Chapter 2
The operating room light glowed steadily. Silence hung thick in the corridor, broken only by the sound of breathing.
Nova sat on the waiting bench, fingers leaching cold. Across from her, Ivy Callahan dabbed at red-rimmed eyes, her gaze flickering anxiously toward the surgery doors.
Finally, Ivy spoke, her voice thin with tears, “Ms. Sterling… I’m sorry for causing trouble again.”
Nova met her eyes but remained silent.
Ivy wiped fresh tears, “I never imagined… after all these years, Zane would still feel this deeply for me.” She paused, lost in
memory. “You know? Last year on my birthday, he flew to Val-de-Rêve just to deliver a necklace… a style I’d casually
mentioned liking years before. He remembered. And I-I was still angry with him. I threw it back at him. Didn’t even let him
inside.”
Nova’s fingers clenched. Her nails bit deep into her palms.
She remembered it all too clearly-last year, when Zane Blackthorn told her he was going on a three-day business trip
overseas. He’d returned with a necklace, handing it to her carelessly. She’d treasured it, storing it in the deepest corner of
her jewelry box, too precious to wear. Now she knew-it was Ivy’s unwanted discard.
Ivy continued, her voice trembling, “Then Christmas the year before… My boyfriend and I had a huge fight. I posted
something bleak online. Zane saw it. He flew through the night and stood outside my apartment building until dawn. He
stood outside my apartment building until morning. In the middle of a snowstorm, no less. Just… waiting. But he never
once knocked..”
Nova’s heart twisted like a knife.
She remembered that Christmas night.
Zane had taken her seven times with desperate intensity. She’d thought passion had finally sparked between them. When she woke, his side of the bed was cold. She assumed he’d left to handle some urgent business.
So… he had rushed to Ivy after all.
“These three years…” Ivy’s tears fell freely now, “I ignored him. Cut off contact out of spite. But Zane never forgot me. Not
one day. He wrote me a letter every single day-even when I never replied.”
Nova felt the air thicken, suffocating.
How many late nights had she seen the study light on?
She’d thought he was working, bringing him coffee.
So… he’d been writing love letters to Ivy.
She’d believed-during those years Ivy was gone-that Zane had genuinely tried to build a life with her.
Now she understood. It had always been her own delusion.
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The heart she thought she’d warmed? It had belonged to someone else all along.
As Ivy drew breath to continue, Nova surged to her feet.
Her face was bloodless, her voice unnaturally calm. “I have things to do. I’ll go ahead..”
She didn’t wait for Ivy’s response. Turning, she walked swiftly away-faster and faster, until she was nearly running.
Back home, Nova packed her belongings in silence. She was ready. Ready for the divorce agreement’s final day.
In the weeks that followed, Ivy’s social media feed became a chronicle of Zane’s devotion.
His surgery was successful, yet he rested no time. He secured the finest hospital suite for Ivy’s mother. He summoned a
top international medical team. He personally reviewed every treatment plan.
Ivy’s latest post was a photo.
Zane sat beside a hospital bed, an IV line taped to his arm. He bent intently over a pomegranate, peeling it for Ivy.
Her caption read:[Could never find someone who loves me like this.]
Nova’s heart seized. A tear splashed onto her phone screen, blurring the image of Zane’s tender profile.
Memories flooded her-years spent caring for him just as diligently:
Brewing bone broth each dawn for his delicate stomach.
Leaving lights on when he worked late into the night.
Placing peeled, pitted, perfectly sliced fruit by his hand…
Now he did these things for another.
Nova drew a shuddering breath. She wiped her tears.
It didn’t matter.
When she stopped loving him?
She would learn to love herself.
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