He Gave Her Strawberries, Gave Me Hives (Ford and Sylvia) novel Chapter 61

Scarlett stood behind the crowd, feeling like someone had taken an ice pick straight to her heart.

Cormac used to be obsessed with his image and public decency, if she even tried to steal a kiss on the street, he’d dodge her with a frown like

she was radioactive.

If she asked him to make their relationship “Instagram official,” he’d always dodge it with some excuse about “professional privacy.”

But now? He was announcing to the whole damn world that Ruby was his wife.

Cormac signed the consent forms, his hand shaking violently, eyes filled with panic, completely ignoring the blood soaking his clothes.

Turns out, when he actually loves someone, his precious “principles” go right out the window.

After signing, Cormac stood in the hallway, pacing back and forth like a caged animal.

He felt a gaze burning into his back.

But by the time he turned around, Scarlett had already vanished around the corner of the stairwell.

Cormac didn’t drag his exhausted self home until early the next morning.

He gingerly peeled off his blood–crusted coat and handed it to Scarlett to dry clean.

Funny. The man was a massive germaphobe, usually, if a stranger’s blood so much as touched his sleeve, he’d burn the coat.

I guess Ruby really was that special.

Seeing Scarlett’s silence, Cormac started explaining.

“Ruby tried to kill herself last night. I couldn’t just stand by. Relax, I just drove her to the ER. Nothing else happened.”

Scarlett was brewing tea and didn’t even look up. “Mmhmm.”

“You’re not… pissed?” Cormac frowned slightly.

Scarlett usually wore her heart on her sleeve, normally, she’d be throwing a fit by now.

Instead, she just spoke calmly, with a trace of sarcasm so faint he almost missed it.

“Why would I be mad? You’re a doctor. Saving lives is the gig, right?”

But only she knew the truth: she wasn’t calm, she was terrified.

The doctor had warned her that intense emotional stress could make the tumor in her brain detonate.

Cormac opened his mouth to say something.

His phone buzzed with a reminder notification, and he rushed into the kitchen.

Half an hour later, he served a pathetic meal–just a few wilted greens left on the plate, and he’d fished every single shrimp out of the soup.

15:34

He Gave Her Strawberries, Gave Me Hives. I Gave Them Both A One–Way Ticket To BANKRUPTCY.

24.9%

Chapter 3

“Dinner’s ready. Eat up. I gotta head back to the hospital to check on her.”

He grabbed a thermos container to go, then paused specifically to offer an excuse.

“I’m worried Mick might come back to hurt her. She just cheated death, Scarlett, she’s critical. You understand.”

Scarlett sat at the table staring at the cold food, not lifting a finger.

A while after he left, a notification popped up on her phone.

was a photo of Ruby holding Cormac’s hand, captioned:

[Turns out, there is someone in this world who thinks my life is worth saving.]

Scarlett stared blankly at their interlaced fingers, a memory hitting her hard.

During the year she chased Cormac the hardest, she’d crashed her car into a ditch trying to follow him, nearly killing herself.

With a steel plate in her leg, she’d cried and sent a photo to Cormac.

He just stopped by the hospital and said coldly:

“Stop doing things you can’t handle. I don’t pity people who don’t love themselves.”

Scarlett felt like she was suffocating.

While Cormac was gone, she walked into his study.

This was Cormac’s sanctuary, filled with important files and rare books–totally off–limits to everyone.

Even Scarlett was only allowed inside if she swore not to touch a damn thing.

She used to sneak her photo albums in here just to have an excuse to cling to him while he worked, he hated it at first, but eventually gave up

and let her stay.

She walked in, reaching for her album, but accidentally pulled out a notebook along with it.

The moment she opened it, she froze.

It was Ruby’s diary!

[March 5: Met Dr. Wilder for the first time in his living room. He’s so cold, like a god, not a human. I’m just dirt compared to him. Even looking at him feels like a sin.]

[April 19: Cut my finger by accident. Dr. Wilder didn’t mind the blood–he put my finger in his mouth to stop the bleeding. That’s when I knew he had feelings for me. He claims it was just “medical pity,” but I saw the look in his eyes. It was different.]

[May 2: Scarlett was out of town. Dr. Wilder drank a bit too much and let me into the study. He saw my bruises. That night, we made love right there in the study. When he sobered up, he was consumed by guilt and tried to pay me off. I know he cares about his reputation, he’s bored of Scarlett but feels obligated to stay. That’s fine. I’ll play the villain. I’ll fake an illness and quit to give him time to figure it out.]

[May 20: He couldn’t stay away. He came to see me. This time I didn’t try anything, I just held him and cried. He didn’t push me away…]

Every word was a poison–dipped needle stabbing right into Scarlett’s heart.

They’d been screwing around behind her back for months!

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