Chapter 2

[As if! The bad lady is lying!] My son's voice fired off in my head. [Mommy, take her down! The blue folder on the desk behind her big butt says she's Daddy's fiancee. She's totally shameless!

[She used the fact that her uncle is the care center's deputy director to bribe the admin and secretly changed Daddy's marital status in the system!]

Armed with that very specific intel, I sidestepped Jessica without hesitation, went straight to the desk, and yanked out the dark blue file.

"What are you doing? Put that down! That's the patient's private information!" she cried. Her face changed instantly as she lunged for it.

I swung the folder back and cracked it across her face, giving her a hard slap. The papers burst free and scattered. The hard plastic cover scraped a glaring red mark across her perfectly pampered cheek.

"I took the money and got remarried, huh? I'm causing a scene, huh?"

I pointed at the forms all over the floor and raised my voice, letting it ring down the hallway. "Then explain something to me, Dr. Shaw. Why does my husband's rehab file list you as his emergency contact? And under relationship, why does it say that you're his fiancee?"

After I threw the file at Jessica and demanded answers, the hallway went dead silent.

She cupped her stinging face, panic flashing in her eyes. But within seconds, she gritted her teeth and switched to victim mode.

"Ms. Jewell, Captain Goldman's memory is still stuck before the fire. He's in a state of severe insecurity. I listed myself as his fiancee as part of PTSD treatment—emotional substitution and desensitization therapy."

Her eyes reddened as she raised her voice. "You're the one who signed the waiver giving up the search and rescue. Now that you've found out Captain Goldman is alive, you've come back to take advantage of him! Security! Get this crazy woman out of here!"

Several burly security guards moved in immediately and grabbed my arms roughly. One of them snarled, "Come on, get moving. Don't cause a scene here!"

As they shoved and dragged me, I slipped and slammed my lower back hard into the doorframe. A sharp pain twisted through my lower abdomen. My face went white, and cold sweat instantly beaded on my forehead.

[Mommy! Mommy, are you okay?]

My son's voice turned shrill with panic in my head.

The stabbing pain in my belly and the humiliation of being manhandled hardened into something fierce and unyielding the moment I heard him.

"Don't touch me!" I shouted.

I didn't know where the burst of strength came from. I ripped my arms free from the guards' grip, clenched my teeth against the pain, and pointed to the papers scattered all over the floor.

"Emotional substitution therapy?" I let out a cold laugh. "Dr. Shaw, if this is all legitimate treatment, then why did you erase Ian's married status from the system? Why did you need your uncle, the deputy director, to help you forge Ian's entire rehab record? Are you treating a patient or just feeding your own filthy little fantasies?"

"I-I'm not… I only did that to prevent the patient from being triggered by remembering his past…" Jessica stammered. Her face turned chalk white, and she backed up, babbling incoherently.

The nurses and executives around us turned toward her, their looks shifting in an instant. Their gazes went from trust to shock and finally to open disgust.

"What are you all standing around for? Get her out of here!" She panicked and screeched at the guards.

One of the guards hesitantly moved toward me again. As he reached out to grab me, a hand clamped down on his wrist.

It was Ian. He hadn't even put on shoes. He stepped in front of me in his bare feet. His pale face hardened with fury as he shielded me completely with his body.

He stared down at the guard with bloodshot eyes. He could barely form words, but the look in his eyes made his warning clear.

My eyes and nose stung as I stared at his broad but all-too-thin back. Half of the bitterness churning in my chest suddenly melted away.

One of the care center's senior executives took one look at the scene and glared at Jessica, his expression darkening. Then, he hurriedly waved the security team back.

"Enough! Since she's a patient's family, how can she be thrown out? Alex, take Ms. Jewell to one of the VIP family apartments and get her settled in right now," he said.