Chapter 3

A kind nurse brought over a bottle of fresh milk.

My daughter drank eagerly and finally fell asleep.

But less than an hour later, someone shouting into a phone in the hallway woke her again.

I had no choice. I carried her to find Adrian.

In his office, he was bent over documents. Several of his men stood by, waiting for orders.

I stood in the doorway, my voice exhausted.

"I'd like to request a room."

"No."

He didn't even look up.

"Every eye in this hospital is on me. I can't make exceptions for you."

I took a step back.

"Then let me and the baby rest here in your office. No one's going to gossip about that."

Adrian finally raised his head.

"If you're both in here, how am I supposed to handle family business?"

From the day I met Adrian, I knew he was a complete workaholic.

He rarely answered my messages. When he did, it was just a curt "Noted."

I'd assumed he was like that with everyone.

But right in front of me, he answered Ava's call on the very first ring, his voice so tender he sounded like a different person.

"It's okay. I'm coming."

"Don't worry about it. A meeting could never be more important than you."

So he did know how to care about a baby.

But since our daughter was born, he hadn't held her once.

I grabbed his arm. I suddenly needed an answer.

"Adrian, why does Ava get a VIP suite while our daughter and I are crammed in a hallway?"

He looked down at me, and the coldness in his eyes made me step back.

"Don't tell me you don't know why."

"That winter, you shoved Ava into the pool over some petty argument and left her with permanent damage."

"If my people hadn't been watching over her, she would have died on that operating table."

"Elena Cole, can you really not stand to see her doing well?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

I'd explained it so many times before. I didn't push her.

But they only ever believed Ava's tears. Convicting me took no effort at all.

Seeing my silence, Adrian's lips curved into a thin, mocking smile.

"That's the real difference between you and Ava."

"If she knew you were doing well, she'd be genuinely happy for you."

"But you? You're never satisfied. Always jealous. Always acting like a lunatic."

I shook my head through tears and reached for him, but my hand grasped only air.

He was the one who'd pulled me close by the waist and said he wanted a child.

I held the baby tighter and said quietly:

"If I'm really that terrible, then I'll stop bothering you."

"Adrian, let's get a divorce."

His back stiffened for a moment.

Maybe I imagined it.

I was finally agreeing to a divorce. He should be relieved.

I'd been standing too long. Pain throbbed through my lower abdomen. I steadied myself against the edge of the desk.

I pushed the door open. A young nurse was waiting outside.

"Miss Cole, Don Moretti asked me to take you somewhere to rest."

She glanced at me a few times, then couldn't help whispering.

"What is Don Moretti to you?"

"I heard this room was taken from another patient on his orders."

I pressed my lips together and answered the way Adrian would have wanted.

"Just a friend."

Finally, I had a place where I could sleep in peace.

I gently patted my daughter's back, slowly coaxing her to sleep.

But gradually, the temperature beneath my palm didn't feel right.