Chapter 3

When Camilla arrived at the nurses' station, she found Charlotte hunched over her laptop, typing away furiously. Her eyes shifted to the counter, where the lunchbox was left untouched.

Walking up to Charlotte, she asked, "You didn't give him the food?"

Charlotte's eyes lit up the moment she saw Camilla. She immediately started grumbling.

"You have no idea how condescending he was to me just now! If you ask me, you've spoiled him rotten. He even has the nerve to talk back to me now! If I weren't in a rush to finish my thesis, I would've given him a piece of my mind right on the spot. You know what? I can't let this slide. I'm going to tell Mom about this when I go home tonight!"

Camilla frowned. "He didn't want the food?"

Charlotte nodded. "Yeah. He took one look at the food and probably thought it wasn't worth eating. Then he started saying a bunch of nonsense to me, too! But hasn't he always eaten our leftovers back home anyway? He never threw a fit over that before."

Camilla pulled over a chair and sat down before opening the lunchbox.

"Is it really that bad?" she wondered before spearing a piece of the beef with a fork, nibbling at it while Charlotte looked on in astonishment.

Immediately, her frown deepened. Her instinctive reaction was to spit the meat out, but for some reason, she forced herself to swallow it. "It's… not that bad."

Charlotte couldn't quite wrap her head around the situation. "Camilla! Did you seriously eat that?"

Ignoring her, Camilla calmly wiped her mouth with a tissue before asking, "What exactly did he say?"

Still dazed, Charlotte answered without thinking, "He said... I should… feed it to a dog."

The instant she realized what she'd just blurted out, she hurriedly covered her mouth, but it was too late.

Watching Camilla's expression grow darker by the second, she glanced down at the fork in Camilla's hand and frantically added, "I'm not the one who said it!"

…

Back in his office, Jeremy was organizing the files for the two long-term patients under his care in the nephrology department. One of them was Zachary.

After checking the time, Jeremy knew from experience that Camilla would soon come over to process Zachary's discharge paperwork. He'd done it countless times already.

Whenever Zachary wanted to visit an amusement park, check out some trendy restaurant, or just leave the hospital for a few hours, he'd insist on being properly discharged, paperwork and all, just to get on Jeremy's nerves.

While Camilla was busy packing a bag for Zachary, he would come running over to Jeremy and say maliciously, "Sorry about this. I'm just going to borrow your wife for a bit. You don't mind, right?"

Jeremy picked up the divorce agreement he'd prepared long ago and slipped it inside the folder containing the discharge instructions and hospitalization billing statement.

Soon after that, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

As expected, Camilla came in. As she moved, the hem of her white skirt swayed gently, revealing her smooth, fair calves.

Jeremy had to admit that he was rather fond of this particular youthful style of dressing. Unfortunately, she wasn't wearing it for him. Furthermore, her expression looked even nastier than it did back in the hospital room.

Camilla threw a stack of documents onto his desk hard enough that they thumped loudly.

"Process the discharge," she said curtly, saying as little as humanly possible.

Jeremy didn't waste any time either. He gathered the paperwork and flipped to a page that required a signature.

"He can leave once you sign here."

Without a word, Camilla picked up the pen and signed her name. She was just about to set the pen down when Jeremy abruptly flipped to a different page.

"You need to sign here as well."

Her brows immediately furrowed.

"Why are there more forms to sign this time? Did you prescribe extra medication?" she questioned, her gaze cold. "I know doctors earn bonuses for arranging more medical tests and issuing more prescriptions, but you only got into this hospital thanks to the Sloan family. You shouldn't be so greedy."

Jeremy calmly met her gaze. If she'd bothered to show even the slightest interest in his situation, she would've known that because of the Sloan family's interference, his salary was practically the same as a nurse's, and he wasn't entitled to any bonuses either.

Sliding the folder of documents over to Camilla, he asked, "Right. Why don't you check it yourself, then?"

Camilla gave him a long, hard look. In the end, she didn't inspect the paperwork. Instead, the tightness between her brows eased ever so slightly as she signed without another question.

Lowering his eyes, Jeremy quietly removed one of the documents before handing her the folder filled with the discharge paperwork.

Since the divorce agreement had already been signed, given the Sloan family's influence, they could easily expedite the process and have the divorce finalized immediately. That was provided, of course, if they were willing to help him with that.

That being said, Jeremy knew without a doubt that the entire Sloan family wanted nothing more than to replace him with someone else, and Zachary was an excellent candidate. Even though his family wasn't as illustrious as the Sloans', he did grow up with Camilla, so the two had a rock-solid relationship.

As for his illness?

The Sloans had already issued an urgent notice, sparing no effort in finding a suitable kidney donor for him. With their resources, it was only a matter of time before they succeeded. His condition was stable enough for him to wait till then.

Therefore, the so-called 99 final wishes were nothing more than a big fat joke, but so what? Someone was willing to indulge in his whims.

"The deposit paid during the initial hospitalization covers the bill. You can collect the remaining balance at the cashier," Jeremy said evenly.

Camilla could tell he was telling her to leave. He didn't even want to spend a single second longer with her unless necessary, huh? Well, it wasn't like she was dying to stick around either.

Snorting, she was about to leave when Jeremy's phone began ringing on the desk. She glanced at the screen, pausing when she saw the name Harriet Eastwood spelled out in full.

That was her mother's name.

A trace of displeasure crossed Camilla's face. "No wonder Mom always says you don't respect her. She's your mother-in-law. How can you save her name like that, like she's some stranger?"

Ignoring her, Jeremy continued to organize his other patient's file.

Growing impatient, she barked, "Aren't you going to take the call? Maybe Mom wants us home for dinner."

Jeremy paused.

Home for dinner? What dinner when she already had a hotel reservation?

Besides, there was no way Harriet would've prepared dinner herself for them.

At last, Jeremy looked up. The unmistakable sarcasm in his eyes made Camilla frown. Without paying her any further attention, he took the call.

Even without putting the call on speaker mode, Harriet's shrill voice echoed in the silent office anyway.

"Jeremy Cooper! Do you even know what time it is? Why haven't you come home to make dinner yet? What are Camilla and Charlotte going to eat later? They're young women with delicate constitutions! What's going to happen to them if they're forced to go hungry?"

"I already told you that I'll be on duty today," Jeremy replied impassively.

Harriet's voice grew even louder. "How dare you not know what your real priorities are? Your job is to stay home and wait on us! Who cares about that stupid job of yours? We're the ones paying your salary anyway!"

Crude as her words were, she wasn't entirely wrong, though it seemed the Sloans didn't communicate much with each other.

Did Camilla not tell Harriet that it was Camilla who insisted on Jeremy taking a job at the hospital?

Nevertheless, he was in no mood to clarify the situation. He simply remarked, "Weren't you the one who said I was just bumming around at home and lazy for not finding myself a job? Now that I have a job, you're still dissatisfied."

Harriet's voice faltered for a moment before turning even sharper. "How dare you talk to me like that! What kind of attitude is that, huh?"

Jeremy held the phone away from his ear and said calmly, "I'll bring you a present when I get home. I'm sure you'll love it."

He was pretty certain Harriet would be thrilled to see the signed divorce agreement. He dropped the call without waiting for a response.

Camilla had heard the entire conversation. After a short silence, she finally said, "Mom is still your mother-in-law. You should be more patient and accommodating when you talk to her, and you shouldn't be ending the call on her first. Doing so will only make it seem like you weren't raised right."

Jeremy eyed her and snorted mockingly. "You Sloans are all the same—you have the same double standards."

Camilla frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Jeremy slowly rose to his feet.

"A married woman is using the excuse of granting someone's wishes to carry on an inappropriate relationship with another man without the slightest sense of boundaries. The Sloan family most definitely raised her right."