Chapter 3

I kept packing my things late into the night.

Father Grant stayed by my side the entire time. He looked guilty, maybe a bit reluctant, but he stopped trying to talk me out of it.

I couldn't blame him. After all, officiating the most envied marriage in the city had always been his proudest achievement.

Now, this marriage was like a rose infested with worms—still bright on the outside, but thoroughly revolting underneath.

"What are you doing?"

I hadn't even noticed Jane coming back.

When I looked up while sticking a shipping label onto a box, my eyes locked right into hers.

"These old things are getting worn out. I'm shipping them back to my hometown, and then you can buy me new ones."

I kept my voice low, trying not to let her pick up on anything strange.

Jane was too smart, though. She narrowed her eyes, and I knew right then she was suspicious.

Since I didn't want any trouble before I left, I pulled out the bouquet of roses to distract her.

"Why is one-tenth missing from every gift you've ever given me?"

"I took them out to look at them so often that I ended up losing some," she lied, completely on instinct.

I pressed a hand over my heart.

This time, there was no sharp pain. Just a deep, overwhelming wave of helplessness sinking straight into my bloodstream.

"Dad, you're so annoying! Theo is the best..."

"Lucas, shut your mouth!"

Jane snapped at our son, her voice cold and stern. "What did I tell you about speaking to your dad like that? Apologize!"

"Sorry, Dad..."

Looking at my son's reluctant little face, I couldn't bring myself to say a word.

That feeling of helplessness grew wilder inside me, as if it were about to swallow whatever little life I had left.

"Oscar!"

Jane looked at me, her face suddenly turning deathly pale.

Before I could process what was happening, she rushed forward to steady me.

It was only when I saw the crimson blood on her hands that I realized what had happened. I hadn't felt it because the grief was too intense, but my body had tensed up on its own and torn the wound wide open.

That very stab wound she had orchestrated, the one I had thrown myself forward to protect her, had torn open again.

"Thank God I came back early. Oscar, I wish I could just shrink you down and carry you in my pocket everywhere I go."

She looked up at me, her eyes overflowing with heartache.

It was hard to imagine that this woman, who seemed to care so deeply about me, had just come straight from the bed of my personal doctor.

Cleaning the wound was agonizing. The injuries left behind by the shattered glass tortured me every single second.

On top of that, the blood clotting disorder caused by my past injuries meant that every time they dressed my wounds, I was walking the fine line between life and death.

The most feared mob boss in the city sat by my bedside, weeping as if her heart were breaking.

"Oscar, don't be so foolish next time."

I turned my head away, unable to look at her.

All the gentle affection I used to treasure had now turned into that sickening nine-tenths of a lie.

"Oscar, I'm begging you. Just get a medical checkup tomorrow, okay?" Jane pleaded softly.

Just to get her to stop bothering me, I gave a half-hearted nod and made a single demand.

"No Theo, though."

The next day.

The face popping out from behind the door still bore Theo's provocative smirk. "I'm sorry, Mr. Burke, but I've always been the one managing your health. Ms. Fraiser simply doesn't trust any other doctor."

I glared at Jane.

Yet she just gently wrapped an arm around my shoulders, coaxing me softly. "Oscar, don't be stubborn. Theo has more experience. He won't make you suffer through it twice."

Before I could say another word, Theo grabbed the chart and called Jane outside under the pretense of discussing my exam.

This was my body, yet I didn't even have the right to know what was going on.

After waiting for a long time without seeing either of them return, I leaned against the wall and staggered out.

I didn't see a single member of the house staff in the hallway.

When I reached the glass doors leading to the back garden, my heart suddenly seized up.

There, right in the middle of the daisy patch she had planted for me, Jane and Theo were locked in a passionate kiss.

A sudden, violent coughing fit shattered the moment. I gasped, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

Jane turned pale as a sheet and rushed over to grip my hands. She looked even more frantic than I was, showing not a single trace of the woman who had just been cheating on me a second ago.

I gripped her hands back, a desperate plea in my voice. "Jane, stop the checkups. I don't trust him."