Chapter 4
Three days later, I was with Claire, helping her with the discharge paperwork.
As we passed by a noisy hospital room.
I couldn't help but glance inside.
Ryan was standing there, and Jason was next to him, his hands still wrapped in bandages.
I instantly realized.
It had to be Ryan's father's room.
I quickly grabbed Claire's arm, trying to hurry her away.
But Jason happened to spot us right then.
His expression darkened.
He marched straight out of the room, stepped in front of Claire, and gave her a cocky arch of his brow.
Jason said, "Claire, are you here for me? What, are you regretting it now?"
His eyes were full of contempt and disgust.
Jason said, "A woman as calculating and cold as you could kneel in front of me begging and it would still turn my stomach. I will never forgive you, not in this life."
Claire was caught completely off guard by his sudden, over-the-top rant.
She stood there, stunned for a long moment, before finally finding her voice.
She shot back, "Are you crazy? Are we even close? Who needs your forgiveness anyway?"
Jason scoffed and turned away, acting like he was still the superstar nobody could touch.
He said, "Claire, remember what you said today. Even if you come crying and begging me to star in a blockbuster script, I won't even give it a second glance!"
Claire gave him a look like he'd lost his mind, about to snap back.
Suddenly, a guy's voice piped up behind her, sounding all aggrieved.
"Baby, who are you planning to give my movie script to?"
Claire spun around, caught off guard.
I turned to look, too.
And there he was, a good-looking man standing right next to Claire, and I had no idea when he'd shown up.
I did a double take, too.
It was Lucas Hughes.
Lucas was the newbie actor Claire had just started taking under her wing.
They'd been getting pretty close lately.
Claire quickly turned around to face him, her voice dropping to a soft whisper.
She said, "Weren't you supposed to be filming overseas? What are you doing back so suddenly?"
Lucas gave her a lingering, meaningful look.
He said, "My girlfriend is in the hospital, so of course I flew back overnight. If I hadn't asked Natalie, were you ever planning to tell me?"
He glanced at Jason, who was still standing there looking completely dumbfounded, and added with a jealous edge,
"Looks like the second I'm gone, all the cute guys start circling around you, huh?"
Claire touched her nose awkwardly, clearly embarrassed.
She said, "Stop making things up, nothing like that happened."
Jason finally snapped out of it, scoffing at how Claire and Lucas were practically glued together, his laugh full of jealousy and annoyance.
He sneered, "Wow, Claire, can't handle being single for even a minute? Already rushing to your next guy?"
He strode forward, trying to grab Claire's hand.
But Lucas, who was taller, grabbed Jason's hand in one swift move.
And he caught Jason right on his bandaged hand.
Jason froze up in pain, his whole body stiffening.
Lucas let go, acting like he'd only just noticed the injury, giving him an innocent blink with those pretty eyes.
He said, "Oh? Turns out you're the injured guy.
"Since you're already this weak, maybe you should just focus on healing up instead of bothering someone else's girl."
Lucas ignored Jason and his black expression.
He turned to Claire, who wouldn't meet his eyes.
Lucas teased, "Come on, tell me. I was out of the country for three days, so how many new admirers did you pick up?"
He wrapped his arm around Claire, not taking no for an answer, and practically dragged her off with him.
I quickly looked away, pretending I didn't see Claire's desperate look for help.
Right beside me, Jason stood frozen and watched them leave.
It was like he couldn't believe Claire had brushed him off like that.
He kept watching until Claire was completely out of sight.
Emily came out of the hospital room and asked him.
"Jason, who were you talking to?"
Jason didn't even respond.
He shot me one last look.
Then he turned around.
His expression was unreadable.
The whole thing had gotten dull.
I was about to head out.
Just then, Ryan walked out and stopped me.
"Natalie Morgan."
He hesitated, lips pressed tight, like he wanted to say something but couldn't.
I turned my head away and walked off, not even bothering to respond.
He started to go after me.
But Emily came running out and grabbed his arm.
She said, "Ryan, your dad's awake!"
Ryan stopped in his tracks.
With a resigned look, he finally turned and headed back into the hospital room.