?Chapter 309:


    Despite having treated Hailee like a toy he could toss aside at will, Boris had always felt she belonged to him. No one else was supposed to touch her. No one else was supposed to have her heart.


    And just now, watching that damning video sh across the banquet hall’s massive screen, Boris was forced to relive every moment he’d shared with Hailee—each scene reying in his mind like a cruel montage. It hit him, sharp and unforgiving: in his entire twenty-six years of life, no one had ever loved him the way she had. And he doubted anyone ever would again.


    When Hailee walked into the banquet hall in that bold red gown, looking more radiant than he’d ever seen her, something inside him snapped. It was like his chest had been ripped open. He couldn’t look away. At that moment, all he wanted was to keep her right there, beside him, forever. He missed her loyalty. Her blind devotion. The way she used to put him first, always.


    But the past had slipped out of his grip. And the present refused to obey him. The woman standing in front of him wasn’t the Hailee he used to know. She had changed. She no longer loved, feared, or missed him. She hade here tonight for one reason—to end things once and for all.


    And just when Boris thought things couldn’t get worse, Merlin had arrived. One word from Merlin, and he realized it was over. Whatever hope he’d been clinging to was gone. Panic wed at him now, cold and merciless. He was losing Hailee. Losing the only person who had ever truly seen him. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.


    Still stunned by Merlin’s public deration, Hailee barely registered Boris’s outburst. Her mind went nk for a moment before she snapped instinctively, “And what does that have to do with you?”


    Boris’s heart shattered with those cold words. There was a time when everything about Hailee belonged to him—her gaze, her thoughts, her entire world had orbited around him. But now? Nothing she did, nothing she felt, had anything to do with him anymore. She refused to share even a fragment of herself.


    “Hailee!” Boris’s voice cracked as he grabbed her shoulders, desperation raw in his eyes. “Please, listen to me! I’ve made mistakes—lots of them—but don’t turn your…


    “Back like this. Don’t make a scene here. Just go back and wait for me. I swear, I’lle find you.”


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    Hailee frowned at his touch, her face twisting with disgust. She struggled to break free, but his grip was irond. No matter how much she twisted or pulled, she couldn’t escape. Just as she opened her mouth, eyes zing with fury, ready to curse him for the scumbag he was, Merlin strode over. Without hesitation, he delivered a brutal kick to Boris’s side.


    The impact sent Boris flying.


    Years ofbat training made Merlin’s strength overwhelming for a man like Boris, who had spent his life wrapped in luxury and self-indulgence.


    Boris crashed into a nearby table, sending it crashing down with a loud noise. He copsed onto the floor in a crumpled heap. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth as hey motionless, unable to rise.


    The entire room fell deathly silent, frozen in shock. Not a single guest dared move forward to help Boris.


    Bonnie, watching her grandson cough up blood, trembled in silent agony. But fear held her tongue—she dared not offend a man as powerful as Merlin.


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