Chapter 4

Half an hour later, Robert was wheeled out of the emergency room.

The moment Kristie saw him, she burst into tears and threw herself at him, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Robert… Are you okay? You scared me to death!"

Her wailing drew the attention of nearby patients and their families.

Robert weakly raised his hand, wanting to push her away, but he didn't have the strength. Still, I caught the flash of disgust in his eyes. After all, he had a wife and was famously afraid of her.

Kristie's behavior was simply asking for trouble.

"Enough! Stop howling," I coldly interrupted her performance as I stepped forward. "The doctor said he's fine. Do you want the whole hospital to hear you crying?"

She was so startled that her crying stopped abruptly, but she still clung tightly to Robert's hand.

Pretending not to notice, I said to the orderly, "Please take the patient to his room so he can rest."

Once we got to the hospital room, I sent the orderly away and closed the door, leaving just the three of us inside.

Robert was propped up against the headboard, still breathing heavily and glaring at me with a dark, hostile look.

"Brooke…" he rasped, his voice rough like sandpaper. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

I blinked, then arranged my expression into one of shock. "What are you talking about, Mr. Spradlin? How could I have known you'd take my cake? Besides, I'm also allergic to peanuts. If I were the one who ate it, I'd be the one lying here right now."

His face flushed a deep red, but he had no rebuttal. After all, he had been the one to snatch the cake from me out of greed.

Kristie finally came to her senses and immediately pointed at me.

"Stop pretending, Brooke Driver!" she yelled. "You were clearly trying to kill him!"

"You can't just throw around accusations randomly, Kristie Madison."

I took out my phone, pulled up the chat history, and shoved it in her face. "Take a good look. I told you I'm allergic to peanuts and asked you not to buy anything that contained them. And what did you buy? A cake with crushed peanuts!"

The chat history displayed clearly on the screen left her at a loss for words. Her face turned deathly pale, and she turned to Robert for help.

Robert might have hated me at that moment, but he knew perfectly well that this whole thing was Kristie's fault. She had even nearly killed him.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, clearly not wanting to deal with her.

Just then, a nurse's voice announcing her rounds could be heard outside the door.

I took the opportunity to step out, but deliberately didn't shut the door, leaving it slightly ajar. Then, instead of leaving, I quietly stood outside and listened.

Sure enough, not long after, low voices came from inside the room.

"Babe… don't cry…"

Robert's voice was weak, but it carried a creepy gentleness. "I know you didn't mean it. That woman just got lucky this time…"

"Robert," Kristie sobbed, her voice so saccharine that it made my skin crawl. "I was so scared… If anything had happened to you, how could I go on?"

Then came rustling sounds, as if they were embracing or kissing.

I held my breath, pressing myself against the wall.

"Don't be scared, baby," Robert snarled viciously. "We can't keep Brooke around anymore. Once the commission from that big contract comes in, I'll find an excuse to fire her.

"I'll recommend you to headquarters for the account supervisor position at next week's promotion meeting and make you a permanent hire."

"Really? But… But she's the one who secured that contract…"

"So what? She's a supervisor, and you're in admin. If I say the credit goes to you, who'll know any different? Besides, that old hag at home only knows how to take care of the kids. I call the shots at the office. Once we get rid of Brooke, we can finally be together out in the open…"

Hearing that, a chill ran down my spine, followed by a surge of overwhelming rage.

I turned around and immediately called Robert's wife.

"Rose, did you know that your husband is keeping a mistress on the side?"