After Rejection Divorced Luna Becomes A Famous Doctor (Hailey and Dominic) novel Chapter 210

CHAPTER HUNDRED SIXTYTHREE

+25 Points

CHAPTER HUNDRED-SIXTYTHREE

VALERIE

It’s been one week since the little progress with Giovanni, but since then, there has been no more. The doctors had already warned me, told me it would be a slow and unpredictable process. But a week of silence after that one spark of hope was starting to wear me down.

I still came every day. I still talked to him, held his hand, and read to him. But the desperation was starting to creep in, a cold, creeping fear that that one squeeze was the last flicker of a dying candle, not the dawn of a new day.

Today, I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept properly in a week, my dreams a jumbled mess of car crashes and hospital rooms and bad hospital food.

Today, I was with Phoenix. I had missed my baby, been so worried about his father that I haven’t really had the chance to be a mother to him. So I took the day to reconnect with him, Hailey dropped him off with me earlier, and it was good to feel his small, warm body in my arms, to hear his little gurgles and coos. I was feeding him in the quiet private hospital room, the familiar scent of him a comforting balm to my frayed nerves, when the door creaked open.

I looked up, expecting to see Hailey or Dominic, or one of Giovanni’s family. But it wasn’t.

It was Yasmine.

She was standing in the doorway, a sympathetic look plastered on her face, a bouquet of lilies in her hands. The cloying, sweet scent of them filled the room, an unwelcome intrusion.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice tight, my arms instinctively tightening around

Phoenix.

“I came to see how you were doing,” she said, her voice dripping with a false concern that made my skin crawl. “I heard about Giovanni. I’m so sorry Valerie. I know what you’re going through.”

“You have no idea what I’m going through,” I snapped, my anger rising. “And you’re not welcome

here. Get out.”

She ignored me, stepping further into the room, her eyes scanning the monitors, a flicker of something, triumph? satisfaction?, in her gaze before it was masked by sympathy.

“Such a tragic accident,” she continued, her tone a sickeningly sweet lament. “Just when things were going so well for you both. A new baby, a new life. It’s so unfair. Giovanni is such a good

person.”

My blood ran cold. The way she said ‘accident’, the way she looked at me, the smug little smile playing on her lips. It was all there. A confession hidden in plain sight.

1/3

<

< CHAPTER HUNDRED-SIXTYTHREE

“It wasn’t an accident,” I said, my voice low and dangerous.

+25 Points

Her head tilted, a look of mock surprise on her face “What do you mean? The police report said it was a hit and run. A drunk driver.”

“I know what it said,” I said, my gaze unwavering. “And I know what you are.”

She laughed then, a light, tinkling sound that was utterly devoid of humor. “You’re exhausted, Valerie. You’re not thinking clearly. Grief does strange things to a person. But Giovanni was once my brother in law and my good friend, so I’ll excuse your manners. Anyone can see that you are hanging on by a thread.”

She took a step towards me, her arm outstretched as if to touch Phoenix’s cheek. I recoiled, a growl rumbling in my chest, a primal, protective instinct that was all wolf.

“Don’t you dare touch my son,” I snarled, my eyes flashing with a fury that surprised even me.

She stopped, her hand hovering in the air. “I was just trying to be nice,” she said, her pout a perfect picture of wounded innocence. “But I can see I’m not wanted. I’ll leave you to your… grief.”

She turned to leave, but stopped at the door, turning back to look at me, her smile gone, replaced by a cold, hard mask. She thought she was safe, that she could say anything she wanted because I was broken, because I was weak. She could deceive everyone by trying to act like a good friend who was just trying to pay a visit, but I saw right through it. And I knew, with a certainty that chilled

me to the bone, that she was the one who had done this.

She and Giovanni were never friends. Giovanni never supported her marriage with Dominic, he knew that she was poison from the very start, he told Dominic countless times but he never listened. I remembered all the times he warned him about her. So why would she want to come and visit him? The only reason she would be here was to make sure her job was done. To see if she

succeeded.

She wanted to gloat. She wanted to see my pain up close, to breathe it in like it was the finest perfume.

I would not give her the satisfaction.

“Get out, Yasmine,” I said, my voice flat and cold. “And don’t ever come back.”

She gave me a small, mocking bow. “As you wish, my queen.”

She walked out of the room, the scent of lilies lingering in the air. I carried Phoenix and placed him

on the small bassinet the hospital had provided, then walked to the door and watched her walk

down the hallway, her hips swaying with a confidence that made my stomach turn. She didn’t look

back.

I stood there for a long moment, my body trembling with a rage so intense. I wanted to scream, to

2/3

< CHAPTER HUNDRED SIXTYTHREE

+25 Points

smash the vase of lilies she had left on the bedside table, to tear the room apart. But I didn’t. I took a deep breath, the air catching in my throat, and forced myself to calm down.

I had to be smart. I had to be strong. I had to be the wolf Giovanni needed me to be.

I took the lilies out of the vase and walked to the bin, tossing them in with a force that made the plastic crack. I then walked over to Phoenix, who was now awake, his little fists waving in the air. I picked him up, holding him close to my chest, his warmth a grounding force in the storm of my

emotions.

“You’re safe, my love,” I whispered, my tears finally falling. “Mama’s got you.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify