جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 80

"You should go back to your work. You don't have to come just for me," Pamela said once she had achieved her goal. "It's nothing serious, after all. I'll be fine after some rest.""Alright," John replied, not pushing it.The two exchanged a few more polite remarks before ending the call.Kenneth knew all about the complicated mess between John, Sierra, and Pamela, but he didn't expect John to go this far. "You know Pamela's lying, right?"John's dark eyes were impossible to read. "What are you trying to say?""To put it in plainly…" Kenneth got closer. He chose his words carefully and said, "Pamela is usually called a wolf in sheep's clothing, or a fausse ingenue."John remained calm. "Indeed."Kenneth blinked.That was all?"She was the one who picked a fight with Sierra. Sierra wasn't the one who started it. Are you really not going to talk to her about it?" Kenneth made one last attempt to appeal to John's conscience.John looked back at the monitor. Sierra was still s

Sierra's mood had never been better after she calculated the cost quietly in her mind. She knew she was under a lot of pressure and she was exhausted, but she was reaching the light at the end of the tunnel."I'll keep a close eye on things here at the hospital," Dr. Smith said, pushing down his own feelings and giving her the strongest reassurance he could as a doctor. "As for you, focus on your work.""Thank you," Sierra said.Seeing that there was nothing else to discuss, Sierra stood to go back to the ward. Her hand had just grabbed the door handle when Dr. Smith looked up and called out, "Ms. Bell."She turned. "Yes?"Her features were delicate, her gaze clear and steady. The softness she once carried was gone, replaced by strength and determination. It was as if she had become a different person in just a few days.Noticing him looking at her, Sierra let go of the handle. "What is it?""Nothing," Dr. Smith said. He thought she was doing great. "I just wanted to say, if

Sierra's chest tightened. She turned around, eyes full of wariness as she looked at John. "What do you want?"John met her gaze, expression calm. "Nothing. Just chatting with you."Her fingers slowly curled into a fist. Her nails dug into her palm and tore open the half-healed wound and made it bleed. It hurt, yet she felt nothing."She's the one who started talking nonsense in front of me. That's why I hit her," Sierra said as she forced herself to stay calm, unwilling to let John turn her work and life into a mess.John countered unhurriedly, "Back when I stood up for you, did you ever see me reason with anyone?"One simple sentence cut down every explanation she had prepared. The streetlight clearly lit the expression on her face, but everything was dark behind her, just like her future."If you think I did her wrong, fine. Make me pay ten times or a hundred times like you did before at the hospital," Sierra said, clutching her bleeding hand, trying to find a way to save w

John's phone buzzed twice.It was a message from Tommy.[Good night, Daddy.]He had heard those words from Tommy many times, but never had they felt as heavy as they did now. His fingertip slid across the screen twice, and he finally replied after a long pause. [Good night, Tommy.]Tommy looked at the reply and pressed his lips tighter.After they got in the car, Nicholas first took Sierra to have her wound cleaned and bandaged. Only after that did he drive them back to Maple Residences. He watched them go inside the building and up the stairs before pulling out his phone and texting Sierra.[Keep the wound dry. Take care of your hand.]Sierra only saw it after she had tucked Tommy into bed. She typed out a reply. [Sure.]Nicholas answered almost immediately. [You don't look very happy today. Did John do something again?]Sierra didn't want him to worry, so she didn't tell him the truth.[Everything is perfect today. How can I not be happy?] The interview had gone wel

"So, anyone who disagrees with you is stubborn, is that right?" Sierra met John's cold eyes in the car, her voice faint. "Do you think that when people don't do what you want, they're just trying to anger you?"John's grip on Sierra's hand tightened. It hurt, but Sierra didn't make a sound."Can you stop being so childish for once?" she snapped.In Sierra's eyes, he was no different from a boy."Do you have any idea how many problems I have been fixing for you these past few days?" John still didn't let go. "Why do you think Lucas and those men from the private room haven't come looking for you again?"Sierra's expression shifted.John laid it all out for her. "It's because I took care of it ahead of time. Even if you won't listen, I still don't want you wasting your energy on that kind of nonsense."He was angry at her.Angry that she didn't listen. That she wasn't obedient. That she was stubborn.And yet, he still wanted to protect her, to let her run into enough problem