?Chapter 1555:


    She pointed at herself.


    “I mean, look—I survived, right? Still standing. Isn’t that enough?”


    Her chest tightened with pain. The words nearly caught in her throat. “So that’s it? We just forget it ever happened?”


    “No, that’s not it…” Eric said, panic rising. “I didn’t say anything because—”


    Hadley cut him off, her voice shaking. “Because you wanted to protect Linda, right?” A brokenugh escaped her lips, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.


    She wasughing at him… but mostly at herself.


    “Do you know how I kept myself from falling apart? Because you were always kind to me. Because you treated Joy so well, like you really care.”


    “I do!” Eric insisted, reaching for her hand.


    “I told myself—he simply didn’t know. Because if he did, he’d never stay silent.”


    Hadley pulled back, just out of reach. Her gaze, red-rimmed and unwavering, met his. “But you did know. And you chose silence.”


    “That’s not true…”


    Hadley stared at him in disbelief. “Don’t lie to me, Eric. The truth is right here, staring us both in the face. If Linda hadn’t told me, would you have kept the lie going forever?”


    Eric faltered. He tried to justify himself. “There was a reason—”


    Hadley gave a cold, bitter smile. “Then tell me—if that’s not indifference, what is it?”


    “Hadley!” His voice cracked, desperate. “I didn’t choose silence to protect Linda—it was because of Ernest!”


    “Ernest?” Hadley stared at him, stunned. The exnation rang hollow. “What does he have to do with anything?”


    Eric hesitated. The truth wasn’t his to tell. Ernest had confided in no one—not even Linda.


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    Should he break that trust?


    Observing his silence, Hadley let out a low, humorlessugh. “You won’t say, because there’s nothing to say.”


    She took a deep, exhausted breath, as if her spirit had been drained from her.


    “Hadley…” Eric reached for her again, frantic with concern.


    But she stepped away once again.


    As if struck by an invisible force, she took a single, faltering step back—her eyes shimmered, not with anger, but with a heartbreak so raw it hollowed her gaze.


    “Now I understand…”


    Eric was at a loss for words. “Understand what?” His voice cracked.


    Hadleyughed again—empty, resigned. “So what if we’re together? A part of you will always belong to Linda. Do you really think your kindness now erases my suffering?”<fn18dc> Read full story at ?ovelFind</fn18dc>


    She shot him a nce, piercing and sorrowful. “Do you think being good to me now makes up for those lost years?”


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