A Ruinous Night novel Chapter 1

I had just stepped out of the operating room after my hymenoplasty when I caught sight of that familiar silhouette.

Lucian Lockwood stood outside, looking impeccably tall in his white coat as he explained post-op instructions to a patient's family.

He was a surgeon here at Southglade Hospital.

I didn't want to run into him. A dull ache throbbed between my thighs, making it hard to walk normally, but I forced myself to speed up.

"Hey, Stella Sharpe!"

A nurse suddenly called my name down the hall.

I held my breath and looked back, just as Lucian lifted his predatory gaze toward me.

"You just had surgery, don't walk so fast," the nurse scolded. "You haven't even picked up your medication yet. Come here!"

"Right."

I turned and followed her.

Lucian cast a brief glance my way before his expression turned somber, and he went back to speaking with the family.

The nurse handed me a bag of pills, lowering her voice. "This procedure is temporary. You need to have intercourse within three days, and even then, it's not a guaranteed success. We went over all of this beforehand, right?"

I gave a distracted hum of agreement.

"And the medical records for this surgery... they're strictly confidential, right? No one can look them up, not even the doctors here?"

"Relax," she assured me. "Even if you just had an appendix removed, we'd keep it confidential, let alone a procedure like this. We have strict professional ethics."

I was worrying over nothing.

Lucian despised me. He couldn't wait to sever all ties with me, so he certainly wouldn't go out of his way to dig into my medical history.

Years ago, I was a sponsored student heavily supported by the Lockwood family. Because of my stellar grades, Mr. Lockwood transferred me to a prestigious city school so I could tutor Lucian.

But we ended up crossing the line and tumbling into bed together.

Afterward, the Lockwood family threw me out. In a fit of despair, I stood on a rooftop in a wedding dress, threatening to jump if Lucian didn't marry me.

When he was forcibly dragged up to the roof, he merely looked at me with cold detachment. "Stop acting like a psycho."

I jumped. I spent over a month recovering in the hospital, and he never visited me once.

He was too busy distancing himself from a lunatic. He even pinned a clarification post to the top of his Social Feed.

[Stella Sharpe is just a charity case my dad sponsored. We aren't close, and we never will be.]

"Hemorrhoid removal."

Lucian raised a brow but didn't press the issue.

The elevator finally dinged at the ground floor. I hurried out and hailed a cab, letting out a breath of relief once I was safely inside.

At least that was one major problem solved.

...

I spent the entire afternoon dozing on and off in my apartment.

After nightfall, I heard the front door unlock.

"Make yourself at home. My girlfriend wasn't feeling well and is asleep, so I'm just going to go check on her," Julian's voice drifted in from the hall.

A moment later, Julian slipped into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the mattress. His large, warm hand gently pressed against my forehead.

I knew I didn't have a fever; I was just sore from the minor surgery and needed rest.

I opened my eyes. "Your cousin is here?"