He Never Loved Me Until the Day I Finally Left Him novel Chapter 79

Helena didn't stay out in the garden for long before returning to her room.

"Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Hayes came back looking for you. He said something came up at the office, but he'll be back tonight to keep you company," one of the bodyguards informed her, repeating Sebastian's message word for word.

"Okay," she replied smoothly, her expression blank.

She knew exactly why he had left. He was arrogant enough to believe he had successfully manipulated her into submission. He thought she was thoroughly tamed, happily waiting in her cage for his return. That was why he didn't even bother checking where she had gone.

It was sickeningly obvious. If things went sideways in the delivery room, Sebastian would save the baby and let her die without a second thought. Because she was just the vessel for his stock options. He had never once considered that the baby she carried was a living, breathing piece of himself.

The realization made a cold fury harden in her chest. She grabbed the edge of the nightstand, forcing her erratic heartbeat to slow down.

"Helena." The sickly-sweet voice sliced through the room.

Janetta had somehow bypassed security and was standing right in front of her.

Helena turned slowly, sweeping an icy, detached gaze over the intruder. The bodyguards must have been swapping shifts, giving Janetta the perfect window to slip in.

"Ms. Ramirez, you shouldn't be here," Helena said flatly, refusing to give an inch.

Then, Helena looked at her own hands. Slender, yes, but marked with the faint calluses of real labor. As the wife of the great Sebastian Hayes, she wasn't a pampered princess. She personally washed his luxury clothing. Because he hated having staff around the penthouse, she did the cooking and cleaning. Whenever they visited the Hayes family estate, Grace Dale would force her into the kitchen, making her cook massive dinners and scrub pots without any help from the maids, all to remind her of her place.

Looking at Janetta's flawless skin, Helena suddenly laughed.

For Janetta, Sebastian was perfectly fine crowding his apartment with maids to ensure she didn't lift a finger. But for Helena? She was just his glorified housekeeper and a convenient body to use when he was in the mood. The double standard was sickeningly clear.

She had always known. But knowing it a thousand times over didn't stop the suffocating ache of realizing she had wasted seven years of her life on a man who viewed her as disposable.

Ignoring Helena's laugh, Janetta's arrogance only swelled.