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Only a Dream Left in This World
Only a Dream Left in This World
Auteur: Nora Blythe

Chapter 1

Auteur: Nora Blythe
Diana Grant had just woken up when she threw her phone at me, her face flushed with anger.

"Pierre, who gave you the right to touch my phone?" she barked. "That coffee was brought to me with genuine care. Can't you show a little decency?"

In all the years we had spent together, this was the first time she had ever lost her temper with me. All over a cup of coffee.

My eyes drifted to the screen. The top comment under the coffee video was a sad-face emoji from Tyler Bennett.

I turned back to the stove and poured the hangover soup I had been simmering.

My voice remained flat. "The last time you drank coffee, you ended up in the hospital. The doctor warned you that your caffeine allergy is severe. Did you forget?"

Diana blinked, her defensive momentum stalling for a fraction of a second. She swallowed hard, trying to regain her footing. "Even so, you shouldn't go through my phone without permission."

"You gave him our home address," I interrupted, my voice dropping. "You let him drive your car. You even have matching pendants on your keychains. Don't you think you owe me an explanation?"

Her expression shifted, but then, she laughed mockingly. "An explanation? You're getting this paranoid over a cup of coffee?"

Her eyes flickered as she continued, "He's just a barista at the coffee shop. Nothing is happening. Are you happy now?"

She snatched her coat from the sofa, pausing just long enough to deliver a final blow. "At least he has a real job. Unlike you, sitting around the house doing nothing all day."

The front door slammed shut with a force that made my chest physically ache. Her words echoed relentlessly in my mind.

"Doing nothing all day."

For as long as I could remember, Diana had occupied every corner of my existence.

My mother died from complications during childbirth; my father suffered from a severe mental illness and vanished, leaving me as an unwanted, unadoptable orphan.

Then Diana showed up, telling me I would be her big brother and the one she would love forever. As a kid, I didn't comprehend how long "forever" truly was. I only knew that I finally had a family.

For over 20 years, we were inseparable. But everything changed when she inherited her family's conglomerate.

"Pierre, quit your job at the law firm," she had pleaded back then. "Managing the company is exhausting. Can you stay home and take care of things for me?"

For that one request, I threw away my career to manage her daily routine. In return, I became the ultimate target of ridicule among her social circle.

They mocked me behind my back, calling me the gold standard of a kept husband.

My friends used to warn me, "Pierre, you can't surrender your career and identity just to revolve around Diana."

They had been right, but I had chosen to live on a diet of false hope.

By the time I pulled myself out of memories, the hangover soup on the counter had gone cold. Diana hadn't taken a single sip.

I poured the liquid down the drain, pulled out my phone, and looked up the café downstairs from her corporate headquarters. From there, it was easy to find Tyler's personal account.

He had amassed quite a following, and the first video was from three months ago. It was a shot of a cozy dinner with over 100,000 likes.

The caption read: [My sweet Diana learned how to cook just for me.]

The words hit me in the gut.

Diana had always been dependent on me. Because I took care of everything, she never stepped foot in the kitchen, let alone wore an apron.

She used to whine for ten minutes just to get me to peel an apple for her.

My fingers tightened around my phone as a memory from three months ago flashed in my mind. Diana had wrapped her arms around my waist when I was preparing dinner.

"Honey, teach me how to cook," she had cooed. "I don't want you to be so tired every day."

It hadn't been for me at all.

I closed the app and shut off the screen, a suffocating tightness blooming in my chest. I had lived under the assumption that while her life was full of endless possibilities, my life only had room for her.

I had been wrong from the very beginning.

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  • Only a Dream Left in This World   Chapter 8

    A loud, persistent buzzing filled Diana's ears.Standing right beside her, Tyler heard the confirmation that I had signed the divorce agreement. An uncontrollable, triumphant grin tugged at the corners of his mouth."Diana," Tyler whispered, leaning in closer. "This is perfect. We just had our wedding photos taken anyway..."Before he could even finish the sentence, Diana shoved him aside and fled the estate like a woman possessed.The media leaked the development almost instantly. By evening, the entire high society of Stormiend learned the undeniable truth: Pierre Newton had signed the divorce agreement.The separation was dead serious. In a frantic reversal of her previous behavior, Diana began pouring millions into buying out media trends, desperately suppressing the story.She took the unprecedented step of releasing public statements, declaring to the press that she had no desire to end the marriage. She swore that the only man she would ever call her husband was me.I did

  • Only a Dream Left in This World   Chapter 7

    Over the next two weeks, Diana threw herself into a loud, unapologetic public display of affection with Tyler.She made no effort to hide their relationship, allowing their dates to be splashed across the front pages of every entertainment tabloid in the city.She even had him quit his job and handed him a five-million-dollar line of credit to spend on his own whim.She chartered private yachts, reserved luxury Ferris wheels, and when Tyler casually mused about what it would feel like to shoot a wedding portfolio, she immediately booked an elite bridal studio to pose for a full session with him.The elite circles of Stormiend whispered that the untouchable CEO had finally fallen head over heels, preparing to give Tyler a permanent, official place in her life.Only Diana knew the frozen truth behind the spectacle: everything was deployed to show me that she was thriving without me.She was waiting for the psychological pressure to break my silence, waiting for me to hit my limit a

  • Only a Dream Left in This World   Chapter 6

    When Diana arrived at the villa, she immediately looked up at the second floor.The housekeeper only worked during the day, leaving the evenings as our private space. No matter what happened, I was always waiting to take care of her.The lights on the second floor were always blazing to welcome her home. Tonight, however, the entire façade was pitch black.She reached into her pocket, her fingers brushing against a small box. In it was a watch she had bought on her way home. It was a brand I had raved about in the past.She cleared her throat. "Pierre?"She knocked a few times, but there was no response. She brushed it off as me sulking.I had never pulled a stunt like this before, but she remained strangely confident. There was nowhere else I could go anyway.To be sure, she had her assistant pull my recent bank statements. The report showed zero charges for any hotels, which further convinced her that I was stranded.The realization eased her irritation. She knew the birthday

  • Only a Dream Left in This World   Chapter 5

    My footsteps didn't falter as I walked down the corridor.Diana pressed her lips together, fidgeting restlessly before she pushed to her feet. By the time she stepped into the hallway, I was already gone.A heavy, unpleasant knot tightened in her chest. She'd spotted the thin smear of blood on my forehead the second I had pushed open the door earlier.In the past, whenever they clashed, she was the one who backed down. This time, my sharp sarcasm had rankled her pride, driving her to teach me a lesson.She wanted to give me a psychological shock by deliberately ignoring me in front of her friends, expecting me to blow up and demand an explanation.She'd watched my mood shift from giddy excitement to ashen pale, and a tiny thrill had shot through her. But in front of blowing up, I had said nothing at all. I had simply turned and walked into the dark.The private room was still buzzing with music and laughter, but the fun drained out of Diana instantly. She lingered in the hallway,

  • Only a Dream Left in This World   Chapter 4

    I didn't come to my senses until Diana left the house.When I first left the orphanage to live with the Grant family, I thought I had finally found a home. But over the years, I realized I would never stand on equal footing with Diana.I studied relentlessly, worked myself to the bone, and fought tooth and nail to build a career. Yet, in Diana's eyes, I remained a mere freeloader living off her family's wealth.I sat alone in the dark living room all night until my phone vibrated. It was Diana. Her tone was completely casual, almost playful, as she spoke. "Pierre, I found your father. He's still alive."A loud, violent ringing exploded in my ears. For a split second, the world went entirely silent."Give me the address," I said eagerly, clutching my phone.I was terrified she was playing a cruel trick. For 25 years, I had never stopped searching for my father. Even knowing the severity of his mental illness, I desperately wanted to see him one more time—to lay eyes on the only bl

  • Only a Dream Left in This World   Chapter 3

    Diana didn't come home until well after ten o'clock that night.She stood in the entryway for a long, heavy moment before unceremoniously dropping an assortment of shopping bags onto the floor. Among the designer logos, she carried a box of my favorite blueberry cake.I sat motionless on the sofa, keeping my eyes fixed straight ahead.Diana approached, holding a tube of burn cream. She crouched down in front of me, dabbing the ointment onto my hand with extreme care.I stayed silent. Every time we fought, she did exactly this. She would buy the things I loved, convinced that throwing money at a conflict would fix it.For over 20 years, that tactic had never failed her. I had forgiven her every single time.This time, I simply yanked my hand back. She froze mid-motion, her fingers suspended in the air."I'm going to start looking for a job tomorrow," I said evenly. "I won't be staying here anymore."She raised an eyebrow, her gaze finally shifting past me to notice the suitcase

  • Only a Dream Left in This World   Chapter 2

    Diana didn't come home for three days. We had officially entered a suffocating cold war, our communication completely dead.That silence broke when her secretary sent me a text, telling me that Diana's chronic gastritis was flaring up and that she had been breaking out in cold sweats during the boa

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