The doctor seemed to notice Evelyn Grant stir behind Ryan Sterling, but it was ultimately the patient’s business, and he was just a messenger.
Since he’d delivered the message, his task was complete.
After the doctor went back inside, Ryan Sterling glanced sideways at Evelyn Grant. "Take my car and go home."
"But what about you—"
"The one lying in there is my own brother. Is it your place to be worried, as his ex-wife?"
"..."
Evelyn Grant pressed her lips together. His words were a clear jab at her, but they weren’t wrong.
’He’s right. Whatever happens to Julian Sterling has nothing to do with me anymore!’
But...
"I’ll just get a taxi back myself."
She consciously kept her distance from Ryan Sterling, not wanting their relationship to grow closer just because they were temporarily living together.
"Take my car, or I’ll drive you. Pick one."
He was always like this.
’He always made it seem like there were two options, but in reality, he never gave her any choice at all.’
She took the car keys Ryan Sterling offered, turned, and left the emergency department. She didn’t look back, not even as she walked out of the hospital.
Because she was telling herself to get used to not caring whether Julian Sterling lived or died.
’Ten years of devotion was more than enough.’
...
The doctor administered a nutrient IV to Julian Sterling, and he gradually regained consciousness.
When he opened his eyes, he found he had been moved to a regular hospital room.
He could hear the RUSTLE of fabric nearby. Someone had to be there.
Julian Sterling’s heart skipped a beat. "Evelyn Grant..." he called out subconsciously.
His gaze drifted upward, but the face that met his eyes wasn’t the one he had been picturing.
"Ryan?"
"Mm."
Ryan Sterling finished replying to a message from the shareholders in Eldoria, his thick brows furrowed. Only then did he look up. "How are you feeling? The doctor said that once you wake up, you can be discharged as long as you can get out of bed on your own."
"Why are you here?" Julian Sterling struggled to sit up in bed, looking around the room. "Where’s Evelyn Grant?"
"She called me over to take care of you, then said she had something to do and left."
Ryan Sterling delivered the lie with a perfectly straight face, his expression completely natural.
"..."
Hearing those words, Julian Sterling felt a sharp sting in his heart, like an insect bite. The pain spread in waves, as if he’d been shoved into an abyss of disappointment.
’In the emergency room, he had been absolutely certain that Evelyn Grant would be waiting for him outside!’
After all, in the past, she would be frantic with worry even if he just scraped his finger and drew a little blood, let alone fainting and being rushed to the hospital.
So to hear from his brother that she had left... that she had actually *left*!
How could Julian Sterling not feel a profound sense of disappointment?
"Ryan, next time something like this happens, if Evelyn Grant asks you to come help, just tell her you’re busy and can’t make it."
Ryan Sterling, who was sitting in the adjacent chair, paused what he was doing with his slender fingers. He glanced over and asked, feigning ignorance, "Why?"
Julian Sterling still had to save some face in front of his younger brother.
He cleared his throat and lowered his head slightly. "Because Mom and Dad are getting older and their health isn’t what it used to be. They couldn’t handle the shock of my divorce from Evelyn Grant, so they’re insisting we get back together. That’s why I..."
"So you’re forcing yourself to take Evelyn Grant back?"
Ryan Sterling finished the sentence for him, a cryptic smile playing on his thin lips.
"I just don’t want Mom and Dad to worry."
"Then you shouldn’t have backed Evelyn Grant into a corner for that mistress of yours."
It took Julian a moment to process before he shot back, "Jane is not a mistress!"