?Chapter 1130:


    “Why don’t you just tell your boss Noah intervened? That you didn’t even get to see Sadie?”


    A woman’s voice—smooth andced with sarcasm—cut through the quiet like a scalpel.


    Both Stan and Alex flinched, their heads snapping toward the doorway.


    Hailey stepped inside with theatrical ir—oversized shades hiding half her expression, a designer mask concealing the rest. The sterile air now carried her signature fragrance, far toovish for a hospital ward.


    Recognition flickered in Stan’s eyes. His jaw tensed as he began to bark a reply. “You—”


    He didn’t get far. Two suited men, dressed like shadows, emerged behind her. They reached for him in unison—fast, deliberate, precise.


    He thrashed, but resistance only made their grip unyielding.


    He stood frozen, helpless, as a guard yanked him through the open door without a single word exchanged.


    Thud! The door mmed behind him, muting his protests in the corridor.


    A heavy stillness settled inside the room.


    Hailey lowered herself into the seat beside the mattress with effortless grace. She removed her shades, revealing narrow eyes brimming with unspoken disdain as she examined Alex. Hisplexion had gone ashen.


    “Pathetic.” Her tone was gentle, but the word stung like a de dragged across raw skin.


    “You gave your all, nearly lost your life—and for what? She didn’t even bother to visit.”


    Alex remained mute, but his stare hardened into ice.


    Unbothered by his frosty re, Hailey carried on.


    “Don’t just me Noah. If Sadie truly wanted toe, no one could have kept her away. The truth? She’s never really cared. Her heart was always his.”


    Each sentencended like a hammer to the ribs. Beneath the covers, Alex’s fingers clenched tight, the tension whitening his knuckles. His pulse throbbed in his skull.


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    “Are you done?” he muttered, his voice hoarse with restrained fury.


    Hailey gave a faint smirk, hershes fluttering in mock distress. “Justying out the facts. But if they sting, I’ll hush. Still… can you really live with that?”


    She leaned closer, her voice dipping into something sultry, tainted with allure. “Even from the sidelines, I can tell—you deserve more. You’re throwing yourself away.”


    Alex’s chest constricted. He didn’t want to believe it. How could he? Six years—he had stood by Sadie’s side without wavering. So why, the moment Noah reappeared, did all of her attention shift? Why was he—her shield, her guardian, her near-savior—suddenly irrelevant?


    Hailey saw it all in his expression. She knew he was on the edge.


    Her fingertips grazed his hand, resting softly atop his clenched fist. Her voice dropped again, smooth as velvet and just as dangerous. “Isn’t this what you’ve been hoping for? Sadie—yours alone?”


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