A Man with Nerves of Steel (Joseph Hart) novel Chapter 5

Joseph walked into the bar and found the owner, Anne Wells. One look at her long, dark curls made him start to doubt that what the hotel front desk had told him was fake.

Sure enough, when he said he wanted to repay the room fee and deposit, Anne immediately refused. She denied ever driving him to the hotel in the first place, then started flirting with him instead.

She said that if she wanted to sleep with him, she could've just done it in the bar's back lounge and wouldn't have bothered with a hotel at all. She even added that she was into younger, prettier boys, not greasy, middle-aged men like him.

That completely threw Joseph off. He asked to see the bar's surveillance footage, but Anne told him all the cameras were for show and refused to go along with his unreasonable request.

Depressed and frustrated, Joseph went back to his car. He stared at the message on his phone again and wondered whether he really had sent it to Cora on autopilot mode.

He got another hotel room, pulled out another copy of the paternity test report, and slapped himself across the face. The sting made it clear to him that everything he was experiencing now was real.

He texted the inpatient department director to request leave. In his current mental state, seeing patients could easily lead to a medical dispute.

Thinking about his ordinary, low-level role at the hospital filled Joseph with bitter regret. Back in the day, he'd graduated with almost perfect scores from his medical program before joining the hospital.

Within two years, he'd earned prescribing rights, gotten his master's degree, and been promoted to attending physician. His future had been bright.

Then, he'd met Cora. He'd fallen hopelessly in love, married her, and started a family with her. Because the Lowells were rich and powerful, Cora had decided his job didn't matter. She'd pushed him to focus on the family and care for Natalie.

So, he'd taken a leave of absence after completing only one year of his PhD and stopped pursuing promotions. If not for his lingering sense of duty as a doctor, he probably would've just quit altogether to be a full-time stay-at-home dad and househusband.

And for what?

Cora had cheated on him, and none of their daughters were his. He'd been scammed. More than ten years of effort and sacrifice had turned into nothing.

Joseph's chest ached. He felt small and humiliated and didn't want to see anyone.

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