CHAPTER 5: BITTERNESS

REVA

“You’re awake.” Levi broke the tension, advancing to me with a concerned frown, and I scrambled for my words.

“Dr. Price. I’m so sorry about all this.” I blurted out, but he didn’t let me finish.

“Levi will do,” he said, the corners of his mouth tugging into the faintest smile, and I nodded, rephrasing my sentence.

“Levi… I-” Again, he didn’t let me finish, which I was glad for, as I didn’t even know what to say. He asked how I was feeling, and I told him I was okay. I wasn’t but I knew he wasn’t looking for that answer.

He said he was glad I was okay, and my words rushed out before I could stop them, a part of me still surprised that he was here.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, and he gestured toward the beach as he answered.

“I’m on vacation.”

Of course, he was. It was a luxury resort. My face burned as I silently cursed myself for asking something so foolish. We stepped back into the suite, and before I could say another word, he picked up the glass of water and pills from the bedside table and handed them to me.

“You should still take these.”

I hesitated for a reason I couldn’t explain before taking them because I desperately needed to feel better.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the smile tugging at his lips, most likely because I hadn’t stopped blushing like an idiot since realizing he had helped me, not his father.

“They are my go-to after a rough night,” he added with a grin, clearly trying to end the tension in the room, then moved to the table and lifted the lid of the covered dish from earlier to reveal a beautifully plated salmon meal.

The aroma made my stomach twist once more, and this time it was from hunger. “This will also help,” he added, gesturing toward the food. “It’s just as good after a rough night.”

But I couldn’t stay. I needed to get out before he asked me what happened last night, before he looked at me with pity. We worked together and I needed to retain some dignity.

Levi Price wasn’t just my boss; he was thee Levi Price. A neurosurgeon with a reputation that stretched far beyond the walls of our hospitals.

I worked under him as a neurologist, and though our specialties ran parallel, he was the one everyone knew; the one patients waited months to see, the one other surgeons quietly tried to impress.

And as if that wasn’t impressive enough, there was more to him than the white coat and the scalpel. He was also a managing partner in his family’s empire, a medical dynasty. The Price name carried weight in every corner of the healthcare world.

They owned hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, and pharmacies. And you couldn’t walk into any health facility without seeing their name etched in glass or printed on the board of directors.

Levi sat on that board as well. So an opportunity to work with him and his father was an opportunity of a lifetime. They were healthcare royalty. And I wouldn’t let my messy personal life screw things up for me.

“Thank you for everything,” I said, fumbling for the right words. “But I need to go. You’ve already done enough, and this...” My voice trailed off as I looked around the room and then at him. “You’re my boss, Dr.-I mean, Levi. And I-this is just too much. I need to go.”

But I only made it a few steps toward the door before Levi stepped into my path. He didn’t touch me, didn’t block me aggressively, and only stood there with a smile.

"Yes, I'm your boss when I’m Dr. Price. But right now, I’m just Levi.”

My brows knitted together. “Levi, I appreciate everything, but I really need to”

However, he cut me off, holding up a hand.

“Before you go, I need to say this: I don’t exactly trust you with yourself right now.”

I paused, his unexpected words hitting me with an unsettling truth that made my chest tighten.

“Thank you for your concern,” I replied carefully, “but I’m not a child. You aren’t responsible for me.”

His expression softened, and a faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth again.

"Actually." His tone grew gentler. “Out of everyone on this resort, I’m probably the closest thing you have to family. So you are my responsibility.” He added, "Family that cares, that is."

I blinked, the question of how much he knew coming to mind again at his words. Did he know I tried to kill myself because my husband cheated on me?

Just then, another thought occurred to me. The butler, his butcher, called me Mrs. Belkov. How? I didn’t go by Mrs. Belkov. I kept my marriage to Nikolai a secret at work, even though he was no longer a client. How did the butler know?

Looking back up at him again, my throat tightened as I tried to respond.

“Dr. Pr-Levi,” I stammered, but he interrupted again, his tone shifting into something almost teasing.

“Do you want me to have him thrown off the cliff?”

I froze, staring up at him in disbelief. “You know?” My voice came out barely a whisper, and Levi’s lips curved into a knowing smile, amused for a moment.

“I do; I know everything,” he said, his second statement answering my earlier question about whether he knew I was married and that I had been keeping it a secret because of when it happened.

My lips parted, my mind racing but before I could process it, he reached out, tilting my chin up gently with his fingers.

His touch was warm, sending an involuntary shiver down my spine as his stormy gray eyes locked onto mine.

“Well?” he pressed. “Do you want me to have him thrown off?”

“No!” The answer came out instinctively. “I don’t want you to do that.”

I quickly turned away, breaking the intensity of his gaze, and my thoughts swirled as I crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed, hands folded in my lap.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “I crossed a line by going against company policy.”

Levi pulled out the chair across from me and sat down, leaning forward.

“It’s okay. I didn’t bring him up to scold you. And for the record, I wasn’t going to do anything about it.”

Relief flooded through me, warm and overwhelming, and I sat up a little straighter. My job was the only thing I had left.

“Thank you.”

His voice softened as he asked, “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

Emotions surged inside me in response to the question, and my throat tightened, but I quickly shook my head and forced the words out. “Thank you, but I’ll be okay.”

It was a lie, and the voice in my head screamed, "Yes, please, say something," but the awkwardness of the entire situation kept me silent.

Besides, I knew I'd break if I started talking. And despite his claim that he wasn’t my boss right now, I knew it was only temporary. I didn’t want to struggle to face him back at work because I had been such a hot mess at this resort.

“Okay, but you should try the salmon,” he said and I managed a weak smile that barely moved my lips.

“Can I take it to my suite?” I asked, realizing I had learned something new about my boss today; he could be pretty persistent.

But the emotions simmering beneath the surface were about to boil over, so I needed to get out of here.

“I need to clean up,” I added softly, standing before the tears could betray me, and he nodded.

“Of course. Take it.” He also stood up and handed me the dish.

“Thank you,” I murmured and turned toward the door, willing myself to keep it together, to hold on just a little longer.

All the care he was showing only made everything harder. But then he spoke again just as I reached the exit.

“I’m sorry about what happened, Reva. And for what it's worth, Nikolai is a jerk for doing that to you." His voice was more serious than it had been all this time, and I stopped dead in my tracks, my last fragile thread snapping.

Pivoting sharply, the words flew out before I could stop them… frustrated, and heartbroken.

“I did everything for him,” I said in a trembling voice as I strode back into the room, tears flowing freely. “I held him down when he had no one.” I continued, letting it all out, and Levi didn’t interrupt. Instead, he grabbed a box of tissues and handed them to me.

I took one and sank onto the bed, shaking with the magnitude of my emotions.

“And Hunter? He’s my brother for goodness’ sake. How could he do this to me?” The words still stung, cutting me open all over again.

“I gave Nikolai everything, and I loved Hunter even with everything that happened with his mother,” I whispered. “And he threw it all back in my face."

I told him everything, and when I was done, the room remained silent except for the sound of my quiet sobs as I buried my face in the tissue, letting it soak up the tears I couldn’t seem to stop.

Levi let me cry without saying a word, allowing me to release everything I had been holding in. When the tears finally stopped, he shifted in his seat and spoke softly. “I’m sorry, Reva. You didn’t deserve that.”

His words reached me, and for a moment, I stayed quiet. Then, almost to myself, I said, “I should’ve let you throw him off the cliff.”

A hollow bitter laugh escaped me, but when I glanced at Levi, the look in his eyes made me pause. He was still and focused in a way that made the air feel too thick in my lungs. And his eyes weren’t just resting on me; they searched, like he was trying to memorize the angles of my face, the curve of my mouth, and the mess I knew I must have looked like in his shirt.

Swallowing hard, I averted my gaze, a strange heat igniting in the depths of my stomach. “Why are you looking at me like that?” My voice came out softer than I intended, and his answer arrived without hesitation, which certainly didn’t help the situation.

“Because you’re beautiful.”

For the second time in his presence, I forgot how to breathe and heat rose to my cheeks, spreading quickly across my tear-stained face.

I opened my mouth to thank him and brush it off, but before I could respond, he spoke again.

“I could help you... take back your power.”

The heat dissipated immediately and my brows shot up. “What do you mean? How?”

His reply made my eyes widen.

“We’ll pretend to be dating,” he said, completely unfazed. “Let Nikolai see that he wasn’t the only one with options.”

For a moment, I stared at him, the words taking a beat too long to sink in. Then I jumped to my feet so fast the sheets nearly tore.

“What?! Make myself out to be a cheater, too? That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard!” He spoke again, but I didn’t hear him. My mind was already reeling. Nikolai and I weren’t just dating; we were married, and we made vows.

“No. Absolutely not… and you’re my boss, for goodness’ sake!” I snapped, telling him Nikolai and I shared sacred vows, but he interjected, saying Nikolai never gave a damn about those vows. That made me pause. It was true but still. No.

“I would never do something like that. It’s… it’s… it’s not me!”

But then I paused in mid-step as the words "It's not me" sank deeply into my chest. Hunter's eyes as he handed me the divorce papers flashed before my face. Then Nikolai's voice as he spoke behind me, saying he had already signed them, and then continued to stand there while Hunter tore into me.

Bitterness churned in my chest and then his words came again as he told me how talking to me wouldn’t have helped because I would have cried and begged him to fix things.

He expected me to cry and beg; he was probably waiting for me to show up again; they both were.

My body moved on its own as I pivoted and locked eyes with Levi, a decision forming deep within me, one that refused to let Nikolai win.

“Okay.” The word left my lips with trembling intensity. "It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done, but let’s do it. Let’s show the bastard something he never imagined he’d ever see.”