Her caregiver arrived, moving swiftly to her side.

“Jane, let’s go,” Linda said cheerfully.

“Alright.”

Eric stood there, puzzled, a knot forming in his chest. What was Linda up to this time?

A servant approached quietly. “Mr. Scott, Miss Harris came to see Miss Pearson. She’s still inside.”

“Alright,” Eric replied, the unease in his chest tightening as he rushed to the room.

Inside, Hadley hadn’t moved a muscle—still locked in place, like a statue carved from ice.

“Hadley?” Eric stepped closer, concern darkening his features. His heart dropped. “What’s wrong?”

Her face had turned ghostly pale, drained of every trace of color. Read full story at find?novel.net

Her eyes were locked on him, but they were distant, glassy—like the light inside her had been extinguished.

“Hadley?” His voice quivered with worry as he reached out and took her hand. That was when he realized—her hands were ice cold, her entire body trembling.

“Are you cold?”

Instinctively, he wrapped her hands in his, trying to share his warmth.

“Is the air conditioner too strong? I’ll turn it down—”

But Hadley looked up at him then, her face expressionless, and said flatly, “You already knew.”

“What?” Eric blinked, thrown off balance.

“Don’t pretend.” A bitter smile curled her lips. “Linda was here. She told me everything.”

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For a moment, Eric stood frozen, and then realization struck—but he still couldn’t be sure.

Had Linda really told Hadley about that?

But the moment his face shifted, Hadley knew.

“So it’s true… You knew I didn’t get a single penny for four years while I was in Blathe.”

Eric stiffened.

So Linda had told her. But why?

He couldn’t wrap his head around it.

He’d kept quiet for Ernest’s sake, choosing not to expose Linda’s cruelty.

Why would Linda reveal it now? What did she hope to gain?

But now wasn’t the time for questions.

“Yes… I knew,” Eric confessed, his voice low and strained.

“So what, then?” Hadley’s eyes grew colder, but suddenly, she laughed. “You knew this whole time and still said nothing. How’d you manage that, Eric?” Her words came rapid-fire, each sharper than the last.

“Did you think it didn’t matter? That I could just get by without it?”

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