14
Noah fastened the Pearl Tear necklace around my neck, our eyes meeting in the mirror. He leaned in close, his lips brushing my ear. “My wife, you’re so beautiful,” he whispered.
I stared at the man in the mirror, a soft smile on my face.
His dark eyes, sharp and intense, reflected only me.
I wished this moment could last forever!
Just then, Noah’s phone rang.
He picked it up.”Hello?” he drawled.
Whatever he heard, his body instantly stiffened. His eyes shot to me, blazing with pure excitement.
“Luna, they found a matching kidney!”
A week later. Avalon’s most elite hospital.
My eyes fluttered open to a stark white ceiling. Next, Noah’s handsome face, tight with anxiety. His long lashes trembled, giving away his nerves.
“Luna, the surgery was a complete success! The doctors said you’ll be fully recovered after just a month in the hospital, Noah exclaimed, squeezing my hand tight.
Even with the incision throbbing, a deep warmth settled over me.
That kidney I gave to Mrs. Carter Sr.? Now, a generous donor had filled that void. I felt whole again. Finally, my life felt complete.
Bright sunlight streamed in from the window, spilling across the pristine white sheets. It felt so warm, a comforting glow that seeped deep into my bones.
For the past month, Noah had been glued to my side, never leaving. He even blew off multi-billion dollar projects, just to personally change my bandages.
The day I got discharged, the sun was shining bright.
My incision was all healed up, but Noah was still freaking out. He insisted on scooping me up bridal style.
“Luna, they say deep wounds take ages to heal, and you just had surgery. Why don’t you stay with me for a few months before going back to the beach? I have the best doctors right here. If you go back to your shop now, I’ll completely lose my mind. Please, just… don’t make me worry, okay?”
I thought about it for a second, then agreed.
Noah carried me all the way home, not letting my feet touch the ground even once.
He gently placed me on the bed, carefully tucking the covers around me, then quietly closed the door.
“Get some sleep first,” he whispered. “I’ll have dinner ready for you when wake up.”
When I first arrived in Avalon, I couldn’t get used to the local food. Noah, who’d grown up so privileged he’d never lifted a finger in his life, had spent a whole sleepless month learning cuisine from five-star chefs. Now he cooked me a new dish every single day.
I pulled the covers up tight and closed my eyes.
Outside, the spring sunshine felt so warm, and a small smile touched my lips.
ล 1301
Meanwhile, New York City was in the middle of a rainy week.
The gloomy, incessant rain just wouldn’t let up, day after day, slowly getting under everyone’s skin.
Inside the Carter Group CEO’s office, heavy black curtains sealed off the floor-to-ceiling windows. The huge office was pitch black. Only a single, dim yellow nightlight pierced the gloom.
The dim light illuminated Ethan’s grim, drawn face. He clutched his phone, knuckles white, his gaze fixed on the wedding photo on the lock screen. His cold eyes were filled with a painful, dead emptiness.
One year…
A year he’d spent searching. Still, she was nowhere to be found.
The Walker family in Avalon? His sworn enemies. A massive, public search was out of the question. Every time, he had to sneak in a dozen people, under the radar, to hunt for her, all while dodging the Walkers’ influence and their endless network of spies.
Before, he’d always thought he held all the cards, that I was the one who couldn’t live without him.
Turns out, I was ruthless enough to walk away from all the wealth and luxury, leaving him without a second thought.
Only after I walked out did he finally get it: It wasn’t me who couldn’t live without him. It was him who couldn’t live
without me.
This past year, without her, Ethan’s world had drained of all its color, turning everything to a dull, lifeless gray.
Even work felt bland and boring. He could land billion-dollar projects and get all the praise, but it didn’t hit the same. Not without her to share the win.
Heavy tears splattered down, hitting his phone screen. They landed right on her smiling face, the one in the wedding dress.
Suddenly, Ethan remembered. He’d made Chloe wear her wedding dress. He used to think she loved him so much she’d forgive anything, accept everything. That’s why he’d dared to be so brazen.
Turns out, he was dead wrong. So wrong it hurt.
A wave of grief clawed at his chest, tearing Ethan’s heart to shreds. He snatched up a liquor bottle, chugging it down.
Then another. And another.
He just wanted to numb himself. Drown the pain.
Get wasted enough… maybe he’d finally see her. Even if it was just in his dreams.
He’d lost count of the bottles. Then, the door creaked open, and a shaft of light sliced through the suffocating gloom, hitting Ethan’s tear-streaked face.
He instinctively reached for the light, his voice a raspy whisper.”Luna, is that you?”
The door was then yanked wide open. Secretary Mike stumbled in, shattering Ethan’s fragile fantasy.
Ethan scowled, irritation blazing in his eyes. “You better have something damn important.”
Mike mumbled, fumbling for words, before finally choking it out.
“Mr. Carter,” Mike blurted, his voice tight.”We found your wife.”
Ethan shot to his feet, stumbled, and nearly collapsed into the heap of empty bottles.
1001
325
“Take me to her. Now.”
Mike hesitated for a long moment. Then, he pulled out his phone, opened a photo, handed it over, and instantly dropped his gaze.
In the picture, I was in another man’s arms.
A white-hot THUMP! Ethan’s head FKing exploded.
He clenched the phone, knuckles bone-white, wanting nothing more than to shatter the screen.
Ethan’s gaze shot the man’s face slamming into his vision. A lightning bolt hit him, almost knocking him out cold.
It was… Noah?!
His arch nemesis. The guy he’d been duking it out with for years.
The air in the room instantly thickened, heavy with dread. Secretary Mike wished he could vanish into the floorboards. After a suffocating silence, Ethan’s voice finally broke through, icy and dangerous.
“Get the jet ready. I’m going. Now.”
“But, Avalon… that’s Walker family turf. You’re banned for life, sir. Permanently restricted…”
Ethan’s face was a mask of pure fury. His dark eyes practically blazed, churning with frustration and raw anger.
“Idiot! I’ll just go in under a different name, won’t I?!”
Secretary Mike got the message. He was gone in a flash.
Ethan’s hands clenched into white-knuckled fists, trembling with barely contained fury. He roared, kicking the coffee table so hard it flipped, scattering everything.
“Luna’s doing this to get back at me, that’s all. She’s only with my arch-nemesis to make me jealous, to get a rise out of me. But when she sees me again, she’ll come running back to me. I know she will.”
“Yeah, she will. She has to. She will.”
Ethan mumbled into the blackness, his voice hoarse and broken, barely above a whisper, sounding almost like a sob.
