جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

The hospital waiting room smelled like antiseptic and stale coffee. Angelie sat on the cold plastic chair, her fingers clenched around the fraying strap of her handbag. Her eyes hadn’t left the doctor’s office door since he’d gone in with Tim’s latest test results. Her twin brother was down the hall, unconscious again. Pale. Fading. “Angelie?” She stood so fast the strap snapped off her bag. She didn’t even look at it. Dr. Harrow’s expression told her everything before he said a word. “It’s progressed faster than we hoped,” he said gently. “Tim’s kidneys are failing. Completely this time. We need a transplant. Soon.” She blinked. “How soon is ‘soon’?” He hesitated. “Two weeks. Maybe less.” Angelie felt the ground slip out from under her. “We don’t have that kind of money.” “I know. But there’s a donor. A private one. The procedure would happen at St. Nicholas. They can do it quickly if the financial part is handled.” “How much?” “Three hundred and fifty thousand.” She felt

The words echoed in her chest like a bullet."Jeffery lands on Tuesday."Angelie stood frozen in the hallway, her fingers clutched around the banister, heart racing. Lucas had said it with a smile, like it was good news. Like it was a game.But to Angelie, it felt like the moment everything would fall apart.Tuesday.Three days.Three days before the man she couldn’t forget came back to see her married to his brother.She went to bed that night still wearing the ivory press dress. The zipper caught, but she didn’t care. She sat on the edge of the massive bed in the guest room Lucas had called “temporary,” staring into nothing.Every breath felt borrowed.Every second with Lucas felt like a countdown.Would Jeffrey believe the headlines?Would he see through them?Would he even want to?********Morning came like punishment. Angelie didn’t sleep.She was already awake when Lucas knocked and strolled in without waiting.“Good. You’re up,” he said, sipping coffee. “Big day.”She didn’t a

Angelie woke to the sound of birds.Not her alarm. Not Lucas’s voice.Birds.For a moment, she forgot where she was. Forgot everything.Then the ache set in. A slow, pulsing discomfort across her thighs and back. Like she'd run a marathon or something worse.Her eyes fluttered open.She was in her room.In the Lu estate.Alone.Still wearing her robe, half-slipped off one shoulder, the sheets tangled around her legs.She sat up too fast. Her head spun. Her mouth was dry.What time was it?The wine. Last night.She remembered the knock. Julia. The tray. The two glasses. The way Julia hadn’t met her eyes.She remembered one sip. Maybe two.Then, nothing.Her breath caught.She touched her lips, then her chest, then her thighs.A slow chill crept into her bones.She didn’t remember coming to bed.Didn’t remember undressing.Didn’t remember anything after that first sip of wine.Her heart raced.Was it just sleep? Or something else?Something she didn’t want to name.She got out of bed s

“Surprise."Jeffery blinked, caught mid-step, his gaze locked on the woman in front of him like a deer facing headlights. His hands stiffened at his sides, his jaw tightened, but he didn’t say a word, just looking at the woman in front of him."Anita?" His voice wasn’t exactly warm, more like stunned..If there was one thing Jeffery Lu couldn’t do, it was pretend.The look on his face wasn’t masked at all. It screamed: What are you doing here? Not that I’m happy to see you.Anita, ever the actress, caught on instantly. She didn’t flinch, nor delete the smile on her face, instead, she threw her shoulders back, smiled that dazzling, calculated smile that once lit up the covers of fashion magazines, and stepped forward confidently.“Well, Grandpa invited me over. Thought it was about time I came back. Aren’t you happy to see your childhood sweetheart?”Before Jeffery could move or reply, Anita closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around his neck in a long, too-familiar hug.

“I want to take the offer,” Angelie repeated, voice firm despite the storm churning in her chest. “But I don’t want to leave the country.”“I can’t leave my brother here.”Jeffery blinked. It was rare to see him thrown off, but he didn’t speak right away.She stood across from him like she wasn’t trembling inside. She was hoping that the offer was still on. She was more than determined to walk through this path, just for him.Finally, he stepped around the desk, his arms folded. “Why not?”She hesitated. “I have… reasons.”He studied her. “Lucas?”She looked away, not answering.Jeffery didn’t push, but something flickered in his eyes.“You can take the program anywhere,” he said, voice low. “I’ll arrange it. You don’t have to go to Paris. New York. LA. Wherever you want. I just…” He exhaled. “I just want you to purse your dream.”Angelie nodded slowly.“New York,” she said.“Done.”She smiled a little. A tired smile. “Thank you.”He gave her a nod, hands still in his pockets. But he