LOGINIt gave off the sense of two people carefully avoiding suspicion.Dr. Sandler stole a glance at Thomas, unsure what had happened between the two of them.He went to the next room and called Sharon out. She emerged quickly, her gaze skimming over Thomas's face before calmly sliding away."It's getting late. You should head home and rest."Dr. Sandler had driven over on his own and wasn't headed the same way as Thomas, so he said a quick goodbye to the two of them and left.Sharon turned to Thomas. "Get in. I'll drive you back."Thomas glanced at her, then pulled open the passenger door.Neither of them spoke the whole ride. The car was dead silent.Thomas's gaze dimmed slightly. It hadn't used to be like this.In the past, after every session, Sharon would sit beside him and wait for him to wake, then hand him a cup of warm water. She'd ask about his sleep, how he was feeling. On the drive back, she'd bring up some amusing thing that had happened recently.But this time, she h
Once Thomas was settled in, Wendy and John got ready to leave.Wendy said to Thomas, "Thomas, I've put everything away for you. I checked the fridge myself, so if anything's missing, just let me know.""Mm. Thanks," Thomas said."Sharon says she wants you at the clinic tomorrow night at eight for your treatment," Wendy added."Fine."Wendy and John didn't linger. They left soon after.Once the door closed, the apartment fell completely silent.Thomas stood in the middle of the living room for a few seconds, then walked slowly to the refrigerator and pulled the door open.Everything inside was arranged in neat rows, each shelf holding a few ingredients, with cream-colored labels in Sharon's neat handwriting stuck beside them.Milk, eggs, vegetables, and a few ready-to-heat staples.The labels noted things to watch for and use-by dates in black ink.Thomas looked for a moment, then shut the fridge and walked back to the living room.The apartment wasn't large—three bedrooms a
By the time Wendy and John arrived at Thomas's ward, the doctor had already let Thomas know he was being discharged.He stood by the window, dressed simply in a white shirt and black trousers, his tall frame straight and lean.Sunlight streamed in through the window, wrapping him in a thin haze of light that made him look almost unreal.Every time Wendy saw Thomas's face, she couldn't help marveling at how unfairly generous fate had been to him.Thomas was ridiculously good-looking. No wonder Sharon had fallen for him.At the sound of footsteps, his dark eyes settled heavily on Wendy.When he spotted John trailing in behind her, his lips pressed thin, his voice giving nothing away."Sharon didn't come?"His eyes were perfectly calm, and yet something about them carried an odd, weighty pressure that left Wendy feeling entirely on edge.She found herself thinking, Thomas looked barely old enough to be an adult. How did he carry himself with this much presence?She cleared her t
Thomas calmly showed Julliard the door. "If there's nothing else, Julliard, I need to rest. After all..."He lifted a hand to press at his temple, the corner of his mouth curling into a faint, almost-there smile. "When Sharon comes to see me tomorrow, I'll need to be in top form to greet her. Don't you think?"Julliard's eyes reddened slightly; whether from anger or something else, it was hard to say. He stared Thomas down for a few seconds, then turned and walked toward the door without a word, his face blank.Just as his hand touched the handle, he stopped."Thomas." He didn't turn around, his voice cold. "You'd better pray you get to keep being this shameless forever."With that, he left without another word.The room fell quiet again.Thomas stayed sitting up, the amusement in his eyes fading bit by bit until nothing remained but a deep, cold darkness.His gaze drifted to the jacket Sharon had forgotten to take with her.A faint fragrance still clung to it.Without quite
Julliard hadn't expected Thomas to be this cold-blooded.Resentment and fury surfaced in his eyes. "You really are an ungrateful piece of work. Sharon's been so good to you, and this is how you treat her?"Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Ungrateful? If I remember right, I'm the one who did her a favor."Oh, and I nearly forgot, it was you who personally handed me the opportunity to put her in my debt in the first place. The fact that she's this good to me now, isn't that built entirely on that debt?"He paused, a faint, cold smile crossing his handsome face."Julliard, do I strike you as the type who enjoys helping people out of the goodness of my heart? Every bit of help I give comes with a price. "I saved her. In exchange, she treats me. That's about as fair a trade as it gets."Julliard's voice rose in anger. "If it's really just about your treatment, why bother fighting me for her attention and care?"Thomas's voice stayed level, laced with cold logic. "You're missing something
Julliard glared at Thomas, unblinking. "So you admit it?!"Thomas raised an eyebrow, tossing the question right back. "Hm? What's there not to admit?"Julliard hadn't expected Thomas to be this brazen about it.His fists clenched. "Thomas, if you've actually got the nerve, say all this to Sharon's face."Thomas leaned back against the headboard, lazy and relaxed, a faintly amused look on his face."If I said any of this in front of her, do you think she'd still care about me the way she does? Do you take everyone for a fool? Why would I give up a good thing to go looking for trouble?"For a moment, Julliard found himself with nothing to say.He was right. Even if Thomas really had done it on purpose, there was no way he'd ever admit as much to Sharon."So what," Julliard said coldly. "You're some nobody with no background, and you think you can compete with me for Sharon? If you want to live off a woman, you'd better make sure you're worth the trouble first."Thomas laughed so
The more flawless someone appeared, the more suspicious they became. But without solid evidence, Uriah wouldn't make reckless accusations.Still, the likelihood was high that the guy had probably taken a liking to Sharon and deliberately approached her.Given how far Uriah had gone in laying thing
Noticing Kelly's impolite stare at Victoria, Carter spoke up, "Kelly?"Startled, Kelly snapped out of her daze. She quickly suppressed the shock in her heart and forced a polite smile."Victoria, hello."Victoria, unfazed by her earlier lapse in manners, returned the greeting with a gracious smil
Hearing Carter's words, Sharon realized—with a quiet jolt—that he was choosing her.It caught her off guard, but only just. In truth, it made a strange kind of sense. This was who Carter had always been: cool-headed, rational to a fault.Even now, she could feel a toxic stare boring into her.She
When he heard Kelly's words, Thomas raised his eyebrows slightly."Kelly, didn't you once say no when I offered to deal with her for you?"Kelly froze.He was right. He had suggested it before, and she had refused.All she wanted then was to win over Carter. She wasn't some cold-blooded monster







