Chapter 233

The sharp scent of disinfectant hung heavy in the hospital air.

Nolan Reed sat in the patient room, his eyes repeatedly darting to his phone. Serena Blake was murmuring words of gratitude in her soft voice, but none registered in his mind.

"Nolan, you're so good to me," Serena suddenly reached for his sleeve.

He instinctively recoiled, an inexplicable irritation rising in his chest. Strangely, though he wanted to outright reject her, the word that left his lips was: "Yeah."

The moment he spoke, it felt like something had taken control of him.

Leaving the hospital, he texted Aria Bennett.

After an eternity of waiting, only a terse "Okay" came in reply.

Grant Mercer called unexpectedly about an international commercial shoot. He meant to decline, yet found himself agreeing.

Before takeoff, he stared at his phone screen. Aria's profile picture remained unchanged.

During the overseas shoot, signals came and went.

Each video call showed Aria looking increasingly exhausted.

"Is something wrong?" he pressed for the third time.

Aria merely shook her head. "Just tired from filming."

Serena somehow kept appearing on set, always conveniently interrupting their calls.

More disturbingly, every attempt to check on Aria's situation met with inexplicable obstacles—his laptop crashing, assistants calling in sick, network failures.

Upon returning, he went straight to the apartment.

His heart seized when he opened the door.

Aria had become gaunt, dark circles like bruises under her eyes.

"What's really going on?" He grabbed her shoulders.

She pulled away, her unfamiliar gaze chilling him to the bone.

"Let's break up," she said.

The words stabbed through his heart like knives.

He stormed out, slamming the door, only to regret it in the elevator.

When he returned, the apartment stood empty.

Grant handed him a stack of documents. "Miss Bennett has been receiving severe online harassment."

His hands trembled flipping through the vicious comments.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Grant looked uncomfortable. "Miss Bennett forbade it."

That night, he dreamed of Aria standing on a rooftop's edge, smiling back at him.

He woke to a soaked pillow.

An unexpected offer came for an international blockbuster. The director insisted on shooting in a no-signal zone.

Before departure, he sent Aria 99 messages.

None were marked as read.

Mid-shoot, Serena suddenly visited the set.

Paparazzi photos went viral overnight.

#NolanAndSerenaConfirmed trended explosively.

He immediately ordered Grant to issue a denial.

But no statement appeared.

"Book me a flight home now," he told his assistant.

Then the inexplicable happened.

Three booked flights, three cancellations.

On the fourth attempt, weather forced the plane to turn back.

At the airport, Grant met him with hesitation.

"Where's Aria?" Nolan demanded.

Grant stammered, "Miss Bennett recently—"

A call interrupted. Serena had fallen down stairs and was in emergency surgery.

He should have gone straight to Aria.

Yet his legs carried him to the parking lot against his will.

"To the hospital," he heard himself say.

In the hospital room, Serena wept dramatically.

After drinking some water, he suddenly passed out.

He woke to daylight.

One missed call—from Aria.

The callback met only endless ringing.

A tidal wave of dread crashed over him.

He rushed to the apartment, finding every room hollow.

His mother's call came then.

"Aria jumped," her voice glacial.

Under the morgue's white sheet lay the person who'd loved him most in this world.

His mother threw documents at him, each page condemning his failures—Grant's betrayal, Serena's schemes, the cruelty of cyberbullying.

The most agonizing revelation: Aria's desperate texts for help, all intercepted.

At the funeral, he was barred from entering.

Aunt Evelyn's eyes branded him a murderer.

"You'll never deserve to see her again."

He embarked on a rampage of vengeance.

He watched coldly as Grant jumped to his death.

Serena proved harder to destroy.

Approaching her made his skull feel split open.

He carved Aria's name into his arm, using pain to stay lucid.

The forces behind Serena ran deeper than imagined.

When he finally seized control of the Reed empire, news broke of several elite families collapsing overnight.

Headlines announced Serena's car accident.

Finding her in the slums, all former glamour gone:

"Nolan, save me..." Serena extended rotting hands.

He walked away to her shrieking curses.

The satisfaction of revenge evaporated instantly.

Without Aria, the world lost all color.

One dawn, he stood on the rooftop where Aria had jumped.

The wind howled like her fingers brushing his cheek.

Leaping, he smiled.

Finally, he could find her.

Eyes opening, his pillow was damp.

Sunlight streamed through the window as if nothing had changed.

But the agony in his chest confirmed—

That was no dream.