?Chapter 1048:


    Hadley gave a soft scoff, her lips twitching with amusement. So the mask had finallye off.


    “Hadley.” Linda caught the look and flinched ever so slightly. Still, she pressed on. “I didn’t intend to interfere. But if your love for him was genuine… I wouldn’t have needed to step in. Eric deserves someone who can love him without holding back.”


    Her words came dressed in self-righteousness, but they cut like daggers.


    Hadley experienced a surge of difort but kept a steady demeanor. “You’ve quite a knack for dressing up the term ‘home-wrecker’ as something noble.”


    “You…” Linda’splexion turned ashen. “Do you even care about—”


    “That’s enough,” Hadley interrupted, raising her hand to stop Linda. “Since you’re so certain of your path, I wish you all the best with your home-wrecker ambitions.”


    Just then, the elevator chimed, its doors opening. Hadley stepped inside, her face serene and detached.


    “You’ll see,” Linda called out bitterly as the doors began to close. “Eric will never choose you. He’s destined to be with me!”


    After departing from Olisvale Bay, Eric made his way back to the hospital, lingering in the hallway outside N’s room alongside Ernest. Though N had made it clear she wanted no contact with Eric, he felt bound by his sense of duty to the family. From the day Ernest brought him back to the Flynn household and he called N his grandmother, she had held that role in his heart without question.


    In the quiet corridor, Ernest and Eric sat together on a bench.


    “Linda and Hadley stopped by earlier,” Ernest mentioned casually.


    Eric gave a slight nod. “I see.”


    Ernest’s gaze flicked toward Eric, a memory surfacing. “I’ve filled Linda in on everything. Hadley’s still in the dark, so I kept it from her.” Years before, Eric, Ernest, and Linda had narrowly escaped a life-threatening ordeal. From the moment they entered the Flynn family, they carried the weight of a shared secret—a burden that had only grown heavier. Now, that hidden truth had somehow stille to light.


    Eric’s face darkened, and he said nothing.


    Ernest let out a quiet sigh. “As for Hadley… you’ll need to deal with that yourself.”


    Eric’s past was a tangled web, tooplex to unravel quickly. If anyone deserved to hear it, it was Hadley—and it had toe from him.


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    The following morning, Eric arrived at Milnd Road at his usual time. When Hadley opened the door, she immediately noticed the exhaustion etched into his face, his eyes shadowed by dark circles.


    “Rough night?” she asked.


    Eric nodded faintly. “Yeah. Been worried about Grandma.”


    Hadley frowned, puzzled. Hadn’t the doctor said N was stable? She had visited the hospital herself, and Ernest had assured her everything was fine. Why was Eric so anxious he couldn’t sleep? Was it because of Linda?


    “Hadley,” Eric said, his voice hesitant as he took her hand. His expression was conflicted, words catching in his throat. “There’s something I need to tell you.”


    Hadley was stunned. What did he want to say? Was he going to break up with her? Had he chosen Linda after all?


    She nodded slowly. “Alright. What is it?”


    “It’s Grandma. She’s not well. We might need to push back the wedding.”


    Hadley’s heart stuttered.


    Linda’s words from the night before echoed loudly in her mind.


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