He Pretended to Forget Me, So I Erased Him for Real Chapter 03

He Pretended to Forget Me, So I Erased Him for Real Chapter 03

Gideon’s gaze turned instantaneously glacial.

“Elara, is this really the attitude you’re taking when you’re begging me for money?”

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but he cut me off with a sharp flick of his wrist.

“I know exactly what your narrative is. You’re going to claim Vivienne staged her own fall, aren’t you?”

I clamped my dry lips shut and let out a sharp, hollow laugh. This wasn’t the first time I had been framed by Vivienne. Nor was it the first time Gideon had chosen to believe her over me. I was the fool. I had been too blinded by a mirage of love to see that they had been skirting the lines of decency long ago.

I knelt on the cold linoleum, numbly picking up the hundred-dollar bills—my mother’s life support—one by one. Gideon’s heavy Oxford shoe suddenly came down on my hand, pinning it to the floor as he looked down at me with aristocratic disdain.

“Apologize to Vivienne.Sincerely.”

The soft rubber sole crushed what little remained of my dignity. I surrendered to the weight of it.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Gideon wasn’t satisfied. “An apology requires contrition, Elara. Do it properly.”

I bit my lip until I tasted copper, my knees hitting the floor with a dull thud. I said it again, louder.

“I am sorry.”

I looked up, my eyes vacant as I met Gideon’s gaze. “Is that enough for you?”

His chest heaved with a heavy sigh. He knelt beside me, feigning a weary sense of paternal patience as he helped me gather the remaining cash.

“I know your mother’s diagnosis is a lot to handle, but that’s no excuse to project your bitterness onto Vivienne. Don’t let it happen again.”

“It won’t…” I murmured.

Because there would be no second chances.

Gideon used a portion of the cash to settle the outstanding balance at the billing department, then shoved the rest into my hand. “Take me to see your mother.”

My mother never liked Gideon. Despite his astronomical net worth, in her eyes, he was just a damaged older man. She had never given him a moment’s grace. But this time, she was uncharacteristically warm, clutching Gideon’s hand and talking to him for a long time.

I knew why. She was trying to entrust me to him. She was terrified of leaving me alone in this world. A bitter ache eroded my heart, and my throat felt like it was blocked by jagged stones. I didn’t have the courage to tell her that the man in front of her was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

I didn’t break character. I needed his liquidity, and I needed his connections to fast-track a donor match.

That night, he found a match. A viable kidney was being dispatched. As long as it arrived by the next morning, my mother would live.

The next day, I waited with a heart full of desperate hope. But dawn turned into dusk, and Gideon was nowhere to be found. The orange glow of the sunset fell over my sleeping mother like a fading dream, fragile and ready to shatter.

The fear of losing my only family gripped my heart like a vice. With trembling hands, I dialed his number—the ninety-ninth attempt. Finally, it connected.

But it was one of Gideon’s frat-boy associates who answered.

As it turned out, Gideon had been MIA all day because he was busy comforting Vivienne, who had a sudden migraine.

And he had my mother’s life-saving organ with him in the medical cooler.

I drove like a maniac to Gideon’s estate. Ignoring the two of them entwined on the bed, I grabbed the chilled transport box from the corner and sprinted toward the door.

Thirty minutes. If I could get to the surgery center in thirty minutes, the organ would still be viable!

But as I hailed an Uber, Gideon’s private security forcibly dragged me back to the rooftop of the villa. Vivienne was standing outside the railing, weeping theatrical tears. Gideon, his face a mask of rage, grabbed me by the collar and hauled me toward her.

“Because of your psychotic intrusion… Vivienne is terrified you’ll misinterpret things. She’s spiraling, Elara!”

“Tell her right now that there’s nothing to misunderstand! Talk her down!”

I let out a jagged, hysterical laugh. “Misunderstand what? That you two are perverts pretending to be guardian and ward while you’re actually hooking up?”

Slap. A vicious blow landed across my face.

“What did you just say?” Gideon’s voice vibrated with a venomous fury.

“If Vivienne doesn’t come down from there, don’t even dream of getting that kidney to the hospital. And don’t think for a second any board-certified surgeon in this city will touch your mother’s case if I say no.”

I stared at him, paralyzed by the clinical look in his eyes. He had already delayed the organ for hours for Vivienne—there was nothing he wouldn’t do.

My mother was waiting for me. I screamed the words they wanted to hear.

“I didn’t misunderstand! You two are perfectly innocent—just a loving, devoted family!”

A flash of triumph flickered in Vivienne’s eyes. She lingered for a few more minutes, milking the spotlight before finally stepping down.

I suppressed the monumental hatred burning in my soul and raced to the hospital. But when I arrived, the surgeon delivered the crushing blow.

The kidney had suffered cellular death.

It was dead—delayed by those few minutes Vivienne spent “contemplating” her jump.

I screamed until my voice broke. I didn’t stop until I was handed a familiar, exquisitely wrapped boutique box.