Chapter 6
Scarlett woke again to the sharp voice of a nurse.
“Where’s your sitter? The IV’s backed up-if we hadn’t caught it, this could’ve gone real bad!”
Scarlett lifted her arm slowly. The back of her hand was swollen, angry and purple. She reached for her phone. Seven
hours had passed.
Sebastian still hadn’t come back.
“Sweetheart,” the nurse asked as she cleaned the site and reinserted the needle, “where’s that ridiculously handsome
boyfriend of yours? He shouldn’t be leaving you alone during an IV. You gave us a scare.”
Scarlett gave a brittle smile. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
She pushed herself off the bed, using the wall for support as she walked the halls alone. But even the hallway wasn’t
quiet. Every voice felt like a pin in her skin.
“That Miss Whitmore is living the dream,” one nurse gushed. “A stepfather who treats her like royalty and a boyfriend
who’s hotter than sin.”
“Word is, the boyfriend rented out the entire VIP floor for her,” another added in a whisper. “Brought in specialists from
overseas, hasn’t left her side all day. Between the stepdad and the boyfriend, she’s got Fortune itself kissing her feet. She
must’ve been a saint in her previous life.”
Scarlett didn’t mean to stop in front of that hospital room. But she did.
Through the half-open door, she saw Sebastian bending over Lily’s IV line, adjusting the flow with careful fingers.
Charles sat beside Lily, peeling an apple with practiced hands. The skin came off in one long ribbon, and he cut the fruit
into bite-sized pieces, feeding them to her like she was a princess in a fairy tale.
Scarlett couldn’t breathe.
Her vision blurred. A tear slid down her cheek before she even felt it.
She wiped it away with the back of her hand, sharp and fast.
“Scarlett,” she whispered into the empty hallway. “What are you crying for? No one’s going to feel bad for you. Don’t you
dare cry.”
She turned, spine straight, steps sharp and fast.
Only her tightly clenched fists betrayed the truth-blood pricked through her palms where her nails dug in too deep.
Sebastian didn’t come back for days.
Not until her discharge.
Scarlett stepped out of the hospital lobby alone, only to see a familiar black Rolls-Royce Phantom parked at the curb.
The window rolled down. Sebastian’s sculpted profile was calm, impassive.
“Get in,” he said.
Chapter &
Scarlett turned and walked the other way.
“You really want me to take you right here? In front of everyone?” he said flatly. “Not in front of all these people.”
She stopped dead in her tracks.
She couldn’t believe he’d say something like that. He used to tease her like this, sure-but back then, it felt like flirting. Like a game. But now? With Lily back in the picture? Who the hell did he think he was?
Gritting her teeth, she yanked open the car door and climbed in.
Sebastian handed her a glossy booklet. “You’ve looked miserable lately. Didn’t you used to love shopping? I’m taking you
to an auction today.”
Scarlett was about to refuse. But then she flipped to a page-and froze. Her pupils shrank.
There it was. Her mother’s pearl necklace.
After Victoria moved in, she’d claimed the house gave her nightmares-and made Charles throw out every last trace of
Scarlett’s mother.
Scarlett had pleaded with him. He’d looked her in the eye and said, “The dead are gone. Keeping her things is just bad
luck.”
And now… that necklace was up for sale.
She clutched the catalog so tightly the paper crumpled in her hand.
Her fingers trembled as she pulled out her phone and fired off a text to her private attorney:
[Sell everything in my bank safe. Now.]
Her dowry. Her inheritance. She didn’t care. If it cost her her reputation to get that necklace back-so be it.
The auction hall was a masterpiece of gold trim and crystal chandeliers.
As they stepped into the VIP section, Scarlett’s eyes were immediately drawn to a reserved seat-
Lily.
She wore a snow-white dress and flashed a sweet, flawless smile.
“Scarlett!” she chirped, linking arms like they were lifelong sisters. “I told Sebastian I wanted to apologize to you in person
today-and he actually brought you! You two are so sweet together.”
Scarlett’s body went stiff.
Slowly, she turned to look at Sebastian.
He stood nearby, scrolling through the auction list. Under the warm lights, his profile looked carved from stone- handsome and aloof. But he didn’t even glance her way.
So that was it.
He hadn’t brought her here because she seemed upset. Not to cheer her up. Not to make amends.
He brought her because Lily wanted to “apologize.” She was just… convenient. A prop.
And yet, the pain didn’t land the way it used to. There was no explosion, no heartbreak.
Just a hollow emptiness in her chest-
Like something had been carved out long ago. And now, there was nothing left to hurt.
