Chapter 4

But when Celeste saw the blood at the corner of my mouth, she instinctively released Nolan.

Panic flashed in her eyes.

"Adrian, are you all right? I didn't mean to..."

She took a step toward me, but Nolan clung to her arm, looking devastated.

"Celeste, I only came to thank Adrian for doing my surgery.

"I didn't expect him to wave your divorce papers in my face and call me a home-wrecking bastard."

He covered the side of his face and pretended to shrink away.

"I told him we really love each other. That's when he hit me. He even said I had to get out of his apartment."

Celeste's expression darkened.

Nolan lifted his chin just enough to give me a smug, challenging look.

Without hesitation, Celeste grabbed me and dragged me out of bed.

"Apologize to Nolan, Adrian."

I landed on the floor and looked up at her.

And then I laughed.

"What did he say that wasn't true? Why should I apologize?

"Oh, wait. One thing was wrong. Nolan doesn't even rank as the other man. He's more like the seventh."

"You...!"

Nolan clutched his groin and groaned dramatically.

I struggled to my feet, gave Celeste a cold look, and started limping toward the door.

Nolan's wailing grew louder.

"If Adrian won't even apologize, what happens when people call our baby illegitimate?

"I might as well be dead!"

A hand clamped around my wrist.

Celeste looked at me with open disgust, as if I were her enemy.

"Apologize," she said flatly.

Then, in a rapid whisper, she delivered her threat.

"Don't forget that your grandmother is still in a private hospital suite. My medical connections are the only thing keeping her alive."

She took out her phone and called her assistant, Owen.

"Suspend production of the specialty medication. Effective immediately."

I stared at her.

She knew Grandma was the only family I had left in the world, and she was still holding her life over me just to appease Nolan.

Celeste checked her watch impatiently.

"If I remember correctly, without that medication, her condition will deteriorate within three days."

My legs felt like lead.

Slowly, I turned back.

I forced the words through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Nolan leaned against her, looking timid.

"He doesn't sound sorry. Does he mean it?

"He hit me, and that's it? No punishment? My face still hurts."

At some point, Celeste had called in her security guards.

One kicked the back of my leg.

My knees slammed against the floor, and cold sweat broke out across my forehead.

Celeste looked down at me.

"Kneel and apologize to Nolan. Slap yourself a hundred times. You can get up when he's satisfied."

I stayed still.

She immediately made another call.

Grandma's voice came through the speaker.

"Celeste, is that you? Where's Adrian?"

"Don't!"

I lunged forward, seized the phone, and ended the call.

"Please don't tell Grandma. Her heart can't take it.

"I'll apologize. I'll do it."

So I knelt outside the hospital room and struck my own face again and again.

"I'm sorry," I repeated, over and over.

People passed along the corridor, stopping with delighted curiosity to watch the spectacle.

I lost count of the blows. My cheeks swelled until I could barely feel them.

Nolan covered his mouth in an exaggerated yawn.

"Celeste, I'm sleepy."

She instantly took his hand.

As they walked past me, she said coldly, "Consider this a lesson. Stop picking on Nolan."

I collapsed onto the floor.

I don't know how long I lay there before someone poured urine over me.

"That's the unethical doctor who slapped a patient three days after surgery!"

"Wait, isn't he the doctor whose CEO wife cheated on him seven times?"

"He's even on TV! I didn't realize he was this awful."

I heard the television inside a nearby room.

My blood turned to ice.

I forced myself upright and ran for Grandma's suite.

Doctors and nurses were rushing around her bed. On the television, a recording showed me kneeling in the corridor and slapping myself.

Grandma opened her eyes when she saw me.

She gripped my hand with surprising strength.

"Adrian. You should never have to kneel for anyone. Leave her, sweetheart. Don't let me be a burden anymore."

Her eyes widened.

Then her breathing stopped.

I held her motionless body against me, unable to let go.

Eventually, a shadow fell across us.

"I'm sorry," a familiar voice said. "I got here too late."

My own voice came out raw.

"My grandmother is dead. None of them gets to walk away from this."

I looked up, my eyes burning, and smiled.

"How would you like a stake in Harrington Holdings?"

...

Third-Person POV

Elsewhere in the hospital, Celeste had finally coaxed Nolan to sleep, but the unease in her chest wouldn't fade.

She called Owen.

"How is Adrian?"

Owen sounded frantic.

"Ms. Harrington, we have a crisis! Your husband dumped all his shares in the company at a steep discount. The stock price is collapsing..."

At that moment, Celeste glanced at the monitor by the nurses' station, where the morgue's release list was scrolling past.

One of the names was Ruth Vale.