Chapter 14
Suri looked at his devastated state and turned her head away, avoiding his gaze.
“Sorry, I really don’t know where she went. I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”
7
Hayes collapsed onto the couch, his heart feeling like it had been split open with a blade, the pain making even his breathing shake.
After a long silence, he finally spoke hoarsely: “If you’re selling this place, sell it to me.”
Lennox had burned everything between them to ash. This apartment was all that remained.
Suri couldn’t argue with him. In the end, she transferred the property to his name at the price Lennox had specified.
Hayes bought the apartment, then immediately had his secretary investigate Lennox’s whereabouts when he got back to the office.
He couldn’t accept that she’d just vanished into thin air. He had to find her and clear up every misunderstanding.
“Mr. Hayes!”
His secretary burst in, placing a stack of files on his desk.
“Did you find her?” A spark of hope flashed in Hayes‘ eyes, but when he saw the secretary shake his head, that light died instantly, his heart plummeting.
“I found some things. You should… see for yourself.”
The secretary’s tone was hesitant–clearly whatever he’d discovered wasn’t ordinary.
While searching for Lennox, he’d investigated everywhere she’d been–and everyone she’d contacted before leaving, accidentally uncovering these
secrets.
Hayes frowned as he grabbed the USB drive from his desk, plugging it into his computer.
The folder contained only two videos.
The first showed detention center security footage. Lennox was cornered by other inmates–some pulling her hair, others kicking her, finally shoving filth from the trash can toward her mouth.
The second video was blurrier, like street surveillance footage. Lennox was running desperately down a mountain road, several thuggish men chasing behind her…
Hayes stared at the screen, his expression darkening until he nearly crushed the mouse in his grip.
The air around him turned suffocating. He looked up at his secretary, his gaze like an ice–cold blade: “What the hell is this? How did Len end up in these situations?”
The secretary pushed over another file, his eyes showing sympathy.
“The day you sent Miss Lennox to detention, someone bribed the guards in your name, telling them to ‘take good care‘ of Miss Lennox.”
“Who?”
The secretary flipped a page, pushing forward transfer records and chat screenshots.
“Raina.”
15:20
A Billion Dollar Goodbye: Too Late for Second Chances, Mr. Ex
10.4%
Chapter 14
Hayes‘ heart clenched violently. He never imagined that during those three days in detention, Lennox had endured such inhuman treatment.
“How dare she!”
Hayes nearly ground his teeth to powder.
“Also,” the secretary continued, “I checked Miss Lennox’s call and text records from this past month. Raina sent her quite a few provocative messages.”
“And the day Miss Lennox was harassed by those thugs on the mountain, she called you. The call lasted one minute before being disconnected.”
Hearing this, Hayes suddenly remembered that morning when Raina had taken his phone, saying she needed to look something up.
He hadn’t thought much of it then, but now he realized that desperate call for help had probably been cut off by her.
Not only had he missed her plea for help, but afterward he’d blamed her for always causing trouble, never even asking what really happened.
The secretary flipped through the files page by page, laying out everything Lennox had endured during this period.
Every word on those pages was like a knife, repeatedly slicing through Hayes‘ heart.
He suddenly remembered how Lennox had grown quieter lately, no longer clinging to him like before, not even coming to him when she was wronged.
He’d thought she was finally learning to control her temper. Turns out… she’d already lost all faith in him.
Hayes‘ breathing became labored, his temples throbbing until his vision darkened.
He shot to his feet. “Get the car. We’re going to the Thorne house!”
At the Thorne’s villa, Raina sat sulking on the couch. Since the wedding fiasco, she hadn’t left the house, becoming the laughingstock of their entire
social circle.
Alaric Thorne sighed. “Do you really have to have Hayes?”
Raina’s eyes flickered.
It wasn’t that she had to have Hayes specifically.
It was just that Lennox’s fiancé was a top–tier heir, and she couldn’t stand it.
Why should Lennox get to have something she couldn’t steal for herself?
She was about to defend herself when the villa’s front door was suddenly kicked open with a thunderous crash, the door slamming against the wall and shaking dust loose.
Hayes stood silhouetted in the doorway, radiating terrifying coldness.
When Raina saw him, her eyes lit up instantly. “Hayes, did you come to-”
Her words froze in her throat under his withering stare. That look was too sharp, like ice picks stabbing into her, sending inexplicable chills down her
spine.
“Hayes, what’s… what’s wrong?”
Hayes ignored her, simply raising his hand and waving.
His bodyguards immediately filed in, quickly securing the scene.
He twisted his lips into a cold smile, his eyes growing even icier:
15:20
