Chapter 196
Chapter 196
Chapter 196
Hesper walked out of the building and finally closed her eyes, thinking back to what happened ten
minutes ago.
The moment she turned to leave, Rickard stretched out his hand to grab her. This time, he wasn’t going
to accept rejection. She tried to pull her away a few times but failed.
“Let go of me!”
“I won’t take any of that seriously, Hesper. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Rickard frowned and
calmly said, “You can’t just pin the blame on me without clearing things up.”
Hesper couldn’t put into words how much she wanted to laugh, but everything Rickard said disgusted
her, so she just stared at him coldly. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
That coldness made Rickard let go.
“Mr. Duval, Lane Holdings is going to take drastic measures, so you best be prepared.” Hesper looked
at him, her pretty hazel eyes frigid. “Don’t forget that we’re competitors. Since you did save me in Salt
City, I’ll be merciful. Don’t try to challenge my patience. I’ll let what happened three years ago slide, not
because I forgive you, but because I respect Grandpa, so I’m not going to take action. I won’t do that
again.”
Rickard shook his head while looking into her eyes. The elegant and cool person finally showed how
messed up she was.
“You’re lying. We’ve been…” There was reciprocation… wasn’t there?
Hesper raised her brows, the light of the room shining on her lashes and casting a shadow.
“It’s all fake. We’ve just been lying to each other. Mr. Duval, the next time we meet, it will be at the
bidding. I hope that Duval Group is ready.”
Hesper sat on the bed and woke Renfrew up, then opened the window halfway and called Nathaniel.
“How’s lan?”
Nathaniel’s voice was gentle and calm as ever. “Don’t worry, he’s in stable condition. You didn’t pick up
when I called you this afternoon. I thought something happened.”
Hesper was silent for a moment, then said, “If lan wakes up, please tell him I’m sorry… If I had seen
hist message that day, he wouldn’t-”
“It’s not your fault,” Nathaniel said, cutting Hesper off. “Is this all related to Mr. Duval?”
Hesper didn’t speak, so he gave her some time to think. After a long pause, he finally heard Hesper’s
voice. It sounded cold. “Was I too naive, Nate?”
If it wasn’t because of her naivety and sympathy, she wouldn’t have believed in Rickard’s lies, and
Julian wouldn’t be hurt.
She thought that Rickard wouldn’t touch her phone and wouldn’t hurt the people around her for
something as pointless as possessiveness. The truth was she was wrong, terribly wrong. Rickard was
still the same cold, selfish man, except he was better at pretending.
Nathaniel chuckled. It was very light and sounded very near as if he was next to her ear, weirdly
calming
her down.
“Naivete and having a soft heart are both good qualities. I should praise you because, after all that
you’ve
been through, you’re still a good woman. This isn’t your fault.”
Hesper lowered her head, her eyes feeling warm.