Brendan Miles felt a jolt, like an electric current, shoot from his fingertips straight to his heart.
He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
The moment her head hit the freshly plumped pillow, Mrs.
Chambers let out a soft sigh.
So as not to disturb her, the two of them quickly left the room.
This was the VIP floor, so it wasn’t crowded.
The clean, bright corridor was also very quiet.
“Mr.
Miles, thank you for always taking such good care of my mother.
If it weren’t for you, I really don’t know what I would have done,” Isla Chambers said gratefully.
Her eyes shimmered with tears, and her delicate, fair-skinned face had the innocent charm of a first love.
“Don’t cry.” Brendan Miles’s heart ached with tenderness.
He reached out to touch Isla Chambers’s face, gently wiping her tears away.
“Mr.
Miles, I won’t be able to visit my mother in person for a long while, so I’ll have to keep troubling you to look after her,” Isla Chambers said, grabbing Brendan Miles’s other hand.
She held it tightly, her grip earnest.
Brendan Miles’s handsome face flushed.
“Don’t worry, you can count on me.
I’ll treat your mother like she’s my own.
I’ll definitely take good care of her.”
Isla Chambers nodded, moved to tears once more.
“Thank you, Mr.
Miles.
You feel like family.”
The word “family” was special.
It could mean the bond between relatives, or it could mean the bond of love—after all, a husband and wife are family, too.
Brendan Miles subconsciously placed himself in the latter category, which was why his hand trembled as he wiped away Isla Chambers’s tears.
Isla Chambers looked at the trembling yet incredibly gentle hand before her.
Puzzled but concerned, she called out, “Mr.
Miles?” Her voice was soft and delicate, and she blinked her almond-shaped eyes at Brendan Miles with pure innocence.
An arrow shot through Brendan Miles’s heart.
The air between them grew sweet and ambiguous.
The sound of approaching footsteps shattered the romantic atmosphere.
“Isla Chambers.” A cold, sinister voice, like that of a demon from hell, echoed down the corridor.
Isla Chambers was horrified.
It was as if a clap of thunder had exploded in her mind.
Terrified, she violently flung Brendan Miles’s hand away and scrambled back several steps, putting distance between them.
“Is this how you visit your mother?” Winston Wyatt’s dark gaze fixed on her, more terrifying than the stare of a wild beast.
‘It really is Winston Wyatt.’ Isla Chambers had never imagined she would run into him at the hospital.
After spending three years by his side, she knew how much he loathed hospitals.
That was why, even though he was the one helping her mother, he had never once agreed to come with her to visit Mrs.
Chambers.
Isla Chambers’s shoulders hunched as she recoiled in fear.
Winston Wyatt’s gaze fell on Brendan Miles’s hand, and a cruel, hostile aura flared around him.
He opened his mouth, every word dripping with bloodlust.
“You dare touch what’s mine?
Who gave you the audacity?
As for those hands…”
Realizing what Winston Wyatt intended to do, Isla Chambers shrieked and threw herself in front of Brendan Miles.
“No!
You can’t!
Mr.
Miles’s hands are for performing surgery, for saving lives!
I won’t let you destroy him!”
“Winston Wyatt, there’s nothing going on between Mr.
Miles and me!
I’m just grateful he’s been taking care of my mother.
We’re just friends!
It’s not as sordid as you’re making it out to be!”
Isla Chambers felt a knot of fear in her stomach.
‘How much did Winston see?
Did he see the whole intimate exchange?’
‘But I really do just see Brendan Miles as a big brother, as family.’
Isla Chambers felt a surge of shame and anger, her voice rising.
“Winston Wyatt, you’re the filthy one!
You agreed to let me come to the hospital on my own, but then you spied on me and had me followed!
You paranoid, sick lunatic!” She was furious, suffocating.
She had no rights, no freedom.
‘Am I really going to be locked away like a bird in a cage for the rest of my life?’
At this thought, tears welled up in Isla Chambers’s eyes as she grieved for her own fate, for her life filled with sorrow and pain.
Before Winston Wyatt could say anything, Aurora Rivers stepped out from behind him and explained, “This is a misunderstanding.
No one was spying on you or following you.
We’re at the hospital because I made an appointment for Winston to see a doctor.”
Only then did Isla Chambers notice Aurora Rivers.
Hearing her explanation, she was left speechless and stunned.
‘Winston Wyatt was actually willing to see a doctor at a hospital?’
Realizing she had jumped to conclusions, Isla Chambers grew even more flustered and angry.
A furious blush spread from her collarbones all the way up to her face.
Her hands clenched into tight fists.
I won’t let you harm Mr.
Miles’s hands.” Isla Chambers looked directly at Winston Wyatt, her gaze firm and defiant.
“Don’t worry.
As long as I’m here, that absolutely won’t happen.
Right, Winston?” Aurora Rivers said, turning to look at Winston Wyatt.
Under Aurora Rivers’s gaze, Winston Wyatt forced his lips into a thin, tight line.
He desperately suppressed the volatile, vicious impulse stirring within him.
Aurora’s placating words clashed with his innately domineering and savage need for control, the conflict so intense it made his nerves twitch.
“Right.” Winston Wyatt’s rational mind decisively sided with Aurora Rivers.
Isla Chambers’s mouth fell open in astonishment.
‘Was it really resolved that easily?’
‘Winston Wyatt actually listened to Aurora Rivers, just like that.
But he’s never listened to me.
Nothing I say ever matters.
He’s always the one ordering me to obey, with no room for argument or resistance.
He treats me like he’s training a pet.’
‘And why would a master care what his pet is thinking?’
In that moment, Isla Chambers realized her standing was completely different from Aurora Rivers’s.
Winston Wyatt treated her like a subordinate, but he treated Aurora Rivers as an equal.
Isla Chambers bit down hard on her lip, not releasing it even when she tasted blood.
“It’s getting late, and our appointment with the doctor is soon.
We should get going,” Aurora Rivers said after checking the time on her phone, quickly leading Winston Wyatt away.
Winston Wyatt obediently followed Aurora Rivers, but his expression hardened as he passed Isla Chambers.
He tossed out an undeniable command, “Go wait outside.”
Isla Chambers lowered her head, her eyelashes trembling violently.
She was humiliated and constrained, but utterly helpless.
She stood rooted to the spot for a moment, stubborn and defiant, before finally lifting her head.
“Mr.
Miles, I should get go—”
“Don’t go.” Brendan Miles grabbed Isla Chambers’s hand tightly.
After what had just happened, Isla Chambers instinctively recoiled from Brendan Miles’s touch.
She was terrified that Winston Wyatt would suddenly reappear, or if not him, then one of the Wyatt family’s bodyguards.
“Mr.
Miles, please let go.”
“I won’t let go.
Isla, don’t be afraid of him.
Why should he get to order you around?
Does he always bully you like this?” Brendan Miles asked, his eyes filled with heartache and pity for Isla Chambers.
Isla Chambers remained silent, but her tears flowed even faster.
“Isla, leave him.
I’ll help you.”