately responded with an indulgent "okay," effortlessly lifting me up in his arms.
When passing by Adrian, he bumped him with his shoulder, his voice frigid.
"Adrian, someone who crushes a sincere heart with his own hands should bear alone the bitter consequences of a heart pierced by countless arrows. Not come here to disturb those who have already turned to a new chapter."
Adrian watched as Evan carried me away, and for the first time, I didn't look back at him.
Only then did he realize that after he had personally destroyed the spiritual sanctuary of the Serene Gallery, I might truly never look back again.
He ordered his bodyguards to forcibly block our path, his voice carrying a hint of humility.
"Mira, come back with me! Let's talk this through properly!"
I leaned against Evan's chest, not even bothering to spare him a glance.
Evan merely gave him a cold look, and carrying me, walked straight past him.
Back at the hotel, Adrian fell into a state of irritability.
Vanessa's overseas call came in at the perfect time, complaining about his absence as she always did.
But this time, as he listened to that coquettish voice, what floated through his mind was my restrained gaze and resolute figure walking away, as well as that fleeting softness I showed in Evan's arms just now.
Once he found Vanessa's dependence gave him a sense of being needed, but now it only felt noisy and suffocating.
He clearly realized that when he saw me with another man.
The jealousy and panic that threatened to burn away his rationality, he had never felt when facing Vanessa.
Vanessa sensed his distraction and actually followed him here.
When she saw Adrian staring despondently in the direction of my room, she completely lost control.
She burst into Adrian's room, crying and screaming.
"Adrian! You've changed! Are you still thinking about that bitch Mira?"
"She's vicious and evil! Using such despicable means to steal you away from me! Why doesn't she just die!"
In the past, Adrian would have immediately stepped forward to comfort her.
But at this moment, he felt utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally.
He interrupted her, his tone unprecedentedly cold.
"Vanessa, haven't you had enough? I'm the one who's changed. I've realized that the person I love is Mira."
Vanessa stood thunderstruck, her face full of disbelief.
Adrian continued:
"This is the end for us. I'll give you compensation, enough for you to live comfortably for the rest of your life."
"Don't ever appear before Mira and me again."
"No! Adrian, you're lying to me! You said you only loved me!"
Vanessa collapsed emotionally, grabbed the knife from the table and pressed it against her throat.
"If you dare break up with me, I'll kill myself right here in front of you!"
Adrian looked at the face he once cherished so deeply, now distorted with madness.
The last trace of guilt in his heart vanished like smoke, and his tone became resolute.
"Your life is your own. If you insist on using it to threaten someone who no longer loves you, then suit yourself."
"But I will never turn back."
After saying this, he turned and left without hesitation.
Completely shutting Vanessa's desperate wails behind the door.
He knew clearly that he had lost the most precious treasure in the world.
And now, he must do whatever it takes, even if it meant humbling himself to dust, to pursue that slim possibility.
At the art auction, Adrian paid a jaw-dropping price for a Renaissance relic.
Under everyone's gaze, he walked through the crowd, knelt on one knee before me, his voice hoarse and broken.
"Mira, I was wrong. Give me one more chance, I'll do anything for you..."
Holding my champagne glass, my gaze passed over his pale face and settled on the empty space in the distance.
"Adrian, you look disgusting right now."
The surroundings instantly fell silent.
His hands holding the painting trembled violently, all his carefully prepared confessions had become a joke.
The last shred of dignity he had left was crushed to pieces by my own hands.
What I hadn't expected was that he had hired the world's top architectural restoration team.
On the ruins of Serene Gallery, he had restored that museum.
Even the ginkgo tree in the courtyard that my mother loved most had been replaced with a similar transplant.
With reddened eyes, he looked like a child waiting for praise.
"Mira, look, our home has returned..."
I calmly observed everything, then turned to instruct the lawyer beside me.
"Contact the demolition team, level it to the ground. I've already donated this land for building a children's rehabilitation center."
As the bulldozer's roar sounded, he stood frozen in place.
Watching as I personally ground his last hope into dust once more.
This time, he didn't even have the courage to question me.
