Chapter 1797:


    “Don’t burden yourself. Just live well. No matter what choice you make, I’ll respect it,” Christina said warmly.


    “Thank you, Miss Jones,” Gillian said, though gratitude like hers could never be fully put into words. By then, her decision was set. The doubts that had once torn at her had finally settled.


    At Martel Group, inside his office, Alban scrolled through his phone browsing restaurants, debating what to bring Christina and Adide for lunch, when his phone rang with a call from one of his bodyguards.


    A faint crease formed between his brows as he answered at once. “What’s going on?”


    “Ms. Torres has finished the discharge procedures and left with Miss Jones,” the bodyguard reported.


    “What? Why didn’t you inform me earlier?”


    “We only noticed Ms. Torres leaving with luggage and Adide. That’s when it became clear.”


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    “When did they leave the hospital?”


    “Just a short while ago. They should still be downstairs near the inpatient building.”


    Alban ended the call and rose sharply, his expression hardening. He rushed out of the office and nearly collided with his secretary, who was walking toward him.


    “Mr. Martel, everything for the meeting is ready, and it begins in three minutes—”


    “Postpone it until this afternoon,” Alban said, cutting him off, and hurried away while pulling out his phone to text Gillian.


    He typed quickly: “You had Adide discharged? Why didn’t you talk to me first?” Once the words appeared on the screen, he paused. The message sounded too sharp, and he worried it might hurt Gillian, so he erased it and tried to rethink his wording.


    Before he could finish, Gillian’s message came through.


    “Adide has been discharged. Don’te to the hospital again.”


    Alban stared at her message, deleted his draft, and began typing again.


    Alban typed, erased, and typed again, hesitating over every word before finally hitting send.


    “Alright. How about I take Adide out for a day of fun tomorrow? We can go together.”


    Gillian sat inside the car, Adide’s voice bubbling with excitement beside her, her own expression softened with a brightness she couldn’t quite suppress. The moment the message went out, uneasiness crept in, curling tight around her chest. She dreaded seeing Alban’s response, yet the silence unsettled her just as much.


    Her fingers hovered over her phone again and again, each check ending in quiet disappointment. Atst, the screen glowed with an iing notification. A flicker of delight sparked in her heart as she opened it without hesitation. As she read Alban’s message, a bashful smile curved her lips — she waspletely unaware that her feelings were written all over her face.


    Christina nced her way, catching the contented warmth lingering on Gillian’s features, and was convinced she had already fallen hopelessly in love. Perhaps, once the Jones and Martel families eliminated the looming threat, they would be toasting to Gillian and Alban’s marriage.


    The rift between the two families had finally been untangled. Neither side had resorted to dirty tricks — it had been the Wade and Hewitt families who ignited the feud in the first ce. Now that the truth was out in the open, both families maintained a show of hostility while quietly joining forces to bring down the Wades and Hewitts. Their strategy was already underway, and they had decided to strike first rather than wait to be hit. By the time the trap snapped shut, the Wade and Hewitt families would likely still have no idea what had hit them.


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