The Rescue That Was Never A Rescue Chapter 08

The Rescue That Was Never A Rescue Chapter 08

Two bodyguards stepped forward in unison, delivering sharp, stinging slaps from both sides that

echoed through the ballroom.

Waverly’s face swelled instantly, turning an angry red. She could barely string two words together.

Corbett twisted the signet ring on his finger, his voice frigid.

“Effective immediately, the Fuller Group is pulling all funding from Reed and Nash enterprises. Freeze their assets and halt every active project. I’ll reduce them to beggars with no foothold left in

Wynfield.”

A single, casual sentence sealed the fate of both families.

Within Wynfield’s elite world, the Fuller Group wielded near-absolute power. The tides of commerce rose and fell on Corbett’s whims.

The Reeds and the Nashes were nothing more than ants he could crush whenever he chose.

Landon lay amid shards of broken glass, his bloodshot eyes fixed on me. “Laurel… listen to me. I was forced into all of this!”

He dragged himself toward me on bleeding palms. Sharp fragments pierced his skin, leaving long streaks of blood across the wine-stained floor.

“I loved you all along! I never posted that video. I only made it to frighten you! For the love we once shared… Give our love another chance. I swear I’ll treat you properly from now on!”

Tears and mucus streaked his face, stripping away every last shred of his former dignity. He resembled a stray dog grovelling for scraps in the mud.

Revulsion churned in my gut. The old burn on the back of my hand-where he’d once spilled hot soup on me throbbed in memory.

I walked slowly over to Landon. I stood tall above the man to whom I would once have given everything.

He looked up at me, hope blazing in his eyes.

He expected my old softness to surface once more. After all, in that hunter’s cabin long ago, I had looked upon him with the gentlest affection.

I lifted my foot and stepped down beside the shattered halves of the starstone.

The stone that bore witness to a sacred oath lay broken and mangled on the floor. Just like my heart,

ushed and torn apart by him.

“Love built on lies is worthless. Landon, everything between us ended long ago.”

My voice was quiet, yet it struck his chest like a sledgehammer.

Landon stared at the fractured stone on the ground, and the last spark of light in his eyes died out

He buried his face in his hands and let out a raw, primal sob of despair.

My heart had long since grown numb. I didn’t spare him one more glance.

I turned and slipped my hand into the one Corbett held out for me.

His palm was broad and warm, wrapping tightly around my icy fingertips. “Come. Let’s go home.”

Corbett scooped me into his arms and strode out of the suffocating ballroom. Screams and pleas for mercy faded away, blocked by the heavy doors behind us.

Corbett acted with ruthless speed. Within three days, the Reed Group filed for liquidation.

Burdened with crushing debts, Mr. and Mrs. Reed were chased out of their villa overnight and

forced onto the streets.

Word spread that Mr. Reed’s broken wrist had never received proper medical care. The pain left him permanently crippled, unable to lift his arm again.

Footage of Waverly’s public humiliation at the banquet leaked online, shared widely across social

media.

The viral prank thread that she had started turned against her, sealing her ruin.

Online mobs dug up every past scandal. Crushed by public outrage and disgrace, she eventually snapped.

People said she wandered the psychiatric ward day after day, crying to every stranger that she was

still the great Reed heiress.

As for Landon, once the Nash family collapsed, he lost everything. He roamed the streets each day like a hollow ghost.

Once, I was riding in Corbett’s car, waiting at a traffic light, when I spotted him.

He wore a threadbare coat and stood beside a trash can on the street corner, glanced up and saw our engagement announcement playing on the giant plaza screen.

He suddenly collapsed to his knees in the rain, sobbing uncontrollably as he chanted, “Laurel, I’m sorry.”

But what difference could apologies make now?

I pulled my gaze away and leaned into Corbett’s chest.

He lowered his head and kissed the crown of my hair, his voice soft. “What are you watching?”

I smiled and looped my arms around his waist. “Nothing. I was just thinking… tonight feels perfect.”

“Come. Let’s head home.”