?Chapter 1349:


    The heavy ss doors shut behind her, closing off the outside world and granting a fleeting moment of relief. Cold sweat had already soaked through her back.


    Each step, each carefully chosen word, had felt like walking a tightrope, utterly exhausting.


    Yet despite it all, she had pulled it off.


    Sadie had carved out something invaluable—time and space—for both herself and Noah.


    Inside, a sales assistant weed her with a bright, professional smile. Sadie willed herself to rx, masking every flicker of emotion behind a practiced, icy exterior.


    She gestured casually at a few garments, her voice steady and unaffected. “Take these to the fitting room.”


    She shot another nce at the assistant, her tone breezy. “Also, could you grab me a pen and a piece of paper? A design idea just popped into my head. I need to jot it down.”


    The request seemed perfectly ordinary.


    After all, everyone in the design circle knew Sadie as a designer with sudden bursts of inspiration.


    Unconcerned, the assistant gathered the items without question, then gestured politely to the fitting room. “Ma’am, this way, please.” Sadie slipped inside.


    The door clicked softly behind her, sealing her in with the sharp rhythm of her breath in the confined space.


    She sagged against the door, her legs trembling, barely holding her upright.


    But Sadie knew she couldn’t afford even a second of weakness now.


    She drew in a deep breath and pushed herself toward the mirror. The woman staring back from the mirror looked ghostly pale, yet her eyes zed with fierce determination.


    Time had be her enemy now.


    She snatched the pen and scribbled a message on the paper, her trembling fingers creating crooked letters that somehow remained perfectly readable.


    The moment she finished writing, she folded the paper into a small square and swept her gaze across the room, searching for the perfect hiding ce.


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    Her eyesnded on the fitting room’s corner, where the carpet’s edge had curled up slightly.


    She dropped to her knees, peeled back the carpet’s edge with steady hands, and slipped the note beneath before smoothing everything back into ce until no evidence remained.


    With that done, she finally exhaled in relief.


    She slipped into the dress she had just bought in another store, wiped all emotion from her face like erasing a chalkboard, then pushed open the door and emerged.


    The sales assistant stood waiting, her face brightening the moment she appeared.


    Sadie’s expression soured instantly, disgust and irritation painting her features. “These are disappointing,” she dered, flinging the garments back at the assistant with icy dismissal. “I’m leaving.”


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