?Chapter 1084:


    Hailey exploited a favor? What on earth did that mean? An old story. One she clearly hadn’t been told.


    She wrestled the storm inside her, trying to calm down as she leveled her gaze at Jack.


    “Exin,” she said evenly, though her tone carried a sharp undercurrent. “What do you mean by ‘a favor’?”


    Jack caught the flicker of curiosity in her eyes andtched onto it as if it were hisst hope.


    He looked as though he might pledge himself right then and there.


    “Ms. Hudson, I swear—on my honor, on my life!” he said, his voice trembling with urgency. “Mr. Noel’s feelings for you are absolutely genuine. He has never, not once, wavered. As for Ms. Burgess—he only agreed to that sham of a marriage because she once saved his life. That’s it. There’s no love there, no intimacy—never has been! It was just a business deal to stabilize the Burgess Group.”


    Jack’s voice cracked with intensity. He looked as though he might drop to his knees at any second, eyes pleading with Sadie to believe.


    “All he’s ever wanted is you. And now he’s disappeared, without a word? That’s not him! Please, Ms. Hudson—doesn’t that tell you something’s wrong?”


    Jack’s desperation pounded in Sadie’s ears.


    “Ms. Hudson, please think about it!” Jack urged, his voice cracking under the weight of his fear. “You know how much Mr. Noel treasures you—do you really believe he’d just walk out of that hospital without a word? No… something’s wrong. Something had to have happened.”


    The more he spoke, the faster his heart pounded—each beatced with growing dread.


    Sadie stood perfectly still, fists clenched so tightly her knuckles had nched.


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    She didn’t respond, but her silence spoke louder than any words. Hershes quivered ever so slightly, and her lips were drawn into a tight, brittle line. She was barely holding together the storm inside her. She knew. She had always known Noah cared about her. Deeply. Fiercely.


    Sharon’s “death” had shattered what littleposure Sadie had left, and whenpounded by the pile of Noah’s lies, it sent her spiraling into a storm of obsessive thoughts she couldn’t escape.


    Years spent at her side had made Samuel the person most attuned to her moods. No one read her like he did.


    The moment her features shifted, even slightly, he caught it. Without waiting for her to say a word, he slipped out the door, already preparing to dispatch people to trace Noah’s location.


    Meanwhile, Sadie sank onto the living room sofa, her energypletely drained.


    Her thoughts were in chaos. Jack’s earlier revtions kept reying in her mind. What if something had actually happened to Noah?


    No. That couldn’t be.


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