Chapter 3

Wayne's face instantly turned bright red. He was so flustered that he didn't know what to do and couldn't even look me in the eye.

He turned to comfort Andrea first, reaching out to pat her arm gently. "It's windy outside. Why did you come all the way here?"

Andrea lowered her eyes, her voice soft and plaintive. "I was worried that you and Edith would argue, so I came over to check. If I had known that bowl of leftover oatmeal would upset Edith, I would have just thrown it away. It's my fault for causing her trouble."

All the resentment, pain, and disappointment I had bottled up for so long exploded at that moment. I no longer wanted to keep giving in. For the first time, I straightened my back and fired back at her without hesitation.

"Andrea, if you really felt sorry, you wouldn't have come all the way to my hospital room to tell me to my face that the oatmeal was your leftovers.

"You knew I just had surgery for gastroenteritis and that I was allergic to honey, yet you still let Wayne bring me leftovers that contained honey. Who exactly is causing trouble on purpose?"

My voice wasn't loud, but every word came out crystal clear, and I didn't back down in the slightest.

Andrea never expected that I, who had always been gentle and yielding, would stand up to her. She froze for a few seconds. The next moment, her eyes quickly filled with tears, and her shoulders trembled slightly.

She hid behind Wayne as if she were the victim, clutching his sleeve tightly, and began sobbing quietly.

When Wayne saw her crying, his face instantly turned frighteningly grim. He turned to look at me, his eyes full of disappointment and blame.

"Edith Trevino, do you have to speak so harshly?" he demanded. "Andrea kindly went out of her way to visit you, but you were so aggressive that you scared her to tears. Don't you have even the slightest respect for other people?"

The incision on my abdomen throbbed in waves, and cold sweat ran down my forehead. "She came here to provoke me. She deliberately showed up to reveal that the oatmeal was the portion she had left behind, clearly wanting to humiliate me."

"She was just joking. Do you really have to keep making such a big deal out of it?" Wayne said.

He gently patted Andrea's back, comforting her softly. When he turned to look at me, his voice became incredibly cold. "Look at Andrea. You've scared her like this. Apologize."

I stared at him blankly, unable to believe what I was hearing. I had nearly died from a perforation caused by acute gastroenteritis, and he showed no concern. But when Andrea deliberately came to humiliate me, he actually forced me to back down and apologize.

I bit my lower lip. My eyes became misty, but I stubbornly refused to let the tears fall. "I won't apologize."

Seeing that I refused to give in, Wayne's expression turned cold. His tone carried an obvious threat, each word aimed at my greatest weakness.

"Edith, think carefully. You haven't worked for the past few years, and you don't have a single dollar in savings. Every medical bill and hospital expense for this surgery was paid with my card.

"If you refuse to apologize to Andrea today, I'll stop paying any of your treatment expenses starting right now. I'll also make you pay back every single dollar I've spent on you over the past few years."

His few casual words cut off every escape route I had.

I lay on the bed, unable to move. I still needed money for follow-up observation, wound care, and medication. Besides, my onboarding process for my new job in Warler hadn't been finalized yet. Without a single dollar to my name, I couldn't afford to stand up to him right now.

Andrea hid behind him and secretly glanced at me, her eyes filled with unmistakable triumph.

Despair spread through every part of my body. After a long moment, I closed my eyes and gave in, my voice almost inaudible. "I'm sorry."

Those words stripped away the last bit of my dignity.

Hearing my apology, the hostility on Wayne's face vanished instantly. He turned to gently comfort Andrea. Then he casually picked up the insulated container and the fruit basket. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and walked out of the room without looking back.

The door closed behind them, shutting out the sound of their quiet laughter and conversation.