Chapter 4

When Ethan saw me standing in his office doorway, blood dripping from my hand, his face went white.

When he got a closer look at the wound -- deep enough to show bone -- his expression turned grim.

The needle pulled through torn flesh. He cleaned and stitched in silence. Only after my hand was carefully wrapped in gauze did he speak, anger simmering beneath every word.

"This cut is deep. Do you have any idea -- your hands are everything! You're a surgeon!"

"Where's Garrett? How could he let you come here alone?"

Before I could answer, a commotion erupted in the hallway.

"Doctor! Doctor! Emergency -- hurry!"

Garrett burst through the doors carrying Scarlett, barking at other patients to get out of his way. He set her down on a gurney with exaggerated care.

Scarlett punched him lightly in the chest, playing it up.

"Relax, Garrett. Remember that bar fight we got into? Way worse than this. I'm fine -- just... if I end up with a scar, you better not ditch me."

Garrett caught her fist against his chest, his eyes brimming with tenderness.

"As long as I'm here, I won't let anything happen to your face."

"And if there is a scar... I'll marry you."

His gaze was so intense that Scarlett let out a soft little moan and buried her face in his neck.

When Garrett looked up, scanning the ER for staff, his voice took on the tone of a man accustomed to giving orders.

"I'm Garrett Monroe -- my company supplies half the equipment in this building."

"Get me every doctor available for a consult. Now. Or I'm pulling every piece of equipment we put in this place."

The ER dissolved into chaos. Ethan stood, crossed the room, and shut the door.

He looked at me for a long moment.

"When I heard about what happened at the celebration... I didn't want to believe it."

"How did you two end up like this?"

Good question. I'd been wondering the same thing.

Garrett and I met in college. Same program, same department.

He was hooked the moment he saw me.

He chased me for three years before I finally gave in.

Later, when he was pushed out of his position at a hospital, he quit in a rage. I emptied my savings so we could open Monroe Medical together.

To keep the practice afloat, I worked myself to the bone -- earning certifications, leading research projects, building a client base. I became Chief Surgeon before thirty, established myself as one of the top names in cosmetic surgery, and assembled a nationally ranked surgical team.

Monroe Medical went public. It became the premier cosmetic surgery clinic in the region.

Everyone said Garrett Monroe was a lucky man. I thought I was the lucky one too.

Then, three months ago, Scarlett walked back into Garrett's life from overseas.

And his eyes stopped finding me.

He gave all his time to Scarlett -- road trips, late-night sports bars, the works. On the day I went into labor, he was at a bar getting arrested for punching someone who'd picked a fight with her.

"Ethan." My voice was raw from a sleepless night.

"If I leave... would you come with me?"

He paused, then smiled.

"If it weren't for you, I never would have come here in the first place."

"Dr. Hale! We're coming with you!"

The door flew open and a crowd of doctors squeezed into the room, every one of them looking at me with fierce loyalty.

"If it weren't for you, none of us would be where we are. Wherever you go, we go!"

"I've been fed up with that ungrateful bastard for ages. If it weren't for you, I'd have left a long time ago."

I looked at their familiar faces, one after another, and my eyes stung.

"Alright. We leave together."

Ethan helped me lie down. "Get some rest. We'll handle things."

It felt like a weight I'd been carrying for years had finally been lifted. I slept deeply, soundly -- until the phone woke me.

"Dr. Hale -- thank God you picked up! Your in-laws threw me out!"

It was Mrs. Bennet, her voice frantic. "They tossed all my things out. I can't get through the door. The baby's been crying nonstop."

I raced back. Mrs. Bennet was pacing outside the locked door.

I was reaching for my key when I heard my father-in-law's rough voice bellowing from inside.

"Crying! Crying! All she does is cry -- cursed little brat!"

"Might as well let her starve. Save us a meal."

Patricia was inside, slamming pots and pans.

"The only good thing about her was that she had no family to cause us problems. And what do we get? Just a girl—she cannot even inherit our family fortune."

"Donald, we've gotten what we needed from her. When are you going to make him divorce her?"

"Scarlett's pregnant now!"

"The ultrasound says it's a boy. Hurry up and get rid of that woman before her bad luck rubs off."

The next second, I kicked the door open.

"Since you all hate us so much -- fine. Divorce."

"And I'm taking my daughter."