CHAPTER 149: CHAPTER 149: LETTING GO

Listening to his apology, Wendy Donovan’s chest surged with even more anger.

"Sorry?" She suddenly raised her voice, stepping forward, pointing at Ian Kane, "Ian Kane, tell me, what good does ’sorry’ do?!"

"Look at what you’ve done! Vera suffered needlessly for three years because of you! A woman wasted the best three years of her life, her most precious years, just to be treated so terribly by you!"

Wendy Donovan’s voice quivered with rage, "Because of you, she’s now twenty-eight, still gritting her teeth to return to the stage, painstakingly rebuilding her confidence, trying to find that part of herself you nearly destroyed!"

One year of deceit and betrayal in marriage, two years of difficult rehabilitation and training.

Wendy Donovan deeply regretted not selfishly keeping Vera in Veridia, sparing her from marrying such a despicable man!

Each of her words was like a series of heavy hammers on Ian Kane’s heart.

The dull pain mixed with immense remorse surged into his eyes, turning them bloodshot, glistening with tears.

Ian Kane’s throat tightened, his voice turning hoarse, "Professor Donovan, you’re absolutely right!"

His gaze struggled, with determination, past Wendy Donovan and Noah Grant’s obstruction, falling on Vera, catching only a glimpse of her slender, fair lower leg beneath her trailing gown.

His eyes were transfixed on the ankle he had once caused injury to, deliberately delaying its treatment.

What he regretted most was on a night when she braved torrential rain, drenched and muddy, frantically searching for him in the mountains, slipping down a slope... meanwhile, he was at "Vani" at The Glimmer Garden’s foothill, with that Nina...

Ian Kane suddenly shut his eyes tight!

His jaw clenched to the extreme, teeth gritting, throat bobbing violently as if swallowing blades!

A searing tear suddenly dropped, striking the cold ground hard, spreading into a dark patch.

In an instant, he used all his strength to suppress a sob, taking a deep breath.

He looked at Wendy Donovan and Vera’s vague silhouette, heavy and desperate, from the depth of his heart he said:

"Professor Donovan, only tonight... seeing her on stage again with my own eyes... do I truly understand..." His voice choked, forcing down the swirling emotions, "how deeply I have erred! It was I who... ruined her with my own hands! Ruined... everything between us!"

The man’s trembling, pain-laden voice echoed through the dark alley.

The dim streetlight exposed his current wretchedness and pain to everyone’s eyes.

That once mesmerizing, handsome face, now bloodless, appearing frail and pallid.

His jawline was taut like a bowstring, on the verge of snapping.

His tightly pressed thin lips lost all color, unable to stop trembling.

His eyes, deep as ever, now filled with alarming blood-red veins, full of remorse.

Wendy Donovan, seeing him like this, felt a choke in her heart, but was then completely overwhelmed by even more intense anger and a protective urge.

She took a deep breath, "Ian Kane, whether you understand or not, that’s your own matter!"

"From the moment you did those despicable things, you forfeited any right to come near Vera again!"

"Tonight is the first and the last time!"

"Take your belated and worthless understanding and regret, and get out of her world!"

"Never appear in front of her again! Otherwise—"

"People like us..." She glanced at Noah Grant and those behind her, with an undeniable warning, "will not show any hospitality!"

"Take good care of yourself!" The final four words were spoken forcefully.

As her words landed, Wendy Donovan turned around, others gave Ian Kane a fleeting glance and turned away, yet Vera never looked back at him once.

"Vera!" Ian Kane’s hoarse shout echoed in the silent alley.

He watched that elegant and resolute back, protected under Noah’s arm, his heart felt like it was clutched and crushed by an invisible hand.

"I know, I know I deserve death, I dare not ask you to return to me..."

He staunchly watched her silhouette recede into the distance, "Just begging you... give me a chance... let me prove... prove I’ve changed! Prove that Ian Kane can still learn how to truly love you... never hurt you again!"

The man’s tall figure cast a long, lonely shadow under the dim streetlight, staggering as if about to be completely crushed by despair the next second.

Yet his eyes stubbornly and unwaveringly stayed fixed in the direction where she disappeared.

No one turned back to look at him.

At the very back, Owen Sheridan paused slightly, casting a cold glance at the staggering figure under the streetlight.

A chance?

His lips curved into a silent sneer.

For so many years, his sister never spared a glance at the father who shared half her blood, who tore their family apart.

Let alone the man who broke her wings and nearly pushed her into the abyss, Ian Kane?

Owen Sheridan withdrew his gaze, quickly catching up with everyone’s pace.

Through the narrow alleyway, those people walked further and further, their silhouettes stepping into the alley’s bright entrance.

Only Ian Kane remained, standing in the dark, swaying.

An autumn breeze blew, swirling a few fallen yellow ginkgo leaves, spinning to the ground, making the alley even quieter and colder.

Jasper Crowe got out of the car, grabbing Ian Kane by the collar to steady him.

"Enough, let go! What did the psychologist say, if you truly care for her, let go!"

Let go.

Those two words were like a dull knife, stabbing Ian Kane’s heart once more.

His throat was painfully hoarse, tinged with a bloody taste, he forced a bitter smile, "Crowe, might as well grant me a painless death."

Ian Kane’s body abruptly convulsed, jerking violently!

A mouthful of dark red blood spewed out forcefully from his mouth, splattering the cold dirty ground, shocking to behold!

Jasper Crowe’s face instantly turned pale, the cigarette between his fingers dropped with a "plop" beside the pool of blood, the ember extinguished immediately.

"Ian Kane! You damn—"

Before stepping into the car, Vera faintly heard Jasper Crowe’s raised voice from the alley, seeming a bit flustered.

Her face remained expressionless, not slowing her steps, she stepped onto the spacious back seat of the nanny car, leaned back, and closed her eyes.

In another Hongqi L5, Noah Grant lit a Golden Leaf cigarette, holding his phone to his ear.

His gaze dark, swept over the direction where Vera’s nanny car disappeared, then glanced toward the vague outline of Jasper Crowe’s vehicle in the distance.

The cigarette between his fingers flickered in the dim car cabin, highlighting his stern profile.

Taking a deep puff, he exhaled smoke, addressing the person on the other end of the call:

"The Kane Group’s Aether International project is stuck at a crucial approval, right? Let the news leak out..."

The man’s fingers tapped lightly on his knee, his eyes narrowing dangerously, "Just say its funding chain is about to break, let the bank... ’be cautious’."

Beside him, Nathan Grant’s heart skipped, instantly understanding that his brother was ruthlessly, proactively going against Ian Kane!

Ending the call, Noah Grant flicked the ash off his cigarette, crossing his long legs, he glanced sideways at his brother, speaking indifferently:

"What drama is Ms. Morgan up to recently?"

As he asked, the events of two years ago, when Rosalind secretly approached Vera, resurfaced in his mind...

It was after that incident that Vera retreated back into her shell.