His Obsession Began After Losing Her-Chapter 38: She Found Him First

Noran let out the breath he had been holding for a while as he stared at the Noran cookies, feeling a mixture of nostalgia, relief, surprise, and comfort.

His fingers lightly brushed the half-crumbled cookies, noticing that they looked exactly like the ones he had carried with him for a year after Shuri's death.

Since he had found the Noran cookies in the deeper part of the room, it appeared they had been left in the storage room for at least a year.

Back then, he remembered the fairies asking him for the Noran cookies, and now, they had led him back to a bag of Noran cookies that looked identical to the one from his first life?

Were the fairies toying with him?

But at the very least—

"She's alive..." he muttered in relief as his eyes reddened, and a single tear fell onto the cookie.

Unlike his first life, Shuri lived in this world, and she had noticed him and given him the Noran cookies, but why didn't he know about it?

Then he noticed a small card loosely hanging onto the cookie packaging and quickly opened it to read.

The message read, "To Ran: I wish you happiness and a long life."

The handwriting was delicate and beautiful, with a graceful, almost girly flourish to each letter. Noran's heart skipped a beat as he immediately recognized it.

It was Shuri's handwriting.

Memories of her meticulous notes and lovingly written letters flooded back to him.

His fingers traced the elegant curves of the script, a mix of joy and sorrow washing over him as he murmured, "You found me first."

Wiping his tears, he immediately stood up to face Simon, asking, "Where is the person who gave me this gift?"

Simon was startled to see Noran looking so emotional, so it took a moment for him to respond.

"I... I don't know, Mr. Noran. We don't keep track of who sends you gifts. Sometimes you receive them from performances you attended, sometimes through the mail, and sometimes fans drop them off at our office.

So, we couldn't keep track. But judging from the condition of this gift and the location where you found it, I think it should be kept in the storage room for at least a year now."

Noran frowned. "A year?"

He had only returned less than a week, so he didn't know if the him in this timeline had met Shuri before he came back, and whether she would show up before him again.

Despite all the uncertainty, now that he knew Shuri had approached him first in this timeline, he was determined to make his presence more apparent to her.

Still holding onto the bag of cookies, he stepped out of the storage.

"Show me my schedule for the whole of this year," he ordered Simon.

"W-We haven't planned your whole schedule for this year, Mr. Noran," Simon stammered anxiously.

"It's Mr. Kingston that plans your schedule. I just await his orders."

Noran's brow furrowed.

His family had too much control over what he did.

He needed more freedom to reach out to Shuri and find her. "Can you make arrangements for me outside of my father's control?"

Simon hesitated, a look of fear crossing his face. "Mr. Kingston hired our company, Mr. Noran. I'm afraid I can't go against his wishes. He has made it clear that all your engagements are to be approved by them."

Noran's eyes narrowed as he assessed Simon.

Although he didn't dislike Simon, he couldn't keep a manager like him around.

He needed someone who could act independently, someone who wouldn't be intimidated by his family's influence, someone who would side with him over his family.

With a firm voice, he said, "Then consider yourself fired."

"W-What? Fired?" Simon was in shock.

He had worked closely with Noran for over a year and knew him as someone who always followed his family's plans.

He never expected Noran to fire him for simply following his family's orders.

Noran didn't waste any more time talking.

He stormed out of the office, leaving Simon at a loss.

Later that afternoon, Noran met with the landlord to finalize the purchase of the abandoned shop.

After signing the contract and completing the handover, he stood in the empty space, already envisioning its transformation.

Determined to recreate Shuri's café as he remembered it, he planned every detail meticulously.

This place held the significance of their first meeting in his previous life, and he hoped that restoring it would somehow bring her back to him.

It was not until late at night that he arrived home.

The butler, Alfred, greeted him at the door. "Good evening, Young Master Noran. Master Damon and Madam Julia are waiting for you with Miss Carter in the parlor. They wish to speak with you."

Noran felt a wave of irritation.

These were the last people he wanted to see.

He feared that if he had to face them again, he might not be able to resist the urge to kill them once more.

Therefore, he ignored Alfred and intended to head upstairs when Damon and Julia walked out of the parlor and stopped him.

"Noran, stop right there!" Damon demanded, his tone sharp.

"Didn't Alfred inform you that we want to see you?"

Noran stopped with his back facing them as Julia hurried over to him, her voice softer but no less insistent. "Why have you been ignoring us recently? You weren't like this before."

"Stop bothering me," he replied bluntly, trying his best not to give in to his rising anger.

"How can you speak like this to your mother!" Damon yelled, walking over from behind.

"Lower your voice, darling. We have a guest today."

Julia didn't want Sophia, who was waiting in the parlor, to hear them quarrel, fearing it would leave her with a bad impression of the family.

She stepped forward to face Noran with a smile. "Please, son. Just come and sit with us for a while. Miss Carter has been waiting for you since this afternoon."

As she was about to reach out to hold his hand, Noran took a step back.

His expression darkened further.

"Back off."

Julia flinched a little at his cold eyes and icy voice, and she stared back at her son, unable to recognize him.

This young man had the face of her son, but his demeanor and everything about him appeared so different.

She felt like she was staring at a cold-blooded murderer.

A shiver ran down her spine as Damon's face twisted with anger.

His once obedient son had suddenly turned defiant.

How could he tolerate that?

"What is this attitude you're showing us?!" Damon snapped, his voice rising.

"Not only did you ignore us for the past few days and talk back to your mother, but you even fired Mr. Summer! Have you lost your mind? How could you fire the manager we hired for you without our permission?"

Damon didn't want to reprimand his son in the hallway, especially with Sophia around, but he couldn't hold back his anger.

He was about to grab Noran when Sophia came out of the parlor, having heard the commotion.

"Mr. Kingston, is there a problem?" Sophia asked with concern as she approached, looking like an innocent girl.

"Oh, Noran, I didn't know you were back," she said, smiling brightly with eyes wide in anticipation when she saw him.

Noran's face hardened, and he clenched his fist as he glared at these people who had caused his wife's death in his first life.

No words could describe how much he despised them, but he couldn't act recklessly for the time being.

Unlike back then, when he had nothing to lose, he needed to stay out of trouble to find Shuri.

However, he swore to protect Shuri and ensure they wouldn't go unpunished in this life either.

Without a word, he turned away from them and headed up the stairs.

"I'm not done with you!" Damon exclaimed, reaching out to grab Noran's arm.

But Noran turned and flung him away, causing Damon to lose his balance and fall a couple of steps down the stairs.

"Oh my God, darling!"

"Mr. Kingston, are you alright?"

Both Julia and Sophia hurried over to help Damon as he winced in pain on the ground.

"How could you do this to your father?" Julia exclaimed in disbelief as she looked up at Noran, who stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at them with a cold, piercing gaze.

As Sophia turned to look up at Noran, she was also frightened.

His cold blue eyes were filled with a murderous intent that sent chills down their spines.

The aura of danger around him was palpable, making it hard for them to breathe.

In an icy voice, he said, "If you want to live a little longer in this life, you better stay away from me."

The coldness in his tone and the intensity of his stare left them frozen in fear.

Without another word, Noran turned and walked away, leaving them shaken and flabbergasted.

At that moment, none of them knew that Noran had planned a future that would bring about their ultimate downfall, a future meticulously designed to destroy them piece by piece.