24
In the days that followed, Dexter no longer troubled me. I dove back into preparing for the art exhibition.
The event unfolded flawlessly.
Before leaving, I caught up briefly with Jordan. When he mentioned Dexter and Heidi’s recent ordeal, his voice carried a heavy note of regret.
“Dexter’s gone mad! If only he had told me sooner, I would’ve stopped him from doing something so reckless! Heidi’s baby died right there. That restaurant you went to had surveillance cameras and countless staff witnesses. Dexter’s mother has been scrambling everywhere, throwing money around to cover it up.”
“But do you really think the shameless Ambrose family would go down without a fight? They demanded outrageous terms and ended up taking half of Dexter’s shares! We, his friends, pulled every string we could, just the legal team alone had dozens of lawyers working day and night.” ‘The Ambrose family definitely wasn’t going to let this slide. That old man Heidi was with made his fortune off her, but now he’d been kicked out and sued. And the Ambrose family had to cough up every penny.”
‘They’d completely abandoned Heidi. I heard she couldn’t even pay her hospital bills. They had to remove her uterus, and as for having kids, she might never walk out of that hospital alive. She’d probably be paralyzed for life. The Ambrose family just wanted her to die there so they could squeeze even more money out of Dexter.”
‘Dexter was a fool! Some things could’ve been handled quietly, people like us, we could have cleaned it all up. But now, it was a total disaster. The video of him kicking Heidi that day was all over the internet, posted by bystanders.”
‘The whole Laurence Corporation had crumbled. You were the one who stood by him back then, helping him claw his way back into our circle. I saw it all with my own eyes and tried countless imes to reason with him, but he never listened.”
Jordan was truly a loyal friend to Dexter. Seeing him fall, he did everything he could to help and naturally brought it up with me time and again.
‘Good thing he didn’t listen! Otherwise, I’d have lost a brilliant artist and an amazing wife too!” Noah quickly grabbed my hand, claiming me without hesitation.
Jordan chuckled, “So, when are you two tying the knot?”
‘Next month! The moment Blythe agreed to marry me, I wanted to do it right away! I’m scared she’ll slip away quietly again, and I’d have to search the world for her. I couldn’t bear losing her a second time!”
‘So soon? Have you really thought this through? Will you still keep painting?”
‘Of course I will! I’ll paint as long as I want. I finally know what I want, no need to worry!” I believed Noah would truly let me be myself.
Even if one day he changed, the woman I was now had the courage and strength to walk away and start over.
24
232 06.0
3:35 pm GD
“Then I’ll definitely be there. Don’t forget to send me an invitation!” Jordan smiled, a hint of bittersweet in his eyes.
Noah pulled him aside, saying, “Absolutely. And let’s talk about Blythe’s upcoming exhibitions How about we sign them all over to you? I don’t trust my secretary to handle it!”
When it came to anything involving me, he always took care of it personally, no matter how busy he was.
On the day we left the country, Jordan came to see us off.
I heard the Laurence Corporation had changed hands.
After I left, Dexter lost all interest in running the company. Coupled with recent troubles, he sold it off completely,
Half went to the Ambrose family as compensation; the other half was used to support him and his mother.
The Laurence family’s villa on the hillside was sold as well.
Dexter insisted on moving back to the small home we had once shared and refused to sell the gallery where I used to work.
He hung every one of my paintings on the 79th floor of that gallery. None were for sale, and he didn’t run the business seriously anymore.
Every night, he drowned his sorrows in alcohol there.
Heidi was completely abandoned by her family. Her medical bills went unpaid, and her health was beyond saving.
Not only had she lost her uterus, but she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair connected to a catheter bag.
This tangled web of love and hate had changed the fates of the three of us.
The day I left, I didn’t even want to glance back at the city.
3:36 pm
