?


    Dailey seemed oblivious to the shift in her expression, not calling her out on her poorly executed act of innocence. He pulled up a chair and sat down.


    It took Nelly a moment to collect herself, her voice choked with a hint of resentment, "Dai, we lost our baby..."


    Dailey merely hummed in response.


    "And the doctor said... I can''t have children anymore," Nelly added.


    Again, Dailey responded with a nomittal hum.


    Nelly never could quite figure Dailey out.


    Her sessful maniption wasrgely due to Dailey''s apparent care for Christine, exploiting a weakness.


    Before the loss of their child, Dailey had already dered the engagement off.


    Now, without leverage, she couldn''t understand why he would still consider marrying her.


    Was it a sense of guilt?


    The child was gone. If she insisted it was Dailey''s, he would never be free of her...


    But she wasn''t foolish enough to bring up that topic herself.


    The wedding was going on as nned, closing the door on any future with Christine.


    That oue was all she wanted.


    What more did she have to lose?


    On the other hand, the rksons, with their vast empire, had more at stake.


    "Dai, I''m craving some chicken noodle soup."


    "Hmm?"


    Dailey instructed someone to fetch it.


    Aside from stating, "The wedding will proceed as nned," he barely engaged, offering only monosybic responses to her attempts at conversation.


    Otherwise, he was engulfed in an endless silence.


    So, why did he stay?


    Nelly, truly weakened by the


    miscarriage, found her thou


    sluggish and couldn''t unravel


    intentions, leaving her with lingering doubts.


    "Dai, I remember when I got my first period, you bought me chicken noodle soup, telling me not to be afraid."


    Nelly smiled, "You, always soposed and rational, barely showing any emotion, but that day, you panicked, thinking I was dying."


    Dailey was raised among men, learning to deal with women who were strong and independent, treating them like brothers.


    Nelly was the exception, following him around as a child, affectionately calling him brother.


    The rksons had only one male


    heir in Dailey. Jane truly wished for a daughter, but her body, weakened by years of social engagements for business, couldn''t bear more children after Dailey.


    Nelly, an orphaned driver''s granddaughter, was raised as if she were the rkson''s own daughter.


    Had Nelly not harbored other


    et


    intentions, viewing him merely as a


    brothe


    she would have lived adife


    offort and luxury as a rkson


    heiress. This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    What a pity.


    She chose a path that led to her downfall.


    Dailey, in his youth, did dote on her as a sister.


    In the end, her maniption and exploitation of his guilt had backfired.


    "I wasn''t that naive to confuse a wound with menstruation."


    Nelly felt growing up had its downsides; Dailey had changed.


    He was no longer the protective figure she remembered.


    "Dai, but you were truly scared, genuinely worried."


    Dailey''s expression remained indifferent, his words cool and detached.


    "Why are you dredging up the past now?"


    Nelly looked at him.


    He added indifferently, "Only a condemned prisoner revisits old times before their final meal."