Chapter 4

Two days later, I was moved to a private room in the regular ward.

Lily had pulled some strings to get it for me. The place was quiet—perfect for "resting" and, of course, for plotting.

Ethan didn't show up again.

His assistant doctor came by once, all business, just rattling off a few instructions about my follow-up care.

Before leaving, he hesitated, then finally said, "Chief Rivers has been really swamped with surgeries lately."

I smiled and nodded. "I understand. Dr. Rivers is a busy man."

The assistant looked relieved and hurried out.

See? Even the people around him think it's only natural for him to ignore me, and I'm expected to just be "understanding" about it.

What a joke.

Lily was a whirlwind of efficiency. The very afternoon I got moved to the regular ward, she showed up with folders full of info on the lawyer and the PI.

When she saw me, battered and ghostly pale, her eyes instantly turned red. She clenched her jaw, her voice shaking with anger. "That bastard Ethan! I heard everything—when you got into that accident, he just"

"Lily," I cut her off, my voice steady as I handed her a glass of water. "It's over now."

Now's not the time to cry.

Lily stared at me, momentarily stunned by how unnaturally calm I was. She took the glass and set it down firmly on the table. "Chloe, don't freak me out. If you need to cry, just let it out. Don't bottle it up!"

I shook my head. "Tears never solve anything."

I've wasted enough of them already. Now, they're not even worth shedding.

I picked up the lawyer's file.

Adam Blake—one of the most notorious divorce lawyers in the business, known for his ruthless approach and never backing down when it comes to getting the absolute best for the underdog.

Perfect.

I turned my attention back to the detective's preliminary report.

He was quick—already dug up some interesting stuff.

Nina's background was nothing special. She was just a nurse from a small town, leveraging her looks and quick wits to climb the ladder.

The real kicker was the photos the detective managed to snap.

There were shots of Ethan and Nina having dinner together, just a few days before my accident.

Nina was beaming in the photos, and Ethan, though expressionless, wasn't showing the usual impatience and indifference he reserved for me.

There was another photo—Ethan's car parked outside a pharmacy near the accident site. Nina hopped out of the passenger seat, dashed in, and came back out carrying gauze and iodine.

So that's why he was in such a rush that day—he didn't even see me lying there, because he was busy getting Nina some bandages for her tiny scratch?

My chest ached again, a dull, heavy pain.

But it was quickly swallowed up by a cold, burning hatred.

"Chloe, what are you planning?" Lily asked, her eyes full of worry but also fierce determination. "No matter what you do, I'm always on your side."

I set the files down and stared out the window. "First, I need hard evidence. Cheating, emotional neglect, all the ways he screwed up and left me broken—those are all cards I can play."

"And then?" Lily pressed.

"Then?" I curled my lips into a cold smile. "Then, I'm going to give them a 'gift' they'll never see coming."

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Before I could even respond, the door was pushed open.

Standing there was none other than Nina.

She was dressed in a crisp white nurse's uniform, her makeup flawless and perfectly applied. In her hands was a tacky bouquet of carnations, and her face wore that perfectly rehearsed, fake look of concern.

"Ms. Hart, I heard you were moved to a regular ward, so I'm here on behalf of the department to check on you," she said, her voice all sweetness and light. But her eyes scanned me and Lily up and down like a spotlight, finally zeroing in on the folder by my hand, her gaze flickering for a split second.

'She's quick,' I thought.

'Did Ethan send her?' I wondered.

'Or is she just too impatient to wait?' I wondered.

I leaned back against the headboard, saying nothing, just quietly watching her put on her act.

Lily, unlike me, had zero patience for this. She scoffed, "Representing the department? Who the hell do you think you are? Is everyone else too busy or something—so now they just send some random nurse to check on patients?"

Nina's smile froze for a moment, but she quickly smoothed it over. She walked in, set the flowers on the nightstand, and spoke with just a touch of smugness in her voice. "Dr. Rivers is really busy—he's tied up after a big surgery and couldn't make it, so he sent me to check on you. Ms. Hart, are you feeling any better?"

She made it sound like an explanation, but it was really just her way of flaunting how close she was to Ethan—like she had enough pull to stand in for him and wield his authority.

I still didn't say a word.

Lily's temper flared. "Busy? Busy enough to ignore his own wife lying here in a hospital bed? Please, he's probably too busy catering to some shameless little homewrecker!"

Nina's face turned bright red, her eyes welling up as she put on her most pitiful look. "Hey, that's not fair! Dr. Rivers and I are just coworkers, that's all. He's just really nice, you know? He looks after everyone, not just me."

"Oh, so he's taking care of you in bed now?" Lily snapped, not holding back for a second.

"You!" Nina's eyes brimmed with tears, looking like she'd just been hit with the worst injustice ever. "Ms. Hart, are you really going to let your friend talk trash about me and Dr. Rivers? We're just coworkers, nothing else going on between us!"

I finally looked up at her, my voice calm and steady. "Nurse Summers, thanks for coming by. The flowers are pretty, but I'm allergic to pollen. Could you please take them out?"

Nina froze, clearly not expecting me to stay so calm.

She stared at my calm face, and for a split second, I caught a flicker of panic—and maybe even a trace of resentment—in her eyes.

She probably wanted to see me fall apart, maybe even burst into tears.

That way, she could really show off her so-called "kindness" and "innocence."

But I wasn't about to give her that satisfaction.

"Anything else?" I asked coolly, clearly dismissing her.

Nina bit her lip, as if something had just occurred to her, and pulled a phone out of her nurse's uniform pocket. "Oh, right, Ms. Hart. Dr. Rivers asked me to bring this to you. He said your phone got damaged, so you can use this one for now."

It was the latest model—a flashy, girly phone, the kind that screamed for attention. Definitely not Ethan's style.

Honestly, it looked like something Nina would buy for herself.

Did Ethan actually buy this, or did Nina just take it upon herself?

Now, isn't that interesting.

Was this supposed to be compensation? Or just a handout?

Or maybe this was just their way of rubbing salt in the wound, seeing how I'd react.

I just looked at the phone in her hand, making no move to take it.

The tension in the room spiked, thick enough to cut with a knife.