Chapter 2

Christopher lowered his head. His eyes burned with obsession and desperation as he looked at Jennifer.

"No, I won't let you die. Just tell me—do you have any feelings for me at all?"

Jennifer's eyes reddened. She bit her lower lip, holding back her words.

"Don't say things like that. Alice would be upset—"

"I just want your answer. I don't care about anyone else."

At last, Jennifer stopped resisting. She leaned in and kissed him. They clung to each other in the ward, completely lost in the moment.

I raised my phone and took a photo of this touching scene.

If this had been before, I would've felt like my heart was being ripped apart. But now, all I felt was numbness and disgust.

I turned away and called my grandpa, Peter Hickman.

"I'm willing to return to the Hickman family on one condition. Immediately arrange the best cardiac surgery for my mom. The lead surgeon and the team must be top-tier."

On the other end of the call, Grandpa was overjoyed and agreed right away.

"Of course! I'll arrange everything right away. I'm just glad you've come around."

In my past life, I had actually planned to reach out to Grandpa if Christopher hadn't offered to marry me.

I was the illegitimate daughter of the Hickman family in Maverton City.

It wasn't until my father and his legal wife died in an accident last year that the Hickmans came looking for me, begging me to return and inherit the family business.

I never agreed to their offer. After all, I was only born because Mom was assaulted.

She'd suffered so much just to raise me. I couldn't bring myself to acknowledge the man who violated her.

But now, to save her life, I had no choice but to compromise.

In my past life, Christopher was the lead surgeon on Mom's case. He could easily have let something go wrong during the operation if he wanted to.

This time, everything should be fine with a new hospital and a new doctor in charge.

…

Perhaps it was because he'd made a promise to Jennifer, but Christopher started treating me even better than before.

Early the next morning, he showed up at Mom's ward.

"Alice, I brought your favorite burrito. You should eat something."

I didn't even look up. I just kept packing up Mom's things.

"There's no need. I already ate," I replied coldly.

His brow furrowed slightly. "What's wrong? You've been so cold to me these past few days."

Back then, even if he only brought me a bottle of water, I'd be over the moon. Now, my indifference clearly caught him off guard.

"There's nothing wrong. We're just regular friends. There's no need to be this close."

That line seemed to hit him hard.

Even though he always thought of me as just a friend, I knew he wouldn't want to hear me say it out loud.

His tone turned a little impatient. "Stop messing around. I know you're taking it out on me as you're worried about Ms. Morgan. But everyone knows you like me."

I looked up at him, finding that his lips were curled into a half-smile. "Aren't you the one who said that we're just friends?"

He had repeatedly distanced himself from me before, just to avoid causing misunderstandings with Jennifer.

His expression turned dark. He clearly remembered saying that too.

Suddenly, Christopher turned and saw the empty hospital bed. He grabbed my arm and asked anxiously, "Where's Ms. Morgan? Why isn't she in bed?"

His tight grip hurt, so I couldn't help but frown. "I transferred her to another hospital."

"What? Why would you transfer her? I'm her attending physician. Why wasn't I informed? Alice, where did you take her?"

I stared him straight in the eyes, a small smirk forming at my lips. "Why are you so anxious?"

He froze for a second, caught off guard by my question.

Then, he stammered, "I-I'm obviously worried about her condition. She watched me grow up. I've always seen her as a mother figure. Besides, I'm the best cardiothoracic surgeon in Aloria City. How could you transfer her without consulting me?"

The more he spoke, the more self-righteous he became. The last line practically sounded like he was accusing me.

When he was a kid, his parents were always away on business. The nanny they left in charge abused him daily. He was so hungry that he used to sneak into our family's diner to eat our patrons' leftovers.