Chapter 3

Nerissa paused in thought, her fingers curled around the pen. Had someone entrusted Henry with treating her? Who was it? Was it Samuel?

She'd seen the way Samuel had run all over the place looking for doctors who could treat her throughout the past year, but none of the treatments worked.

It wasn't until six months ago, when Henry took over her care, that her condition gradually started improving.

Yet, for some reason, Nerissa didn't think that was quite right. Did Samuel have such a good relationship with Henry? After all, she'd noticed Henry's frosty attitude toward Samuel whenever the latter accompanied her to her treatments.

She looked quizzically at Henry, but he didn't say anything else on that. "Well then, I won't keep you from getting the rest you need."

"Thank you, Dr. Langford."

The door closed, and the room fell quiet again.

At that moment, the phone beside Nerissa's pillow vibrated a few times. She picked it up and glanced at the screen. Phoebe had sent her a bunch of messages, asking when her flight was and when she'd be returning to Shorehaven.

She checked the timestamps. The first had been sent at 3:00 am, and the latest one came in at 7:00 am.

"Something came up, Mom. I'll head back in a couple of days."

Within seconds of her sending the message, her phone buzzed. This time, it was a message from Samuel.

"Were you badly injured last night, Nerissa? I'll come over to check on you in a little while. Is there anything you feel like eating? I'll bring it over for you."

Nerissa sneered at the words. Tapping on the chat window, she typed out, "Let's break up, Samuel."

The moment she sent the message, she blocked and deleted his number in one go. Then, she tossed the phone onto the bed and closed her eyes. Her expression was so calm that it seemed as though nothing had happened.

…

Elsewhere in the city, a black Mercedes slowly crawled forward amid the heavy morning rush-hour traffic. When the phone resting on the dashboard buzzed, Samuel removed one hand from the steering wheel and reached for it.

But once he saw the message, his brows creased.

Distracted, he failed to notice that the brake lights of the car ahead had suddenly lit up. He snapped back to attention at the last second and slammed on the brakes. The tires screeched as the car came to an abrupt stop.

Kirk Sheppard, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, jerked forward, letting out a muffled groan as his body jolted against the seatbelt. He nearly spilled the coffee he was holding.

"Damn it, Samuel! What the heck was that?"

Once he steadied himself again, he turned to the side and looked at Samuel. "What's got you so distracted?"

Samuel said nothing. He simply stared at the phone screen, his brows knitting even tighter.

Kirk was Samuel's childhood friend and had been in that private room last night as well. Seeing Samuel's reaction, he couldn't help asking, "What happened? Did you get a message from Nerissa?"

But Samuel still didn't answer him. He simply tossed the phone back onto the dashboard and started driving again.

Since Samuel didn't deny it, Kirk knew he had guessed correctly. Leaning back in his seat, he sighed.

"You can't blame Nerissa for being mad, Samuel. Who wouldn't be upset if they'd been in her shoes last night?"

Samuel's grip on the steering wheel tightened. He remained silent as Kirk continued, "But don't worry too much about it. Nerissa has always been a soft-hearted woman, and she's hopelessly in love with you.

"Just put some effort into appeasing her later when you drop by the hospital. Buy her some flowers, say a few thoughtful words, and the whole thing will blow over."

Still nothing from Samuel.

Oblivious to his unusual reaction, Kirk kept talking.

"You know, I pity Nerissa sometimes. She left Shorehaven and came all the way to Northwell just for you. For the past year, she's been all alone in this city with no family and without her hearing, too. Even when she's hurt or wronged, she can only suffer in silence.

"Let's not forget the way Sasha constantly bullied her and picked on her back then. Why do you think she'd put up with all of that? It's only because she loves you. A woman like her is easy to placate."

"She wants to break up with me," Samuel abruptly said.

"What did you say?" Kirk could hardly believe his ears.

Staring at the traffic ahead, Samuel swallowed hard before repeating, "She sent me a message. She wants to break up with me."

"Break up with you?" Kirk froze for a second before laughing. "Come on, Samuel. Stop joking around. You're telling me that Nerissa wants to break up with you? That's impossible!

"She's crazy about you! Even after everything Sasha did to her back then, she still couldn't bear to leave you. Why would she break up with you over something as trivial as this now? Nope. There's no way!"

Samuel didn't say anything.

Patting him on the shoulder, Kirk assured him, "Don't worry. She's just throwing a tantrum because she's upset. Just do a good job of appeasing her at the hospital later. I'm sure everything will work out."

After a pause, he added, "After all, she's deaf and all alone in Northwell. She doesn't have anyone but you to rely on here."

While Samuel simply stared at the road without responding, something flickered in his eyes.

…

Half an hour later, the car pulled up outside the hospital.

Samuel unfastened his seatbelt and reached for the door handle. Before he could get out, a flash of red suddenly rushed over and blocked the door.

"Sammy!"

Sasha was standing outside the car, her makeup flawless. She wore a loose-knit sweater over a short skirt, exposing her pale legs. Her ankle was bandaged, making her look fragile and pitiful.

"Why did you come out here?" Samuel frowned. "Does your ankle hurt?"

"It does..." Sasha bit her lip.

But before she could say anything else, her phone started buzzing. The moment she saw the name on the screen, she looked panicked. "It's Dad! What do I do? He's definitely going to scold me again. Answer it for me, Sammy..."

Samuel's frown deepened, but he took the phone anyway. "Hey, Dad."

"Samuel?" There was a brief pause on the other end before Fergus' voice turned serious. "Where's Sasha? How's her injury?"

Samuel pressed his lips together. He didn't expect Fergus to hear about the incident so quickly.

"She's fine. It was just a few scratches, nothing serious."

"That's good to hear," Fergus said, his tone darkening once he continued speaking. "I heard about what happened last night. Was it Nerissa who pushed Sasha? And slapped her twice?"

Samuel's grip on the phone tightened. "Dad, it's not what you think—"

"I don't care what happened!" Fergus cut him off. "Sasha is your sister! Her father, Bertram Wilkins, saved my life back then, and Sasha is his only child. I won't allow you to let her suffer in any way!"

Hearing the same old speech yet again, Samuel frowned, his expression turning impatient.

"Also, now that Sasha is finally back home, don't bring her with you everywhere you go. Bring her home at once. Your mom and I both miss her very much."

Samuel opened his mouth to speak, but Fergus had already dropped the call. As he stared at the screen, his brows knitted tightly.

Sasha tugged on his sleeve. "Don't be mad at me anymore, okay, Sammy? I know I messed up…"

Seeing that his frown remained, she quickly vowed, "I promise I'll do whatever you say from now on. I'll listen to all your instructions…"

Pursing his lips, Samuel said seriously, "You mustn't bully Nerissa anymore. She's going to be your sister-in-law one day."

Sasha pouted before immediately hugging one of his arms with a smile as she switched the subject. "Mom and Dad missed me, right? Let's go home, okay?"

Samuel glanced toward the hospital and remembered the breakup text Nerissa had sent earlier.

Whatever. He decided to give her the cold shoulder for a while so that he wouldn't have to deal with her temper tantrums.

Taking a deep breath, he returned the phone to Sasha, saying, "Let's go."

Sasha's eyes sparkled, and she demurely got into the car.

After closing the door, Samuel sent a message. "Nerissa, my dad needs me for something urgent. I'll visit you later. Get some rest."

He pocketed his phone right after tapping the send button, never realizing that the WhatsApp message only had one gray tick.