Chapter 4

Everyone in the hospital knew about Mike''s connection to my mom.

That day, when she was brought in, she still had a breath left in her.

Doctors are supposed to be compassionate. They knew I couldn''t reach Mike, so they tried to save her. But without the medicine he had personally formulated, there was nothing they could do.

During the resuscitation, they tried calling him. I was standing right there when his irritated voice came through the phone.

"I have patients here waiting for me to save them. Stop bothering me."

The "patient" he was talking about, of course, was Cathy—drugged with an aphrodisiac.

The moment he hung up, the doctor turned to me and pronounced my mom dead.

As I stared at her cold, lifeless body, whatever love I had left for Mike curdled into hate.

Now, hearing about my mom again, the pain in my chest cut so deep that my knees nearly gave out.

Mike''s phone slipped from his hand, clattering onto the floor. He didn''t even pick it up.

Instead, he turned to me, his voice urgent, desperate. "No… Jess, tell me—are you all in on this together? You''re lying, aren''t you? Mom was stable. How could this have happened?"

His eyes locked onto mine, searching for an answer, for some way to make this all untrue.

"Shut up!" I snapped. "You don''t deserve to call her ''Mom''!"

My hatred struck him like a blow. His face drained of all color, his expression growing hollow, empty. He stood there, motionless, like a statue stripped of its soul.

When he came to his senses, there was only bottomless grief in his eyes.

He stepped forward, his voice hoarse.

"Jess, why didn''t you tell me?"

As soon as he spoke, a thought seemed to hit him. His whole body stiffened, his eyes dropping to the floor.

"I thought… I was just going to help Cathy," he muttered. "I never thought it would end like this…"

He looked back up at me. "Jess, I''m sorry."

He reached for me, but I shoved him away.

"Don''t touch me. You disgust me."

Pain flickered across his face. "Jess, I swear, nothing happened between me and Cathy. She passed out, so I just put her in the bathtub to cool her down."

I shook my head. "Save your excuses. Tell them to my Mom when you''re dead. The only thing I want now is a divorce."

"No." Mike''s refusal came instantly.

Behind him, Cathy steadied herself against the wall and frowned. "Jess, how could you curse Mike like that? Your mom''s death wasn''t his fault! It was those incompetent doctors! And now you''re blaming him?"

Mike turned on her with a look so cold it could cut.

"Shut up," he snapped. "If you hadn''t called me away, she wouldn''t have died."

His words made Cathy freeze.

"You killed her. And now you want to act like you''re innocent?" His tone was razor-sharp. "Cathy, have I been too kind to you?"

His voice—so different from the gentle way he used to speak to her—made her flinch. She didn''t dare say another word.

Mike stepped toward me again, reaching for my hand, but I shoved him back.

In the scuffle, something slipped from my pocket and fell to the ground.

A death certificate.

Mike bent down to pick it up, but I snatched it before he could.

Still, he had already seen it.

The light in his eyes went out.

His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the floor.

His breath came in ragged gasps, his eyes growing red—until, finally, his tears broke free.

"Mom… Mom, I''m so sorry…"

Cathy rushed to his side, but he shoved her away without hesitation.

His gaze, when it met hers, burned with nothing but hatred.

"Why are you still here?" His voice was sharp, merciless. "Get out. I don''t want to see you ever again."