Chapter 43
In the past, Calista was full of earnest hope, but all she had to show for it was Lucien’s detached look. For the first time, she saw how pathetic she really was.
It had been clear as day, yet she was so wrapped up in the beautiful illusion she weaved for herself that she didn’t see the truth in time.
And now, it became the cage that bound her, trapping her in.
“I’ll prepare the bathtub for you.” Calista disliked having such a standoff, and she hurried over to the stairs.
“Do not take another step!” Lucien finally spoke up. His voice was deep, low, and raspy, grating her ears so much that the displeasure in her heart gave way to fear. She took a step back, intending to put some distance between them.
“What’s the matter? Are you scared of me?” Lucien slowly rose to his full height, his chiseled features tinged with an icy air. The warm, gentle glow of the light washed over them, casting a golden hue.
He walked toward her, every step striking fear into her heart.
The familiar sandalwood scent reached her before he did. It smelled cold and crisp, yet the air between them seemed hot and heavy. The two collided, thickening the tension in the air.
“I’m not.”
Alas, it took Calista too long to register what was happening. By the time she came to her senses, Lucien’s towering figure loomed over her. The shadow he cast closed in on her, trapping her right where he wanted her to be.
“Where did you go today?” He asked slowly and deliberately, standing there with unrestrained ease, his expression elegant and detached.
“I went to the hospital.” Calista couldn’t stand the thick, heavy tension, and she instinctively turned to the side.
At the next moment, however, she was fiercely seized and felt an overwhelming sense of suffocation.
“Hospital? Calista, how many times do I have to repeat myself? You are one of the Fenwicks. You hear me?” Lucien would accept nothing short of total control over her, and the lack of it stirred a certain emotion in his heart.
“I just went there to visit Anthony.” Calista’s voice trembled slightly, and her face contorted with pain and sorrow.
Then, a derisive laughter slipped past her ear. When she opened her eyes again, the displeasure on Lucien’s face deepened.
“Is he broke? Was that why he incited you to divorce me and get some money?” His words crushed Calista’s spirit, almost as if he had seen through it all.
She wore a stubborn yet forlorn expression as she responded calmly, “The divorce is a decision I made myself. It has nothing to do with Anthony. Don’t blame it on him.”
Lucien was so infuriated by the look on her face that he almost couldn’t breathe. Then, his assistant pulled out a supplementary bank
card and offered it to her.
“This bank card doesn’t have a password. I don’t want something like this to happen ever again. Understood?” After that, he left the villa with a cold, darkened expression.
Calista’s grip on the bank card was so tight that its edges dug deep into her flesh, though she could no longer feel the dull pain.
“Lucien, do you honestly think I married you because of your wealth?” She asked aloud, even if she knew no one would answer. Then, she let out an exasperated laugh that reverberated in the empty villa.
The next morning, Calista woke up feeling dizzy.
Looking like a doll with broken strings, she trudged her way to the restroom. As she looked in the mirror, she found herself looking miserable and disheveled beyond recognition.
Like a fragile flower on the verge of wilting, it seemed like she could drop dead where she stood. Forcing herself to pull it together, she freshened up and got changed before heading to the hospital.
This time, Calista didn’t go to the ward first. Instead, she looked for Alexander. It was his consultation day today. So, he was going over a list of dos and don’ts with a patient.
He was about to write something on his board when he caught sight of Calista. Instead of asking her what she was doing here, he gently said, “Give me a minute.”
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Then, he directed his focus to his patient. It wasn’t until half an hour later that he sent the patient away.
“Do you need anything?” Alexander sighed deeply, his hands stuffed in his white coat’s pockets.
His gold–rimmed glasses highlighted the graceful lines of his features. There was a keen edge to them, but he exuded certain warmth and closeness as well, such that it put Calista at ease.
Calista no longer wanted to bow and scrape at Lucien, and she certainly didn’t want to sacrifice her pathetic dignity in exchange for money when she found herself cornered.
Everything that had happened was nothing but a terrible nightmare to her. If she didn’t do something for herself, she would forever be trapped in misery for the rest of her life.
If that were the case, she would have nothing left. Absolutely nothing.
“Dr. Lester, I came here for the assistant job. It doesn’t require extensive nursing knowledge, does it?” Calista asked timidly. After all, she didn’t have that many skills, and it showed in her tone–hollow and lacking confidence.
“Yeah, it’s true. But wealthy folk aren’t that easy to handle. Ms. Marchand, are you sure you can do it?” Alexander’s voice was even but he maintained a warm and graceful smile.
“I can handle it.” If that was the only requirement for the job, Calista could stop being so nervous about it. After all, she had been going Jalong with wealthy people and doing what they told her to do for the past few years.
At the hospital, she only had to put her dignity aside if it came to that. At the Fenwick residence, however, her dignity wasn’t intact to begin with.
And so, Calista landed the job as Alexander’s assistant. Worried that Anthony and Rebecca might be concerned, she decided to keep this from them for the time being. All they knew was that she would become busy and that she didn’t have time to visit him for the time being.
After a simple and straightforward training session, she officially began working at Riverview Medical Center.
Calista wasn’t sure if the simplicity of her onboarding was Alexander’s thoughtfulness or the hospital’s protocol. In any case, the standardized nurse uniforms and masks made her feel much safer. At the very least, she didn’t have to worry about getting recognized by the people she knew.
On this day, Calista was tasked with looking after the VIP patients on the top floor.
However, she was stunned the moment she entered. The last thing she had expected was running into someone she knew.
Yet, that was exactly what happened.
