Chapter 3

3.

I have seven days left before my flight to New York.

I went to St. Augustine Medical Center.

As I approached the nurses' station, I overheard their whispers.

"The woman who's been with that patient this whole time, that's Dr. Hayes's wife, right? They look so good together."

"Yeah, I saw Dr. Hayes feeding her water and medicine himself. His wife is so lucky."

I walked over, my face impassive, and gently tapped on the counter.

"Hello, could you tell me which room Miss Jessica Miller is in?"

A young nurse immediately checked the electronic records.

"Miss Jessica Miller is in room 1218 in the VIP wing. Would you like me to take you there?"

"No, that's alright. Thank you."

As I walked away, the young nurse couldn't help but mutter.

"Room 1218? Isn't that the family reserve room registered under Dr. Hayes's name? What's this lady's relationship to her?"

Hearing that, my eyes darkened.

First, because Julian and I were married in Scotland, our information wasn't widely publicized in U.S. public records. Second, because Julian disliked me coming to the hospital, very few people here knew that I was the real Mrs. Hayes.

But none of that mattered now.

After all, the title of "Mrs. Hayes" was about to change hands.

I walked to the VIP wing, to room 1218.

Before I even went in, I glanced through the small glass window on the door and saw Julian and Jessica embracing inside.

"Julian, if I hadn't gone to Europe back then, would I be your legitimate Mrs. Hayes right now?"

Jessica asked, her face buried in Julian's shoulder, her eyes red.

For some reason, my heart clenched violently.

I wanted to know the answer, yet I was terrified of it.

Then, I heard Julian's reply.

"Yes."

The sword of Damocles that had been hanging over my head finally fell.

I knocked on the door. After hearing a "come in," I pushed it open.

As they both turned to look at me, I maintained a perfectly composed smile.

"Jessica, are you feeling any better?"

I handed her a basket of organic fruit.

Jessica took it. "Thanks, I'm fine now. It's all Julian's fault, he was just so worried about me."

Julian tried to explain to me. "The situation is… a bit complicated. She needed a friend. Let's not talk about this."

I nodded. "Don't worry, I understand."

Perhaps it was because I had always been so understanding.

Julian hadn't noticed any of my recent changes or abnormalities.

Jessica, from her hospital bed, spoke again. "Grace, Julian's been like this since high school. Cold on the outside, but warm on the inside."

With that one sentence, she designated me an outsider, as if she and Julian were the ones who were truly close.

I decided to play along. "I'm busy with work, and Julian is busy at the hospital. We probably haven't been able to give you the best care."

"So I've hired a private nurse for you, and I've also rented an apartment for you close to the hospital, so you can recover in peace."

As soon as I finished speaking, movers I had arranged walked in, pushing a trolley with the suitcases Jessica had left at my house.

Jessica's face instantly turned pale. She looked at Julian, pleading for help.

Julian was taken aback as well.

Perhaps he also felt that having his ex-girlfriend live in our house was deeply disrespectful to me.

This time, he didn't object.

"Jessica, Grace is right. A professional nurse can take better care of you than we can."

Jessica was left speechless.

Julian glanced at his watch and then said to me, "I have another surgery. You should go home, don't wait up for me."

"Okay," I nodded.

After Julian left, the nurse and the movers went about their tasks.

The room was left with just me and Jessica in her bed.

Only then did Jessica drop her facade. With an arrogant sneer, she mocked me. "Don't think I don't know you're only with Julian for his money. Without him, could you afford to live in Beverly Hills?"

She let out a cold laugh. "A gold digger like you doesn't deserve him. Julian is very generous. I'm sure once everything is settled, he'll make sure you're left very 'comfortable'."

Hearing this, I found it laughable. "Hasn't Julian told you who I am?"

Jessica scoffed. "Does it matter who you are? Julian doesn't love you. He's with you only because losing me was too painful, and he needed to force himself to love someone else as a distraction. If he didn't marry you, he would have married someone else."

"Well, I hope you get what you wish for," I replied ambiguously, then turned and left.

As I got into the Maybach waiting for me downstairs, I looked up at St. Augustine Medical Center.

This would probably be my last time here.

Goodbye, and good riddance.