Chapter 2

The whole hallway went dead silent for a split second.

The doctor's anxious expression froze. He looked at me like he didn't get it at all. "Excuse me, ma'am?"

Laura stopped crying, her eyes wide with disbelief.

I repeated myself, my voice even calmer than before. "I'm his wife. But I won't be signing. We'll wait for his mother."

"This is ridiculous!" the doctor finally snapped, his voice booming. "This is life or death. Do you understand? Every minute we wait, his condition worsens. You are his legal next of kin. If you won't sign, who will?"

"His mom," I said, locking eyes with the doctor. "Linda Brooks. She's his immediate family too. She can sign for him."

Laura shrieked, "Christine, are you out of your mind? Do you want him dead? You evil bitch!"

She lunged for the clipboard in my hands.

I stepped aside, shooting her a frosty glare.

She stopped in her tracks, cowed by my icy stare, and just glared at me like she wanted to rip me to shreds.

I ignored her, pulled my phone out of my pocket, and dialed the number I knew by heart.

The phone rang for ages before Linda finally picked up, her voice thick with sleep. "Who is it? Do you know what time it is?"

"Linda, it's me, Christine," I said.

"You? What do you want?" Her tone turned impatient right away. "Make it quick. I've got a card game tomorrow."

"It's William. He's in the hospital," I said, keeping it short and to the point.

There was silence on the other end.

A few seconds later, Linda's voice turned shrill. "What are you talking about? Isn't William on a business trip? Don't you dare say such things about my son!"

"He wasn't on a business trip. He was with another woman when he had a heart attack. He's in the ER at Mercy General Hospital right now, waiting for surgery. They need a signature," I said, just relaying what the doctor told me.

I could hear her suck in a sharp breath, then she exploded.

She roared, "What is this nonsense? My son would never. This is all your fault. You must have driven him to this. Which hospital is he at? I'm coming right now!"

"Mercy General Hospital, emergency operating room," I said.

After giving her the address, I hung up.

Finally, it was quiet.

The doctor was staring at me. He looked like he wanted to speak, but my calmness—this cold, steady quiet—seemed to throw him. He'd probably never seen a spouse this still in an emergency. This detached.

"Ma'am, whatever's going on between you and your husband, this isn't the time. A life is on the line," he said, his tone softening as he tried to reason with me. "I'm asking you one more time—just sign the form. We can deal with everything else once he's out of danger."

I shook my head and handed the clipboard back to him. "Doctor, my mind's made up and nothing will change it. I'm not signing today. His mother is coming. Let her sign for him."

I turned my gaze to Laura, who was shooting daggers at me.

I took a step toward her.

She instinctively stepped back.

I stopped, looked her straight in the eye, and said softly, "Didn't you claim to be his true love? What's wrong—can't true love even save his life?"

Laura's face flushed bright red, her lips trembling, but she couldn't get a single word out.

Seriously, who did she think she was?

Just his mistress, the other woman. Legally, she meant nothing.

When it came to William's life, the only ones who could decide his fate were me and his mom.

And I had chosen to step aside.

I walked over to a bench at the end of the hallway, sat down, and pulled out my phone to look through all the evidence I'd saved.

There were all those intimate photos of William and Laura, the explicit chat logs, and those huge money transfers.

And then there were all those long-winded messages from Linda, telling me to "just keep the family together."

I saved every bit of it, every single detail.

I was not a saint. I didn't forgive and forget.

And I was not stupid enough to help him clean up the mess he made while betraying me.

So Linda thought it was normal for a man to "have his fun"?

Fine.

Now let the man who was "just having fun" face the consequences of his games.

I'd let the two people who knew him best be the ones to sign his life away.

I'd like to see how they handle this.

About 20 minutes later, the silence in the hallway was broken by frantic footsteps and loud wailing coming closer and closer.

"My son. William! Where is he?" It was Linda's voice.

She had arrived.