You Had Me, You Lost Me, You'll Never Find Me novel Chapter 146

The hospital's internal warfare reached a boiling point when Ashton issued his final ultimatum: shut the facility down or sign over the equity transfer agreement.

The vast majority of the staff had already jumped ship. Holding out any longer was essentially pointless. It was glaringly obvious that Ashton was out for blood, determined to annihilate Julian completely.

Watching the situation spiral out of control, Luke Zane stepped in and arranged a private dinner, hoping to mediate between the two.

Julian politely declined. Given how far things had escalated, he saw absolutely no point in seeking a truce.

But Luke was relentless, calling him multiple times. "Look, this whole thing has been blown wildly out of proportion. It started as a misunderstanding. Ash thought Sylvia got together with you before they officially ended things, and it struck a nerve. Any man would struggle to swallow that, especially considering how deeply Ash used to care about her."

Julian's tone remained ice-cold. "You just said 'used to'. So much time has passed; whatever lingering emotions he had should be dead by now. He holds a grudge, but do you think I don't? We are adults. He needs to act like one and handle this with some dignity."

Luke knew Julian was right. Truthfully, he never anticipated the fallout reaching this magnitude. Back when Ashton and Sylvia first broke up, Luke had urged Ashton to swallow his pride and sweet-talk her into coming back.

But Ashton had been too arrogant, too emotionally detached, acting as though losing her meant nothing. By the time he finally realized she wasn't ever looking back, a terrifying, obsessive possessiveness had already taken root in him.

When a person suffers a profound loss, the immediate impact often feels numbingly dull.

It's only much later, in a sudden, blinding flash, that the sheer magnitude of the loss crashes into them, utterly destroying their foundation.

It was like a tree dying in the dead of winter. It isn't until spring arrives that people finally realize the branches are barren.

The necrotic tissue begins to rot and fester in excruciating pain, but it can never be reversed, because the life is already gone.

On the other end of the line, Julian continued speaking.

"Sylvia and I are getting married next month. You are welcome to attend the ceremony."

"If Ashton wants the equity, he can have it."

Ashton didn't utter a single word.

—

Late July. Penelope Caldwell was drowning in PR work for the reality show when she noticed something shocking: overnight, every single malicious comment attacking Sylvia had been scrubbed from the internet. The hateful reviews were either reported and removed, or the accounts were permanently banned.

The sheer speed and efficiency of the purge bore the unmistakable signature of Ashton's crisis management team.

While she was still processing the shock, another bombshell hit the trending searches. The Wyatt and Winslet families had officially announced the cancellation of their engagement.

Speculation ran wild online about the reason behind the split, but matters involving ultra-wealthy elites were tightly guarded secrets. Even if insiders knew the truth, it would be aggressively suppressed.

A theory formed in Penelope's mind. She immediately dialed Sylvia to test the waters. "Did you get back together with Ashton?"