Pampered by my three brothers: the return of the neglected heiress

Chapter 1448: Love was hell

Have you ever loved someone so deeply that you wished to die before them?

Well, Haines had.

He had loved someone so deeply, so passionately, that he had built his future with her at its center. He loved so hard that he never imagined life without her.

So when she didn't come that night, Haines kept waiting. He told himself all kinds of excuses, convincing himself he could try again. Next time, he would make sure she came.

But alas, he waited-days, weeks, months, and then years. Yet, that woman never returned. She just... disappeared.

From that night on, she never showed up again—like a ghost. Just like that, she was gone. No note left behind, no traces, nothing.

God knows that every passing second took a piece of him. Every night killed him a little more, and every morning seemed dimmer.

It was hell.

Love was hell.

Perhaps he had flown too close to the sun without realizing it, only to find himself crashing. And no way in hell would he ever fly that high again.

[PRESENT TIME]

Haines opened his eyes groggily, catching sight of the IV drip hanging beside him. His brows furrowed as he raised his hand, noticing the needle inserted in the back of it and the heart monitor clipped to his forefinger. The "fever" that had burned through him before he lost consciousness last night was gone.

"Grace," he breathed out and turned his head, only to find her seated in a chair beside him.

her jaw on her knuckles, her elbow propped on the armrest, her eyes closed

at her in silence, exhaling in relief. "I'm glad she found me." Otherwise, he had no idea what would

her, he looked up at the ceiling. His thoughts about whatever Penny had put in that cake were set aside, replaced

a brief trip down

years trying to forget. But no matter what he did, and wherever he would live, it always found a way to resurface like an

thought... it no longer

had been

had a hold on him. Not because he still cared for the woman he had once poured his

emotions inside him, weighing his heart heavier by the second.

he was awake, she

immediately

in relief. "You passed out on the way here. I

how she had sped recklessly to get him here, nor how she had gone hysterical

said quietly, nodding at him. "It'll help

her in silence. When she started to pull

rather, a little earlier—I was with a woman," he said, making her pause, her brows slowly rising. "She was beautiful, smart, and... warm. She had the most beautiful smile I had ever seen, and she had this weird laugh that I found contagious. Whenever she was around, the

knitted slightly, but

her, wanted a family with her, and dreamed of growing old together," Haines continued, his voice heavy as he swallowed the tension in his throat.

into a thin line, her expression unreadable. No woman wanted to hear that

her. But thought she at least loved me just as much," he murmured. "But she didn't. The night I was going to propose, she disappeared without a tráce. She left me without a word. No explanations, no lies, no truths.

told me

head. "No one

I didn't want the Chairman meddling in

"Oh."

studied her reaction. Grace had a slight wrinkle in her forehead, as if processing his confession. Then she