Chapter 46
Chapter 46
“Why is sister acting like this?”
Sophie was still crying. Jaxon looked down at her wiping away tears, but his mind was on someone else
entirely.
Yeah, why was she acting like this…
Sophie noticed his distraction and felt frustrated.
She bit her lip, and when she looked up at him, her tears happened to fall right on the bite mark on his
hand-the one Rachel had left at the hospital.
Sophie, don’t cry.” Arthur couldn’t stand seeing his sister upset and finally softened, trying to comfort her.
She’s just throwing a tantrum. Give it a week, and she’ll come crawling back.”
She” obviously meant Rachel.
Arthur was confident Rachel would crack first and come slinking back. Then they’d really teach her a lesson.
As for now…
lis expression darkened. Let her go-she needed to suffer out there first, learn that the Leroix family was
er only safe harbor.
March weather was still chilly. Rachel had kept her phone off these past few days, completely focused on the
ompetition.
t seemed to be raining outside, the already gloomy weather taking on an even colder edge,
Miss Leroix, the deadline for initial submissions has been moved up.”
The butler handed her a tablet while Rachel was sketching.
Her design showed an unfinished emerald collar, with empty gaps where vines should have been wrapped around it, looking somewhat menacing.
‘The Leroix family still hasn’t reached out. Seems like they’re waiting for you to cave first. The designer ady’s got some serious staying power.”
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Chapter 46
Nicolas’s voice drifted in from the doorway, mixed with the sound of rain.
He was leaning against the gilded door frame, apparently just back from a meeting, still in his formal suit.
Though he’d undone two buttons on his vest, showing a casual attitude.
Rachel’s pencil paused for just two seconds, then resumed moving.
It wasn’t surprising that the Leroix family hadn’t contacted her.
They’d never really cared about her anyway.
Nicolas noticed she didn’t respond, but sensed something off in her silence. His body reacted faster than his brain, moving toward her.
His footsteps tapped out a rhythm on the floor. As he got closer, Rachel caught his faint cedar scent mixed
with the dampness of rain.
Her pencil tip froze on the paper, ink blooming into a stain at the collar’s gap.
He reached out to turn her chair so she faced him.
“What happened to your hand?” Nicolas suddenly grabbed her wrist. Rachel followed his gaze to see her
index finger was red and swollen.
“It’s nothing.”
Just the result of her non-stop practice sessions.
Rachel pulled her hand back, flipping her design to the back side, casually curving her lips: “The Leroix family not contacting me-isn’t that exactly what you wanted?”
Her voice was light, making Nicolas’s heart itch.
Nicolas chuckled softly.
It did suit his purposes perfectly. He wanted to keep her by his side just like this.
Though that probably wasn’t realistic-she was an eagle meant to soar, naturally having places she needed to
He took Rachel’s design draft. It was incredibly detailed, even the materials clearly marked.
His gaze stopped at one particular spot. He pointed to it: “The first brooch you designed at nineteen used this same Norwegian second-grade ore.”
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Chapter 46
Then he smiled mockingly: “The Leroix family can’t even afford decent Burmese jade anymore?”
Back then, all the high-quality materials for her designs had gone to Sophie. Finding these second-rate materials had been hard enough-she wouldn’t have dared ask for more.
Rachel was surprised he knew about her work from when she was nineteen: “How do you know…?”
“The materials were crap, but you embedded enamel star charts in the openwork. Even Maëlys had people
asking around about who the designer was.”
Rachel hadn’t expected him to bring this up. Maëlys had actually… asked about her.
Nicolas knew her question but didn’t answer directly, just looked at her with amusement: “I also know you
designed a wedding ring for Jaxon.”
Nicolas suddenly moved close to her ear, his breath burning against the delicate skin of her neck.
His tone was definitely displeased.
Something hard suddenly pressed against the back of her neck-Nicolas had picked up the pen from her
desk.
The pen tip slowly traced down her spine, outlining the shape of her shoulder blades through her clothes:
“You threw that wedding ring away later.”
His movements continued, finally stopping at the small of her back, then pressing gently. Rachel’s lower
back went weak, her whole body tingling with sensation.
Rachel bit her lip tightly, refusing to make a sound.
Nicolas seemed unsatisfied with her reaction and roughly ducked his head to nip at her lips.
Rachel gasped in pain, forced to let out a soft moan that was so sweet and breathy it ignited something dangerous in Nicolas.
She grabbed his wrist with her free hand, the pen digging red marks into her palm, but his thumb suddenly found the pulse on the inside of her wrist-that frantically beating artery betraying her true emotions,
Nicolas stared into Rachel’s misty eyes, then suddenly released his grip. The pen clattered onto the
sandalwood desk.
Rachel’s mind was scattered. Four years ago, she had indeed designed a pair of wedding rings for her and Jaxon.
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Chapter 46
Because back then she’d been certain she would marry him.
Later, before he sent her to prison, she’d brought those rings to confront him, asking if he’d ever loved her
at all.
Her right hand had been in her pocket, clutching that ring.
The gemstone had dug painfully into her palm.
If he’d said he loved her, she would have proposed to him without hesitation, she’d thought.
But Jaxon had just avoided her gaze.
In that moment, she’d finally accepted that her feelings had been nothing but a joke.
After Jaxon told her to prepare for prison and walked away, she’d watched his retreating figure and
painfully thrown the ring from her pocket.
The memory cut off abruptly. Rachel’s gaze became evasive.
She hadn’t expected Nicolas to know so much. She bit her lip, instinctively denying: “I… didn’t.”
“Little liar.” Nicolas lifted his hand, his thumb brushing across her lips: “You’re about as bad at lying as
Sophie is at fake crying.”
Caught in her lie, Rachel tried to cover: “I…”
“Shh.” Nicolas pressed his finger to her lips, stopping her words: “Designer lady, that’s not what you should
be worried about right now.”
He suddenly stepped back two paces, pulling a velvet box from his suit pocket: “Guess what this is?”
The moment the lid popped open, Rachel felt all the blood in her body freeze-lying on the black velvet was the wedding ring she’d thrown into the moat three years ago.
The rain outside seemed to have stopped, the pattering sound gone, leaving the air eerily quiet.
Inside the ring band’s inner engraving, where “Jax” should have been etched, the name had disappeared completely, replaced instead with “Nick” in elegant script font.
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