He stood leaning against the wall, listening to the sobs from inside the hospital room.
His fists clenched unconsciously.
After a long while, once the sounds from within had ceased, Lucas Hawthorne finally pushed the door open and went inside.
Selena Sinclair was already off the hospital bed and packing her things.
Hearing the noise, she immediately turned her head.
“You’re…
Mr.
Hawthorne?”
Selena remembered this man.
The Sinclair and Hawthorne families had collaborated on a project before, and she had crossed paths with this Mr.
Hawthorne.
He was gentle and refined on the surface, but in reality, he was unfathomable.
Selena met his gaze and, in an instant, understood that he was the one who had saved her.
“I’m sorry for the trouble last night.
Please leave me your bank account number, and I’ll transfer the full amount for the medical fees to you.”
When facing other people, Selena was completely different from the humble and timid woman she was in front of Sylas Vaughn.
She was just like her pre-marriage self—bright and bold.
Lucas Hawthorne didn’t say anything, but he could see Selena’s intention to draw a clear line between them.
He shook his head gently and smiled.
“There’s no need.
This hospital is owned by the Hawthorne Group.
Besides, I’d much rather become friends with Miss Sinclair.”
Selena’s expression turned slightly cold as she tilted her head to study the man before her.
Suddenly, she gave a faint smile.
“That won’t be necessary.
My husband doesn’t like me having too much contact with other men.”
With that, she finished packing.
She casually placed a business card on the bed, then picked up her bag and brushed past Lucas Hawthorne.
“Just contact my assistant directly about the medical fees.”
When Selena fell down the mountain, she had suffered internal injuries and even broken a rib.
But since the injuries weren’t too severe, the doctor just told her to stay for observation and treatment, saying no drastic measures were needed.
Selena ignored Sylas Vaughn’s repeated calls and hailed a cab home by herself.
The moment she opened the door, the scene that greeted her left Selena stunned.
The decorations and paintings she had used to furnish the room were all strewn haphazardly across the living room floor.
Sylas Vaughn was sitting on the sofa, looking through some documents.
Hearing the sound, he turned to look at her.
He seemed to remember something, and his gaze darkened.
“Why didn’t you answer my calls?
Didn’t I say I would come pick you up?”
The accusatory and lecturing tone made Selena feel dazed for a moment, as if she had done something wrong to anger him.
Selena lowered her head, changed her shoes, and entered the house.
“There’s no need.
What if you suddenly had something else come up on your way?
It would just be a waste of both our time.”
Though it wasn’t said outright, they both knew exactly what had happened last night.
Sylas Vaughn frowned.
“You still have the energy to throw a tantrum at me.
Looks like you had a pretty good night.”
Selena didn’t say anything.
‘Right.
Unconscious in the hospital all night, wounds treated and everything.
Yeah, it wasn’t so bad at all.’
She didn’t mention the pile of clutter on the floor.
Just as she was about to head upstairs, she came face-to-face with a woman standing in the doorway of a room on the second floor.
Hannah Hayes was wearing a bathrobe, her hair still wet.
Selena was completely dumbfounded, unable to understand what was going on.
Hannah Hayes greeted her with a wide smile.
“Hi.”
Selena turned her head numbly to look at Sylas Vaughn.
Sylas Vaughn stepped forward to explain.
“Hannah got drunk last night, so I brought her back here to rest.
I also let her take a shower.”
Then, he added unnecessarily, “We didn’t do anything.
She slept in the guest room.”
‘Slept in the guest room?’
A flicker of mockery flashed in Selena’s eyes.
“Then why did she just walk out of our room?”
Sylas Vaughn had a retort on the tip of his tongue but swallowed it back.
Instead, it was Hannah who spoke up, sounding wronged.
“I’m sorry, Miss Sinclair.
I just wanted to borrow some clothes.
Mine got all dirty yesterday, and I didn’t want to trouble Sylas by asking him to buy new ones…”
She blinked, looking cautiously between the two of them, as if Selena was the one being unreasonable.
“Why are you bothering to explain anything to her?”
Sylas Vaughn cut her off, his face filled with displeasure.
“It’s one thing for you to not come home last night, but Hannah just wanted to change her clothes.
Do you really have to make such a big deal out of it?”
He looked down on Selena, his tone laced with a sense of condescending charity.
“Just take my card and buy yourself a few more later.”
Selena gripped the banister, staring at the man and woman before her.
One was her husband.
The other was the untouchable love of his life.
And then there was her, the one who seemed completely out of place.
She let out a soft laugh, but it only made the expression on Sylas Vaughn’s face grow uglier.
“It’s one thing for me to not come home, but she threw out my things, and I’m not even allowed to be upset about it?
…Sylas Vaughn, whose wife do you think I am?!”
Selena’s eyes reddened as she demanded sharply:
“You said your mother’s heirloom fell on the mountain, so I spent all night searching for it in high heels, and I ended up falling from the top.” She pointed to her side.
“I even broke a rib and injured my internal organs!
If someone hadn’t happened to pass by and save me, I might have frozen to death by the side of the road by now!”
The color drained from Sylas Vaughn’s face.
“And you?!”
“You were laughing and joking with your buddies in some high-end club, casually putting the very thing you claimed was lost onto another woman’s hand!
And when I called you, you and your friends even laughed at me!”
Selena clenched her jaw, each word like a knife twisting in her heart.
“Sylas Vaughn, I didn’t force this marriage on you, so what right do you have to pin all the blame on me?!”
Once the words were out, Selena couldn’t hold back any longer.
Tears streamed down her face like a bursting dam.
She truly did love Sylas Vaughn and had dreamed of building a life with him.
But this marriage had been formed after she proposed it, he agreed, and both their families gave their approval.
So why, after they were married, did he blame all his resentment and heartache over not winning Hannah Hayes’s heart on her?
Before her marriage, she had been so proud.
Whether in business operations or in social circles, she had always been the center of attention.
Why, because of a fleeting crush and a single marriage, had she been trampled into the mud?
Scene after scene of the times Sylas Vaughn had made her feel utterly humiliated flashed through her mind, then shattered, turning into sharp fragments that pierced her heart.
In the vast villa, only Selena’s choked sobs echoed through the silence.
Sylas Vaughn opened his mouth, wanting to tell Selena to stop pretending.
But the words caught in his throat, and he couldn’t utter a single one.
The actions he had never paid much mind to before, now that she laid them all out, suddenly seemed truly excessive on his part.
Sylas Vaughn didn’t know how to respond.
He just stood there quietly, watching her in silence.
Until—
“Miss Sinclair, I didn’t realize this would upset you so much.”
Hannah Hayes pressed her lips together, descended the stairs, and stood before Selena.
“But please, don’t blame Sylas.
Maybe he just…
doesn’t know how to love you yet.”
Through her tear-filled eyes, for a fleeting moment, Selena thought that maybe she had misunderstood Hannah all along.
But in the next instant, Hannah leaned in close to her ear, under the guise of wiping away her tears.
“He only knows how to love me.”
As those playful, mocking words echoed in her ear, before Selena could even react, Hannah fell backward, tumbling down the stairs.