Chapter 1

Through the thin fabric of the privacy curtain, Nathaniel Cross' voice drifted over, thick with a mix of heartache and reproach.

"Why didn't you call me right away? Did you think I gave you my personal number just for show?"

Madeline Hart forced herself to sit up, her face the picture of obedience. "But you said your wife only gave you three chances. I couldn't—"

"What chances?" Nathaniel snapped, his temper flaring. "Call me whenever you need me. What am I supposed to do if something happens to you?"

I sat quietly in the adjacent bay, listening to every word, my vision blurred with tears.

When the car crash happened, I had managed to keep a clear head and dialed his number first. Yet, 26 consecutive phone calls went completely unanswered.

Madeline had called him exactly once, and he picked up on the very first ring.

That was because Nathaniel knew that I had no family to turn to and no one to rely on. He knew I would always wait for his late callbacks, no matter how long it took.

Just then, a doctor came in to change my dressing.

The moment the curtain swung open, the fury Nathaniel carried for the "other driver" evaporated from his face.

He froze, but the words spilled out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Did you secretly investigate Madeline and crash into her on purpose?"

I never imagined his immediate reaction wouldn't be to check if I was hurt, but to instantly blame me.

Ever since I first uncovered his infidelity, he had kept every piece of information about Madeline tightly under wraps.

"She doesn't come from money. If you dig up her past, it'll destroy her," he had argued back then

Yet, he had gladly broadcast my status as an orphan across our entire social circle, solely to show everyone how utterly codependent I was on him.

As I swallowed the bitter lump in my throat, a hollow laugh escaped my lips.

"This is the fourth time, Nathaniel. You broke your word."

When I originally insisted on a divorce, he had climbed out onto the rooftop of our home.

"If you divorce me, I'll jump right off this roof! I can't survive without you. I told you, you're the only woman I'll ever love!" he had declared.

My heart had softened right then, and I gave him three chances to cut ties with his mistress.

He scrubbed every trace of his affair, and I was naive enough to think I had successfully won the war for my marriage.

But today, a brutal reality check smacked me right across the face.

"What does it matter right now?" Nathaniel hissed, dropping his voice to a whisper, terrified that the woman in the next bay might overhear him. "She was just in a car accident! Are you honestly heartless enough to expect me just to stand by and do nothing?"

What else could I say?

Should I tell him that I had been in a car accident, too? Should I tell him she had only scraped her knee, while I needed ten stitches on my shoulder?

Just then, Madeline called out to him.

"How did the negotiation go? Do we have to pay her off?"

He rushed over to soothe her anxiety, reassuring her, "The other driver is perfectly fine. Don't worry about it and just focus on recovering."

As I lay on my hospital bed, hearing him refer to me as a nameless driver brought a bitter smile to my face.

No matter how agonizing the pain in my wound was, it couldn't compare to the devastation ripping through my chest.

The only shred of mercy Nathaniel offered me was signing a massive stack of medical bills left on my bedside table while I was asleep.

But if he had cared about me at all and bothered to read through the paperwork, he would've noticed a signed divorce agreement tucked among them.