جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 100

Nikki took a deep breath.Then she looked at Sean, her expression cold.“Your number.”Sean’s eyes flickered. A second later, he gave it to her.Nikki entered it into her phone, saved the contact without a word, and slipped her phone back into her pocket.Then she turned to Dr. Coleman.“Please contact me anytime if anything comes up.”After that, she opened the door and left the room.Sean’s gaze followed her until the door closed behind her.He was still holding his phone. The screen was lit, showing his message thread with Nikki.There was still no reply from her but now she had his number saved.For Sean, even that felt like something precious. It hadn’t been easy to get.He opened Nikki’s contact again and stared at her profile photo.It was a picture of the ocean beneath a bright blue sky.Her profile was private, and there was almost nothing else to see.Only that photo.So he enlarged it and stared at it for a long time.Slowly, the corners of his mouth lifted.

Nikki braced herself with both hands on either side of Sean’s shoulders.His face was right in front of hers, close enough for her to see his lashes and catch the clean, woodsy scent on him.When she finally realized what had happened, she shot upright, shook off his hand, and took two steps back.Her face was red.So were her ears.But she clenched her jaw and refused to let him see even the smallest crack in her composure.“Are you messing with me?”“No,” Sean said, looking at her with innocent eyes. “It really hurts.”How had he become like this?Where had his old coldness gone?Then, all at once, Nikki remembered something.Back when she had been chasing after Sean, she might have used a trick like this too.She was so angry she wanted to snap at him.But she forced herself to hold back.She was a doctor.He was a patient.She couldn’t hit a patient.But when he had pulled her down just now, her heart had raced so hard that it scared her.For one second, it had al

Sean stood up and gave Vivian a cold glance, but he didn’t say anything.“Mom asked me to tell you that she was wrong to hit you,” Vivian said softly, as if she were trying to coax a child out of a bad mood. “She booked a private dinner to apologize. Charles and his wife will be there too.”When Vivian mentioned Charles and his wife, her fingers paused.She lowered her head and pretended to straighten Eli’s collar, avoiding Sean’s eyes.The movement was too deliberate.Sean saw through it immediately.“Charles is coming too?” Sean asked, his voice flat.“Yes, they will.” Vivian looked up and smiled.It was a perfect smile, with the corners of her mouth lifted at just the right angle.But there was no warmth in her eyes.After a pause, she spoke again, as if she had carefully weighed every word.“Sean, if you don’t want anything to happen, you should come with us.”Sean looked at her.“What does that mean? Just say it. Stop putting on an act.”Vivian froze.Her expression

Jane stood frozen in place.Her mouth was open, her eyes were wide, and her face was full of disbelief.“Excuse me? What did you just say?”Nikki tightened her fingers around the strap of her bag. Then she lifted her head and met Ezra’s gaze.Her face was calm, but her heart was beating fast.“Do you have proof of any of that?” she asked. “You’re an artist. You should know better than anyone that words matter. You can’t just accuse someone in public and expect no consequences. This is not some place where the rules don’t apply. Are you prepared to take responsibility for what you just said?”Ezra froze for a second. He clearly hadn’t expected her to be so calm.Jane finally snapped out of it. She stepped in front of Nikki, her face red with anger.“What’s wrong with you? I have been your fan for eight years. I bought every art book you released, and I can’t believe you’re this kind of person. You just accused someone for no reason. You cannot say things like that without even c

Ezra had called Vivian.Had Vivian come here to sign him out?Vivian was wearing an ivory trench coat, and her hair was still loose around her shoulders.She looked flustered, but she walked steadily, as if she were trying hard to keep herself composed.Someone followed behind her.He wore a dark gray overcoat, and the bruises on his face hadn’t fully faded.It was Sean.They had come straight from the dinner.The family dinner had just ended when Vivian received a call. After she hung up, she said to Sean, “Something happened to Ezra. Can you come with me?”Sean refused.Vivian softened her tone and tried a different approach.“It is fine if you don’t want to come,” she said. “I just don’t think I can handle this by myself.”Sean still didn’t agree.They had still been at the dinner Susan had arranged for him. Charles and his wife were there too.Vivian had brought the whole thing up again in front of everyone, leaving Sean with no real way to refuse without embarrassing