“Is Dr. Quigley in his office right now?”
The nurse nodded. “Yes, he’s in.”
Noreen said she’d go and ask Dr. Quigley for an update, then hurried out of the hospital room.
The second she stepped into the corridor, the tears she’d been holding back finally
broke free.
Afraid Rosalind might see her like this, she kept walking, head down, until she found a quiet corner away from people. Only then did she let the tears flow.
She pressed a fist to her mouth, doing her best not to make a sound.
In the adult world, breakdowns always happen in silence.
From somewhere nearby, she heard voices approaching–two people talking as they passed.
“Seth, thank you foring to see my mom today. She’s in such a better mood than thest few days. The doctor said a good mood helps her recovery.”
The woman’s voice was soft, almost yful.
Seth replied, “No need to thank me. I just spoke with Dean Grayson–he mentioned an international team of specialists will be visiting the hospital soon. He’ll see if he can get your mom on their list.”
The man’s thoughtfulness made the woman’s voice grow even warmer.
“Seth, you’re always so good to me. I don’t even know how to thank you.”
Heughed. “Silly, did I ever say I needed anything in return?”
How strange.
Noreen, who’d been on the verge of falling apart, suddenly felt… calm.
It was like someone had given her a sedative.
Or, to put it more precisely–she just felt cold, numb inside.
A businessman–someone like Seth, a dyed–in–the–wool capitalist–iming he didn’t want anything in return?
Of course, it was only because the woman was Bianca. His Bianca, the unreachable
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love he’d kept hidden in his heart for years.
For her, he was willing to give without asking for anything back.
Not just in her career–he shielded her from every storm–but in her life, too. He looked after her, doted on her, gave her everything he could.
He’d give her the world, if she asked.
“Mr. Harcourt, thank you so much for being willing to donate bone marrow for my mother.”
Eighteen–year–old Noreen had once thanked someone just as sincerely.
Back then, Seth was twenty–one. He was as cold and aloof as ever.
He looked at her with eyes that held no warmth, no emotion. “Words mean nothing, Noreen. I’m not the kind of person who does things out of the goodness of my heart, and I haven’t seen any real sincerity from you.”
Noreen, still na?ve and untouched by the world’s cruelty, tried desperately to figure
out what he meant.
In the end, face burning with shame, she began unbuttoning her blouse, one trembling button at a time.
She had nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The only thing she could offer, the only thing she thought might interest him, was her young body.
Just as her fingers reached thest button, Seth spoke up.
“Stop.”
He turned away, polite but clearly flustered–his voice sounded less icy, almost
nervous.
“That’s not what I meant.”
Embarrassed beyond words, Noreen turned her back and fumbled to button herself up again, cheeks ame!
In the end, Seth proposed another trade: she coulde work for him at Aurelion Group.
Back then, Aurelion Group was barely more than a dream. Including Seth, there
were just four people in the wholepany.
When Noreen joined as an intern, they became a team of five, squeezed into a cramped office on the top floor of a run–down apartment building.
The summers were scorching, the winters bit through your bones.
That year, Rivercrest City was hit by the worst heatwave in fifty years–more than forty days straight of over a hundred degrees.
Their attic office turned into an oven. Noreen suffered heatstroke three times.
She almost didn’t make it…
If you looked at it on paper, she’d been right there with Seth, struggling through every hardship.
Now, with Aurelion Group thriving, finally poised to reap the rewards together-
She’d been left behind.
It all made sense, didn’t it?
The first strike, after reaching safe harbor, always falls on the one you once loved.
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