Chapter 4

The screen was lit up. The voice memo app was recording.

The color instantly drained from his face.

I hit stop, slipped the phone back into my pocket, and gave him two choices.

"One: You get out of my room right now."

"Two: I send this audio to the entire company and let everyone know exactly what kind of trash you and Claire are. I promise you both your careers will be over by morning."

Ryan hadn't expected me to record him. His face twisted in rage, his finger trembling as he pointed at me.

"You're gonna regret this, Ethan!"

Clutching his nose, he stormed out of the room without looking back.

I collapsed back onto the bed, the adrenaline fading, leaving only the agonizing throb of my fresh incisions.

I let out a bitter sigh and called my lawyer to draft the divorce papers.

The second I hung up, Claire called.

The phone rang and rang. I didn't answer.

A few minutes later, a text came through.

"Ethan, when are you coming home? Are you seriously going to ignore me all day?"

"Weren't you just complaining that I forgot our anniversary? I'm making up for the dinner I missed last night. I'm even baking you a cake from scratch."

My face was completely blank as I blocked her number. I closed my eyes and let the exhaustion take over.

I needed to heal my body. And my mind.

Down the hall, Ryan ducked into a restroom and called Claire, his voice dripping with fake tears.

"Claire... the suite you got for me? There's a lunatic in there. He kicked me out and punched me in the face!"

"I hit my head on the door. I think I have a concussion."

"Look, if changing rooms is this much trouble, just forget it. My current room doesn't get much light, but I don't want to make things hard for you..."

At home, standing over the untouched steak dinner, Claire's face hardened.

"Who the hell do they think they are? Stay right there. I'm coming to sort this out."

She didn't even glance at the romantic dinner she'd supposedly prepared for me. She grabbed her coat and stormed out the door.

It didn't take long before I heard shouting outside my door.

"Didn't I tell you to move him? My friend needs the morning sun. Is it really that hard to switch a bed?"

The nurses' station went dead silent.

Claire's expression turned lethal. The charge nurse stammered, terrified.

"Ms. Whitmore, our hands are tied. The patient in that room... his situation is very delicate. He's severely injured and just got out of surgery this afternoon. Maybe... maybe you should go look inside yourself."

"I don't care how badly he's hurt! Move him!" Claire snapped. "Who could possibly be more important than my friend?"

When no one answered, she scoffed, marching furiously toward my door.

"Fine! Let's see who this VIP is that thinks he can cross me."

She shoved the door open.

And locked eyes with me, just as I was applying ointment to my infected wounds.

Chapter 4

The screen was lit up. The voice memo app was recording.

The color instantly drained from his face.

I hit stop, slipped the phone back into my pocket, and gave him two choices.

"One: You get out of my room right now."

"Two: I send this audio to the entire company and let everyone know exactly what kind of trash you and Claire are. I promise you both your careers will be over by morning."

Ryan hadn't expected me to record him. His face twisted in rage, his finger trembling as he pointed at me.

"You're gonna regret this, Ethan!"

Clutching his nose, he stormed out of the room without looking back.

I collapsed back onto the bed, the adrenaline fading, leaving only the agonizing throb of my fresh incisions.

I let out a bitter sigh and called my lawyer to draft the divorce papers.

The second I hung up, Claire called.

The phone rang and rang. I didn't answer.

A few minutes later, a text came through.

"Ethan, when are you coming home? Are you seriously going to ignore me all day?"

"Weren't you just complaining that I forgot our anniversary? I'm making up for the dinner I missed last night. I'm even baking you a cake from scratch."

My face was completely blank as I blocked her number. I closed my eyes and let the exhaustion take over.

I needed to heal my body. And my mind.

Down the hall, Ryan ducked into a restroom and called Claire, his voice dripping with fake tears.

"Claire... the suite you got for me? There's a lunatic in there. He kicked me out and punched me in the face!"

"I hit my head on the door. I think I have a concussion."

"Look, if changing rooms is this much trouble, just forget it. My current room doesn't get much light, but I don't want to make things hard for you..."

At home, standing over the untouched steak dinner, Claire's face hardened.

"Who the hell do they think they are? Stay right there. I'm coming to sort this out."

She didn't even glance at the romantic dinner she'd supposedly prepared for me. She grabbed her coat and stormed out the door.

It didn't take long before I heard shouting outside my door.

"Didn't I tell you to move him? My friend needs the morning sun. Is it really that hard to switch a bed?"

The nurses' station went dead silent.

Claire's expression turned lethal. The charge nurse stammered, terrified.

"I don't care how badly he's hurt! Move him!" Claire snapped. "Who could possibly be more important than my friend?"

When no one answered, she scoffed, marching furiously toward my door.

"Fine! Let's see who this VIP is that thinks he can cross me."

She shoved the door open.

And locked eyes with me, just as I was applying ointment to my infected wounds.