Never Mistake a Queen for a Lapdog novel Chapter 1017

Felix paused.

After a long, suffocating silence, he nodded. "Okay."

The driver followed Claire's instructions and dropped her off at the airport.

Without looking back, Claire stepped out of the vehicle with crisp, decisive movements.

Felix instinctively reached for the door handle, intending to grab her luggage for her.

But before his fingers even grazed the metal, Claire was already at the trunk, pulling out her own suitcase.

There was zero hesitation. No lingering glances. She didn't even offer a goodbye before she turned and disappeared into the bustling crowd.

Felix's hand remained frozen on the door release button, his fingertips mindlessly tracing the cold metal.

His Adam's apple bobbed, but from start to finish, he didn't say a word.

He watched her retreating silhouette weave through the sea of people, so resolute and uncompromising that it made his chest ache.

At that moment, it suddenly hit him: she wasn't just walking toward her departure gate. She was walking toward a future that had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Felix's lips twitched into a bitter, self-deprecating smile as a dull ache spread through his ribs.

It was only then he realized that some departures were simply a long-awaited release.

The icy wind whipping through the airport terminal slapped against his face. He slowly closed his eyes, his mind consumed entirely by the memory of her walking away.

Elegant. Calm. But like a beautifully forged blade, slicing away the last pathetic shreds of hope he'd kept buried in his heart.

...

The business dinner concluded, and Noreen Gilmore stepped out of the restaurant alongside Leonardo Soares and his daughter.

Playing the perfect gentleman, Leonardo asked, "Would you like my driver to take you home?"

The two of them had hit it off tonight, naturally leading to a few extra glasses of wine.

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