Chapter 2

Edward left in great strides, holding Sharon in his arms. When he walked through the door, he accidentally bumped into Macie's shoulder, causing her to stumble and fall down beside the door frame.

The searing pain coming from the top of her foot and her shin made her hold on tightly to the door frame.

People in the room shot her funny looks. Some looked on with disdain.

But that didn't matter to Macie anymore. She slowly got up and turned around. Holding onto the wall, she inched out of the room with much difficulty.

When Macie arrived at the hospital, the nurse who approached to treat her wound inhaled sharply upon seeing the injury on Macie's foot.

She took in the massive and tiny blisters around Macie's wound, gasping, "Oh my God! How did this happen?"

Macie clenched her jaw from the excruciating pain. Her cheek muscles were sore, and she struggled to answer the nurse.

The nurse sighed while applying the medication. She explained, "Just now, we had a patient with burns. Her boyfriend rushed her to the hospital and insisted that a physician see her. But those burns were so minor that they could have healed on their own."

Macie felt bitter and hopeless when she heard that. She guessed that the couple described by the nurse was likely Sharon and Edward.

Edward was so concerned about Sharon that the nurse assumed that they were dating.

The nurse casually remarked, "That boyfriend would have been so worried if she was as badly hurt as you."

The comment prompted Macie to look at the massive blisters on the top of her foot.

If Sharon had been injured this badly, Edward might have hired all the medical experts in the city to treat her.

Since Macie was the one who got seriously hurt, Edward cast her aside without a second thought. He let her go to the hospital alone without showing any sympathy.

His favoritism was blatant.

At that moment, her phone screen lit up. Edward was calling. Macie thought that he was with Sharon. She wondered why he was calling.

Refusing to take his call, Macie put her phone face down.

The nurse prepared to pierce the largest blister, needing to release the fluid manually since the body couldn't absorb it on its own.

At that moment, Edward happened to arrive at the emergency department again. Upon seeing Macie in the bed, he immediately confronted her, "Why didn't you pick up my call?"

Her head snapped up when she heard his voice. But she wasn't about to argue with him. She didn't even bother to speak with him.

All she said was, "My phone was on silent mode. I didn't hear your call."

Edward glanced at her phone beside her hand. It was facing down. His anger gradually subsided.

The nurse turned around to look at Edward and realized that he was the man who had rushed the other woman to the hospital.

The nurse inquired, "What's your relationship to the patient?"

Edward was about to answer, but Sharon came up from behind and asked, "Edward, how's May doing?"

He turned to Sharon. He couldn't bring himself to admit that he was Macie's husband. His lips trembled, but no sound came out.

Sensing his hesitation and reluctance, Macie merely smirked and replied to the nurse on his behalf, "We're unrelated."

Edward grew incensed when he heard her reply and saw the nonchalance on her face. But he had no idea why he was mad at her.

He glared at Macie and stated, "This patient here is my wife."

Then, he added, "I thought that you were dying to marry me. Why are you refusing to admit to it in public?"

Macie frowned at him in confusion. The situation felt so ironic. After all, wasn't Edward the one who refused to acknowledge their relationship? She had just said his thoughts aloud since he was so hesitant to speak.

When Edward admitted that Macie was his wife, Sharon looked shocked and hurt. Then, she shot Macie a venomous look as she dug her fancy nails into her palms.

The nurse scanned the three faces with doubt. Having figured out their relationship, she viewed Edward as a trashy man and snapped at him, "Get out if you're not related to her. Don't mess with my job here."

He frowned when the nurse told him off. But at that moment, the nurse moved aside, and he finally saw the wound on the top of Macie's foot.

The scary blisters imprinted themselves onto his eyeballs. The jolt of pain in his heart made him forget what he was about to say.

Without thinking, Edward reached out and nudged Sharon out of the door. He, too, moved aside to allow the sunlight to pass through the door.

He did not leave the room. Instead, he had his back against the wall and stared at Macie's legs without looking away once.

The burn extended from the top of her foot all the way to her shin. Blisters of various sizes were scattered atop the burn area.

The nurse used the needle to poke a hole in the blisters and absorbed the fluids with a sterile cotton cloth. Macie's foot visibly trembled from the pain.

Macie was just a spouse on paper to Edward. She had gone to great lengths to convince Yosef to get Edward to marry her. In the past two years, he ignored her existence. This was the first time he noticed her petite, frail frame.

Once the nurse was done draining the fluids, she reminded Macie, "Do not wear shoes in the short term. And don't move around too much. Apply the medication three times a day."

Macie nodded and tried to get up, but the pain from her foot caused her to shake all over.

At that moment, Edward dashed forward and scooped her into his arms. She immediately reached for his shoulder as she had lost her balance.

Upon realizing what she had done, she immediately removed her hand and said to him, "Put me down."

"Hold on tight. Don't blame me if you fall," Edward replied.

Then, he switched to holding her with just one arm. She quickly hung onto his neck to avoid falling off. He picked up her slippers and her phone with his free hand.

Macie watched Edward's side profile in silence. She pursed her lips and gave up on struggling. She knew well that he wasn't holding her out of love.

It was merely a belated display of sympathy after he saw her severe injury. Or maybe he just wanted to make it up to her in case Yosef blamed him after hearing about her injury.

He carried Macie out of the room. Sharon forced a smile when she saw them. She asked with concern, "May, are you alright?"

Macie's gaze remained cold. She said nothing as she refused to entertain Sharon's act.

Edward replied, "Sharon, I need to carry Macie because she can't walk with the injury on her foot."

Still smiling, Sharon said, "You don't have to explain yourself. It's only normal for you to carry your wife, more so when she's injured."