CHAPTER 446: HEARTBREAK; REASON WHY SHE LEFT HIM

"I..." Voilet took a long moment to find her voice, her tone laced with an indescribable bitterness.

"Why... had I never heard Taylor mention anything about an engagement before?"

She knew his character all too well.

If he had a fiancée, he would never have given another woman the chance to get close to him.

And those rats lurking in the shadows of the Taylor family wouldn’t have had the opportunity to use her as a pawn.

The butler hesitated briefly before deciding to speak the truth.

"The engagement was deliberately kept hidden.

Mr. Taylor only found out about it recently."

The implication was clear—Taylor hadn’t deceived her when they were together.

"I see," Voilet murmured, her lips curving slightly in a faint, almost ghostly smile. "Thank you, Uncle."

The smile on her face looked more painful than tears. The butler carefully took the phone she had handed over with the documents, his expression solemn.

"Miss Violet, you know very well how devoted Mr. Taylor was to you back then—we who stood by could see it clearly too."

His voice carried a rare sincerity.

"Of course, I could also tell your feelings for him were genuine.

But... your sudden departure nearly destroyed him. It took him years to recover."

The butler’s tone was tinged with melancholy and regret.

"If possible, I hope you, Miss Violet—" The butler faltered when he saw the tears spilling from Voilet’s eyes, unable to bring himself to finish.

"You hope I stay away from Taylor?"

Her voice was hoarser than usual, its emotion unreadable.

The butler pressed his lips together, silent—an implicit agreement. "Uncle, you overestimate me.

" Voilet spoke again, her voice quiet and cold.

"Whether I see Taylor, whether I can even get close to him—that choice was never mine to make."

Her gaze, blurred by unshed tears, could barely make out the butler’s shadowy figure.

"Just like now, isn’t it?"

The butler paused at her words.

That wasn’t entirely wrong.

"Miss Violet, life is long. I hope you can move on from the past soon," he said with a slight nod.

"There’s still much to attend to at the estate. I should take my leave now."

Was life really that long?

Was it?

Voilet remained motionless, offering no response.

The butler said nothing more. After a brief glance at her, he turned and left.

The vast office was now empty, save for Voilet alone.

The silence was absolute—so deep that not even the sound of breathing could be heard.

A bitter, suffocating ache churned in her chest, making it hard to breathe.

At last, her hand, resting on the desk, began to tremble uncontrollably.

"Pfft—"

A crimson streak of blood spilled from her lips, trickling down her pale chin and staining her clothes like blooming scarlet flowers.

Nora pushed the door open just in time to witness the scene, her face draining of color in an instant, joy replaced by horror.

"Voilet!!"

Her hands trembled as she steadied Voilet, her face pale with worry, voice shaking.

"How could this happen?

I thought you were better! Where’s the medicine? Where is it?!"

"I’m fine, Nora," Voilet lifted a hand to wipe the blood from her lips.

Her fair skin was streaked with crimson, yet her bloodstained lips curled into a faint smile.

"Taylor has found a matching bone marrow donor.

Ace will be saved."

Her voice was as gentle as always, unnervingly calm.

"I know, I already know," Nora had rushed over after getting the call from the hospital, never expecting to see her friend coughing up blood.

The joy she’d felt moments ago had been completely overtaken by dread.

"Ace will be fine, but why are you bleeding? Wasn’t the poison already neutralized?

How could this happen?"

A terrible suspicion flickered in her mind, her eyes widening in realization.

"Are you keeping something from me?"

"No," Voilet shook her head softly.

"Ace still needs someone with him.

Go stay by his side. I’ll go change my clothes."

Before Nora could react, Voilet had already pushed herself up from the seat and walked away.

Her slender frame looked even more fragile from behind.

"Voilet—" Nora pressed her lips together, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Her thoughts suddenly drifted back to several years ago.

Voilet had abruptly transferred a large sum of money to her while she was still abroad, telling her to live well from then on.

Though the words had been spoken in a joking tone, Nora had sensed something was wrong.

Only after relentless questioning did Voilet finally confess—her mother had passed away after a long illness Nora knew Voilet’s mother had been her only family in this world.

Fearing she might do something reckless in her grief, Nora immediately took leave from work and boarded the first flight back to San Francisco.

The moment she landed, she hailed a taxi and rushed to the address Voilet had given her, using the passcode to unlock the door.

What she saw next was a scene she would never forget.

Voilet lay unconscious in the bathtub, her wrist bearing a four-to-five-centimeter gash.

Crimson blood dripped from her fingertips, staining the floor beneath.

"Voilet..." Nora collapsed to the ground, paralyzed with shock, her limbs numb and useless. It took everything she had just to find her voice again.

"Don’t you dare scare me like this."

Nora crawled on all fours to the edge of the bathtub, her trembling fingers reaching beneath Voilet nose to check for breath.

Thankfully, there was still a faint pulse.

Letting out a shaky sigh of relief, Nora leaned against the tub for support as she fumbled for her phone with unsteady hands and dialed emergency services.

The ambulance arrived swiftly, and they accompanied Voilet to the hospital.

The doctor’s words were clear—had they been just half an hour later, Voilet’s life would have been beyond saving.

When Voilet awoke and realized she hadn’t died, there was no trace of relief in her eyes—only disappointment.

The first words she uttered were, "Nora, you shouldn’t have saved me."

Not everyone has the courage to attempt suicide twice.

Before Nora could even ask what had happened, Voilet, still weak, insisted on being taken abroad immediately.

It wasn’t until they arrived in UK. that Nora learned the full story from Voilet.

After the Voilet’s family went bankrupt, Voilet’s father, unable to bear the pressure, had jumped to his death.

The shock had triggered her mother’s heart condition, leaving her bedridden.

At the time, Voilet—freshly cast down from privilege and drowning in insurmountable debt—had no means to cover her mother’s medical expenses.

She had swallowed her pride, pleading with relatives and former friends of her family, only to be coldly turned away by every last one of them.

Just when all hope seemed lost, someone stepped forward, offering to cover her mother’s treatment—and even settle a portion of the debt.

But the condition was that from then on, she would have to obey his every command regarding her life.

This man was a member of the Taylor family’s collateral branch.

True to their word, they transferred her mother from domestic to overseas treatment, ensuring she received top-tier medical care, and even helped settle some of her most pressing debts.

Just as she began to breathe easier, they handed her a mission—to get close to Taylor, who had recently taken over the Taylor family but whose position was still precarious.

Though she had no idea what they were plotting, she knew it couldn’t be anything good.

Yet she had neither the means nor the right to refuse.

With meticulously prepared dossiers and a series of carefully orchestrated "coincidental" encounters, their plan worked—she and Taylor became a couple.

When the masterminds learned of their success, they made no move to interfere.

As Voilet spent more time with Taylor, genuine feelings blossomed between them.

She truly fell in love with him.