Chapter 2

Victor found me packing twenty minutes later.

My suitcase lay open on the bed.

I had taken my passport, nursing credentials, clothes, and the small framed photograph of my mother from the drawers.

Everything Victor had bought me remained untouched.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

“What does it look like?”

He closed the door behind him. “Sophia, stop. You’re reacting emotionally to something you don’t understand.”

“I understand that my husband proposed to another woman.”

“It was a commitment to the Whitmore Foundation, not a declaration of love.”

He approached me and reached for my face.

I stepped away.

“I don’t love Claire,” he said. “I love you.”

“You humiliated me in front of an entire ballroom.”

“I protected you.”

I almost laughed.

Victor had always called secrecy protection.

When we married six years ago, he said public scrutiny would damage my nursing career.

Later, he said his mother’s health could not withstand a family scandal.

Every year produced another reason I had to remain invisible.

Tonight, he had finally revealed the truth.

Keeping me secret had left him free to offer himself to someone more useful.

“Does Claire know about our marriage?”

Victor looked toward the window.

“She knows there are private matters in my past.”

“I’m not your past.”

“Lower your voice.”

“No.”

His eyes hardened. “The Whitmores can fund cardiac treatment for thousands of patients. Do you really want me to destroy that because you need public recognition?”

He had transformed his betrayal into charity—and my dignity into selfishness.

I zipped the suitcase.

“I’m leaving.”

“You can’t leave the island tonight. The airport is closing because of the storm.”

“Then I’ll leave in the morning.”

“You’re not thinking clearly.”

A frantic knock interrupted him.

“Mr. Holt! Sophia!”

Dr. Aris rushed in through the connecting door.

“It’s your mother. She collapsed.”

Professional instinct overrode everything else.

I ran into Isabel’s suite.

She lay slumped on a chaise, one hand pressed against her chest. Her skin was pale, her breathing shallow.

I checked her pulse while Dr. Aris contacted the mainland medical team.

“Isabel, look at me. Tell me where it hurts.”

Her eyes opened briefly.

“Sophia…”

“We need to transfer her,” I told the doctor. “She shouldn’t remain on the island overnight.”

Victor ended a call near the windows.

“The airport is closing. The helicopter has one final departure.”

“Then prepare Isabel for transport.”

He hesitated.

His phone rang again. Claire’s name appeared on the screen.

Victor stepped into the corridor to answer it.

Isabel’s fingers tightened around my wrist.

“Don’t let him use me to keep you here,” she whispered.

I looked at her, but before I could ask what she meant, Victor returned.

“The helicopter leaves in fifteen minutes,” he said.

“Good. I’ll accompany Isabel.”

His gaze shifted away.

“Claire is taking it.”

For a moment, I thought I had misunderstood.

“Your mother needs hospital care.”

“Claire’s father wants her off the island before the weather worsens. The foundation has called an emergency board meeting.”

“You’re giving away your mother’s evacuation for a meeting?”

“Dr. Aris can keep her stable here.” Victor looked directly at me. “And you’ll stay with her.”

There it was.

He had chosen Claire’s interests over his mother’s safety—and expected my conscience to absorb the consequences.

“You’re her son,” I said.

“And you’re her nurse.”

“No, Victor.”

His eyes narrowed.

“I’m your wife. At least, I was until you decided that title belonged to someone else.”