Chapter 2

I don't remember how I got out of the cathedral.

One moment I was standing beneath the stained-glass windows, staring at the man who had chosen my stepsister over me. The next, I was running down the church steps with my wedding dress gathered in my hands as reporters shouted questions from every direction.

"Dr. Carter!"

"Did the groom really marry your stepsister?"

"Was the ceremony changed before you arrived?"

"Can we have a statement?"

Camera flashes exploded around me, but I kept moving, my mind racing with a far worse terror.

Years ago, my father had survived a heart attack, and his cardiologist had warned us that another major emotional shock could be fatal.

I’d repeated those exact words to Ethan more than once, reminding him that no matter what happened between us, my father couldn't be dragged into our conflicts.

He had looked me straight in the eyes and promised.

Yet somehow, the wedding had been livestreamed for the world—and my father—to see. The irony was almost unbearable; I spent my career trying to keep strangers alive, yet I hadn't protected the person who mattered most.

The emergency entrance of St. Gabriel Medical Center was already a chaotic mess when I burst through the automatic doors, causing the hushed conversations among the nurses to instantly dry up.

Instead of the wedding congratulations that should have filled my morning, I was met only with a wall of heavy, avoidant stares.

The grapevine had clearly beaten me here.

Ignoring the sudden barrage of whispers erupting behind my back, I broke into a run, heading straight for the cardiac ICU.

Dr. Harrison was already waiting outside, his surgical gown still heavily stained with dark blood. The mere sight of him standing there made my heart sink as I rushed forward. "How is he?"

"We got him back," he said, though his exhausted tone offered no real comfort. I closed my eyes briefly, but the fragile relief didn't even last a second.

"But he's in critical condition," Dr. Harrison continued. "His heart was deprived of oxygen for several minutes. The next forty-eight hours will be crucial."

"Can I see him?"

He hesitated, sliding the door open just a crack. "Only for a few minutes. But Ivy... there's something else." I locked eyes with him, waiting for the blow. "Your father regained consciousness for a brief window, and he kept asking whether the wedding was over. I didn't know what had happened at the church, so I told him yes."

I lowered my head, the bitter irony choking me. "You did the right thing."

"He wants to see you," Dr. Harrison said, pushing the door open just enough for the steady, haunting beep of the heart monitor to spill out. "And your husband."

The words echoed in my mind as I walked into my father's room.

Machines surrounded the bed, filling the silence with steady electronic rhythms. My father looked older than he had that morning, his face drained of color beneath the oxygen mask, yet when he saw me, his tired eyes immediately softened.

"My little girl."

I forced myself to smile."I'm here."

He reached for my hand with surprising effort, his frail fingers trembling against mine. "I knew... you'd make a beautiful bride."

That single sentence almost broke my resolve, the weight of his innocence crushing me. He truly believed I had just married the man I loved, and that today had been the happiest day of my life. I squeezed his hand back gently, terrified that even a single word from my mouth would betray the nightmare at the church.

As his breathing slowed, his eyes drifted toward the empty doorway. "Where's Ethan?"

My throat instantly tightened. For the first time in my life, I had absolutely no idea how to answer my father.

And before I could force out a single word, someone knocked softly on the half-open ICU door.

"Come in."I quickly wiped the moisture from my eyes before turning toward the door.

A man in a gray maintenance uniform stood quietly outside, one hand resting on the handle of a supply cart.

For a second, I couldn't place him.

Then I remembered.

He worked the night shift.

We'd crossed paths countless times over the past year—outside operating rooms after midnight, in deserted corridors before dawn, in the hospital cafeteria just before sunrise. He never interrupted anyone, never lingered where he wasn't needed, and somehow managed to blend into the background so completely that most people probably couldn't have picked him out of a lineup.

I had never even asked his name.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Dr. Harrison asked me to deliver these."

He held up a neatly folded patient blanket and a small paper bag from the pharmacy.

Only then did I notice Dr. Harrison behind him.

"I sent for them," Dr. Harrison explained. "Your father was asking whether his son-in-law had arrived. I thought... perhaps we should give you a moment."

He looked at me with quiet sympathy before leading the nurses out of the room and gently closing the door behind them.

The silence felt unbearably heavy.

My father was still watching me.

"So..." he asked with a faint smile beneath the oxygen mask, "where's my son-in-law?"

The lie sat at the back of my throat.

I couldn't force it out.

"I..."

Nothing came.

My father misunderstood my hesitation.

He chuckled weakly.

"Already arguing on your wedding day?"

Despite everything, I almost smiled.

"No."

His fingers tightened around mine.

"Ivy."

His voice had grown softer, every word demanding visible effort.

"I don't know... how much time I have."

"Don't say that."

"You've heard enough families say goodbye to know when a doctor is hiding the truth."

I looked away.

Because he was right.

He reached beneath the blanket with trembling fingers and slowly removed the old gold wedding ring he had worn since the day he married my mother.

"I wanted..." He paused to catch his breath. "...to give this to you tonight."

He placed the ring in my palm.

"It belongs to the Carter family."

My vision blurred.

"Dad..."

"I promised your mother..." His breathing became uneven again. "...that I'd see you build a family of your own."

The monitor beside him began climbing faster.

"I don't want to leave wondering whether you'll face this world alone."

Dr. Harrison's warning echoed in my head.

No emotional stress.

Another shock could kill him.

I looked at the wedding ring in my hand.

Then toward the closed ICU door.

For the first time all day, I realized I had reached a point where there was no good choice—only the least damaging one.

Before I could decide, someone knocked lightly.

The maintenance worker was still standing outside, as though he hadn't wanted to leave until he knew everything was all right.

Our eyes met.

He must have seen the desperation on my face because he hesitated for only a moment before stepping inside.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

My father turned toward him.

A faint smile appeared beneath the oxygen mask.

"There you are."

The man looked confused.

"So..." my father continued, his voice barely above a whisper, "...you're my daughter's husband."

I opened my mouth to explain.

The words refused to come.

The man glanced at me once.

Just once.

Then, to my astonishment, he looked back at my father and answered calmly,

"Yes, sir."

The tension in my father's face melted away.

He smiled, closed his eyes for a brief moment, and whispered, "Now... I can finally rest."

I stared at the stranger in disbelief.

He had just stepped into the biggest lie of my life without asking a single question.

And when Dr. Harrison quietly closed the ICU door behind us, the stranger finally turned to me and spoke for the first time.

"My name is Adrian Brooks," he said, his voice smooth and steady. "If you want your father to keep believing this... we'll need to make it true."

I stared at the janitor's uniform, then down at my grandmother's ring, a dizzying realization hitting me. Was I really about to legally marry a complete stranger just to keep my father alive?