Time-Limited Love: A Contract Expired, Not Renewed novel Chapter 296

The manager went utterly pale, all the color draining from his face.

He wasn't the type to give out information to just anyone—certainly not about Mr. Ford’s whereabouts. But Noelle wasn’t a stranger here; this wasn’t her first time coming to the Empyrean Club with Mr. Ford and the others. Mr. Ford had always treated her so well before—how was the manager supposed to know she wouldn’t be invited to his birthday party this time?

“Mr. Ford…” the manager stammered, mouth open, desperate to explain himself. But Chandler just waved him off. “Go on, get back to work.”

“Thank you, Mr. Morrison.” The manager looked as if he’d been granted a royal pardon and hurried away without another word.

Chandler turned to Landon with a sharp look. “Why are you taking your frustration out on other people? If you’d kept a little more distance from Noelle before, no one would be confused about your relationship.”

He didn’t bother to lower his voice for Noelle’s sake—his words were blunt and cut right to the bone.

Noelle bit down hard on her lip. Chandler had humiliated her in front of Landon again and again. She had come to loathe him for it.

Landon’s expression grew stormy, but he ignored Chandler’s remark. Instead, he grabbed his coat, stood up, and strode toward the door.

“Landon!” Noelle reached out to catch his arm, but Landon’s icy glare froze her in place.

“Landon, I know you don’t want to see me, but I just don’t want you to be deceived by Zinnia.” Noelle still had no idea that Landon had already seen the photos she sent to Connor and the others.

After she sent the pictures, she’d waited anxiously for Landon to call and demand an explanation. She waited until she completely lost her patience. Landon never reached out. Even Connor and Arrow hadn’t asked her a single question about it.

In the end, driven by desperation, she’d tried searching for him—finally tracking him down here at the Empyrean Club, hoping for one last chance.

“Landon, look, I’m not lying to you! I saw it myself—Zinnia with another man…” As she spoke, she hurriedly scrolled through her phone’s gallery, trying to shove the screen in front of him.

The truth was right in front of her, but Noelle simply couldn’t accept it. She’d once been cherished by Landon, placed on a pedestal, and now she was being cast down by his own hand. How could she possibly accept that?

“If you didn’t care about me, why would you go out of your way to have my mom’s animal abuse video taken down? You were worried she’d get attacked online—worried I’d be scared. Weren’t you?”

This time, Noelle was truly sobbing, tears streaming down her face.

At those words, Landon stopped in his tracks. He turned back and looked at her.

Noelle thought she’d finally broken through to him—her tear-filled eyes lit up with hope.

“Landon, you still care about me, don’t you?”