Chapter 4

Were Caleb and Serena really just crossing a line emotionally?

The moment the thought surfaced, even Claire startled herself.

“Claire, are you listening?”

Caleb’s confused voice pulled her back.

Claire came to her senses and suddenly found the smile on his face unbearably fake.

When he reached for her, she turned aside and avoided his hand.

“I’m fine,” she said flatly. “Go stay with Serena. I can go home by myself.”

Over the past year, whenever Claire was sick or needed him most, Caleb had gone to keep Serena company instead.

Claire had been angry. She had felt hurt.

But now, after seeing the disgusting truth between them, she only wanted Caleb to get as far away from her as possible.

Caleb was not surprised by her understanding. Just as he had done so many times before, he lowered his voice and said, “All right. I’ll have Owen drive you home.”

Owen was his driver.

Claire nodded. Before Caleb could finish speaking, she walked out with medicine in her hand.

Perhaps because of the pain, she kept her injured hand slightly raised.

The emergency department was crowded late at night, but every other patient had family with them.

Only Claire was alone.

Caleb frowned and hurried after her.

“Forget it. I’ll take you home first.”

He spoke gently as he took the medicine from her. At the same time, he carefully supported her right hand.

Claire looked up at him.

“Didn’t you say Serena was scared to be alone in the room?”

Caleb said, “Aren’t you afraid of the dark? You’ll be scared going home alone too.”

There was a smile in his eyes.

“Besides, you’re my wife. Taking my wife home is what I’m supposed to do.”

How considerate. Exactly what a husband was supposed to do.

After all, this marriage had only ever been his so-called compensation. It was normal for him to fulfill his duties as a husband.

When they reached the entrance, Caleb went to get the car.

Claire stood by the roadside.

The wind was cold.

Her heart was colder.

She looked up at the moon. After a while, her vision blurred. She lowered her head and wiped away the tears spilling from the corners of her eyes.

She was not crying for the man she had once truly loved.

She was thinking of her grandma.

Her grandma had spent her whole life doing good, yet she had died such a desolate death.

And all it took for Caleb to dismiss it was, “Serena, you didn’t mean to.”

The murderer and her accomplice were free, enjoying a wealthy, leisure life.

The victim’s grievance had nowhere to go. No one had answered for it.

Claire would never let them off.

The wind grew sharper and colder.

Claire hunched her shoulders slightly and took her phone from her bag.

Twenty minutes had passed, and Caleb still had not come.

Then she saw a message from fifteen minutes ago.

[Serena is crying badly. I’ve already called Owen. Your body still hasn’t fully recovered, so stand somewhere out of the wind. Be careful not to catch a cold.]

Claire curled her lips in a small laugh.

She was laughing at her own blindness.

So that was how long Caleb’s promises lasted. Five minutes. How had she ever believed his nonsense?

Just then, a Porsche stopped in front of her.

Owen quickly got out and opened the door, surprise in his voice.

“Mrs. Whitmore, why are you standing out here waiting? Please get in and warm up. Mr. Whitmore also told me to bring a thicker coat. Here, put this on.”

Claire accepted the coat, thanked him, and got into the car.

Her body was her own. She would not harm her health for anyone else’s mistakes.

After she got home, she asked Mrs. Walsh to make her a bowl of ginger tea.

Once she drank it, Claire went back to her room and slept.

At nine o’clock the next morning, she got up on time and left the house.

When she arrived at the hospital, Professor Langley had just arrived with his team.

Claire exchanged a few polite words with him, then led them to Gideon’s room.

The attending physician was already used to new medical teams getting involved.

Over the past year, the Whitmore family had found many people to examine Gideon, but there had been no improvement.

This time would probably be the same.

Still, from the look of it, the patient did not seem to be as valued as before. Otherwise, why would it be his sister-in-law who came?

Unexpectedly, inside the room, Professor Langley said to Claire, “If it weren’t for you asking, the Whitmores wouldn’t have been able to get me here.

“Come on, let me see whether your fundamentals have grown rusty after all these years.”

With that, he began questioning her about the case file.

Claire answered each question one by one. Every answer was textbook perfect.

Professor Langley looked very pleased.

“I told you before, you’re the most gifted student I’ve ever taught.”

“And I’ll say the same thing again. Think carefully about coming abroad with me. The position as my assistant has always been waiting for you. With the two of us working together, we could tackle plenty of difficult cases.”

Hearing her teacher say that, Claire felt a wave of emotion.

She said seriously, “I’ll think about it. Once I’ve settled things here, I hope you won’t find me lacking.”

If her grandma had not suddenly fallen ill back then, she would have already gone abroad with Professor Langley for further study.

Professor Langley nodded and did not continue on the subject.

Then he suddenly said, “Take off the patient’s pants.”

Claire froze.

She hesitated. “His pants?”

“Yes. The patient has been unconscious for this long. We need to check lower-limb nerve reflexes and muscle strength, and assess whether the spinal cord is involved. His condition is complicated and needs to be examined from multiple angles.”

Professor Langley spoke solemnly.

Claire, however, found it difficult to act.

Doctors were not supposed to distinguish between genders.

But this was Gideon.

A man who seemed untouchable, cold and distant like something high above the world.

Was it really all right for her to take off his pants?

While she was hesitating, Professor Langley spoke again.

“Hurry up. Let your juniors learn as well.”

Claire stopped overthinking it.

She ignored Gideon’s face, pinched the waistband between her fingers, and pulled it down gently and slowly. Her gaze stayed fixed only on his lower limbs.

After that, she worked with her teacher to complete several detailed examinations.

Once everything was done, Professor Langley beckoned to her and left the remaining follow-up tasks to his students.

The two of them walked out of the room one after the other.

“This trip home was for an exchange about a new neural arousal therapy. It has already reached the clinical trial stage. The patient’s indicators all meet the criteria. We can try it on him.”

Professor Langley continued, “If the results are ideal, he may regain partial consciousness in half a month. Fully waking up may take around a month. As for recovering mobility after that, it will depend on his rehabilitation.”

Half a month?

That was enough.

Joy flickered through Claire’s heart.

As long as Gideon could regain consciousness, whether he woke completely was not actually that urgent.

After all, she wanted him to hear with his own ears how his dear younger brother and his wife had been carrying on so sweetly together.

Claire thanked Professor Langley.

“All right. Let’s try it.”

Professor Langley left with his students, partly to prepare the equipment and partly to hold a discussion with the hospital department.

Claire did not follow them.

Instead, she went back into the room.

Gideon was already dressed again, lying quietly on the bed.

Claire looked at him and said softly, “Sorry about this, Gideon. Please bear with me. I’m doing a good deed too.”

With that, she decisively reached out and plucked a few strands of hair from his head.

After carefully sealing them in a sample bag, she went to the postnatal retreat.

When she arrived, Serena had just been taken out by Caleb for a walk to lift her mood.

The baby was sleeping quietly in the crib.

Claire gently took one or two strands of his fine baby hair without waking him.

Then she contacted a private DNA lab and sent both samples over.

Without blinking, she transferred a substantial sum of money.

“Money isn’t a problem. I want an expedited report. The sooner, the better.”

If her guess was right, then Caleb and Serena had personally handed her the very leverage that could turned the tables.

She really had to thank Caleb for always being so generous with her, sending money without hesitation.

Otherwise, this might have been difficult.

The lab was a discreet institution serving New York’s wealthy circles. Once paid, they worked without delay.

Claire had only just reached the front door of her home and was about to unlock it when the test results came in.