Chapter 2

Kendrick's POV

Daphne continued, "I can just make up some excuse and smooth things over with him. Besides, he's fine now. The surgery was a success. What's there for him to make a fuss about?"

She dismissed everything I'd been through and refused to hold the driver accountable, all because he was Oliver's best friend.

A cold, numbing ache spread from my chest through the rest of my body, making me shiver.

My eyes stung with unshed tears as I wheeled myself down the hallway to ask the doctor about my condition.

…

When I returned to my room, Daphne was standing by the window and talking on the phone.

"Don't worry, Millie. No one in our family will ever look down on Oliver again," she reassured her niece, Mildred Gibson.

She added, "Don't thank me. We're both doing what was best for Oliver. He chose you, so I settled for watching from the sidelines.

"Make sure no one ever finds out you got Kendrink drunk, and I hired someone to stage those photos of him in bed. As long as I'm around, Kendrick won't be causing any problems."

I drew a slow breath, closed my eyes, and slumped back in my wheelchair. But the chill seeped into my bones, forcing me back to reality.

Mom had left the company to me before she died. Less than three months after her passing, Oliver and his mother moved into our house.

Over the years, Dad had tried more than once to take the company for himself. But he was nothing more than a live-in son-in-law, so every attempt failed.

Daphne knew better than anyone how much that company meant to me. Even so, she'd heartlessly taken it from me and handed it over to Oliver.

I was such a fool. I'd fallen right into the Gibson family's trap and nearly gotten myself killed.

The scandal had ruined my reputation, and everyone saw me as a lying, cheating jerk. Daphne was the only one who accepted me and stood by me.

Even during the two years I struggled with depression, she'd never stopped pursuing me. But the person I thought had saved me had only been tightening her chains around me.

That had been her plan all along—to take my company and keep her under her thumb so I'd never get in the way of Oliver's life.

As it turned out, the happiness I'd believed in was nothing more than a fantasy built on lies.

Without hesitation, I pulled out my phone and sent a text to the number Mom had left me before she died. I wrote, "Uncle Samuel, please come get me. I want to leave for Evonia."

Eric Stone, the doctor who came to change my dressing, found me sitting outside my room, staring into space.

He looked at me in surprise and said, "Mr. Shaw, you're still very weak. It's cold out here in the hallway. Let's get you back into bed."

The door swung open, and Daphne froze for a beat. A flicker of panic crossed her features before she forced herself to smile.

"Kendrick, when did you get back? Why didn't you call me? I would've come to get you."

I mustered a smile and let her help me back into bed. "Babe, it's not like wheeling myself around is exhausting. I ran into the doctor as soon as I got back. He said I'll need physical therapy."

…

As Dr. Stone changed my dressing, a sheen of cold sweat broke out across my forehead. I couldn't stop trembling from the pain.

Seeing that, Daphne held her arm out in front of me. "Kendrick, bite down on my arm if it hurts. Don't try to bear it on your own."

She looked every bit the loving wife. If I hadn't already seen her for who she really was, I probably would've been touched by the gesture.

At this point, I couldn't even be bothered to argue with her. I ignored her outstretched arm and bit down on the edge of the blanket instead.

Daphne stared at me in surprise. Just as she was about to say something, her phone rang.

"Don't worry, Oli. I'll bring it over right now. I can handle this."

Daphne hung up and pressed her lips into a thin line. "Kendrick, something urgent came up. I'll come back as soon as I'm done.

"Listen to the doctor, okay? I'll bring you some seafood chowder when I get back."

With that, she hurried out of the room. She hadn't paid enough attention to realize the doctor had just told me to avoid rich foods and seafood.

Now, every show of concern from Daphne made me sick.