Chapter 386
There was a hint of performance in her complaints, but also a touch of genuine emotion.
Marina truly didn’t understand. She’d worn the crown of Jonathan’s first love for so many years–so why, now that his marriage was over, did he seem colder to her than ever?
She kept turning the question over in her mind.
Jonathan, on the other hand, had always known the answer. He just refused to face
- it.
The conference room was so silent, you could hear a pin drop.
Jonathan and Marina sat across from each other.
Tears streamed down Marina’s face; she was a mess. Jonathan, ever the gentleman, reached for a tissue and gently dabbed her wet cheeks.
That small, considerate gesture coaxed a shaky smile out of Marina, giving her a little more courage.
“Maybe you never really believed…” Jonathan’s voice was cool and distant, slicing through the silence.
“That day you came back, everything I said to you at the airport–I meant every word.”
He pressed the used tissue into her hand, then turned and walked out of the conference room.
Marina was left alone.
The smile had frozen on her face long ago. The tissue in her hand had dried out.
Night descended and the city was still.
Quartus Medical Center.
Visiting hours had long since ended, but Jonathan had his own privileges.
He stopped outside Niamh’s hospital room.
This time, Elmer wasn’t standing guard.
Jonathan hesitated for a moment, torn between knocking or just entering.
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In the end, he didn’t knock.
He didn’t want to wake Niamh.
At this hour, she should have been fast asleep.
It struck Jonathan only after he’d arrived–there was nothing he could say to her, even if he saw her.
So why had he come?
Just to catch a glimpse of her?
He shook his head at himself, then quietly opened the door and stepped inside.
It was a private suite–the best in the ward, comfortable and quiet.
The moment he walked in, his eyes met Niamh’s.
“You’re still awake?” he asked.
Niamh looked genuinely surprised to see him. “What are you doing here?”
Jonathan’s brow furrowed. The tone of her voice made it clear she hadn’t expected him, maybe hadn’t even wanted him to come.
“I just wanted to check on you…” he said, glancing down.
His gaze landed on her hands. Both were wrapped tightly in bandages, the wounds beneath clearly serious.
Jonathan pressed his lips into a thin line.
At least Prescott hadn’t lied–Niamh’s spirits seemed fine.
He’d expected her to be devastated, even broken, after injuring the hands she depended on to make a living. But Niamh looked calm, even optimistic.
As Jonathan studied her, Niamh studied him right back.
She was the one laid up in a hospital bed, but Jonathan looked worse off–ashen, as if he were the one who’d fallen seriously ill.
The heavy silence in the room grew oppressive, until Niamh finally broke it.
“You’ve seen me now. You can go.”
Jonathan’s eyes turned cold, and he let out a sharp, humorless laugh.
“Trying to get rid of me so quickly–afraid Elmer in the next room might wake up and get the wrong idea?”
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He hadn’t actually seen Elmer, but he could guess. If Niamh was here, Elmer was probably in the adjoining room, keeping watch.
Niamh opened her mouth, about to deny it, but changed her mind at the last
second.
“If you already know, then hurry up and leave.”
Jonathan clenched his fists.
Was he supposed to be some secret lover, someone she had to hide?
“I came to tell you…” His expression hardened, voice icy. “Let Marina handle the restoration at Solmaris Museum from now on.”
