His Last Command Came Back to Kill Him novel Chapter 4

Clive's gaze carelessly swept over the nightstand, catching a glimpse of the medical report she had tossed there. "You're sick?" he asked, his tone so flat it was impossible to read any genuine concern into it.

He reached out to pick it up.-

Whitley snatched it before his fingers could make contact, crushing the paper in her fist. "It's nothing. Just a cold."

His sudden display of care felt impossibly cheap and laughable.

An eerie silence settled over the room, an imitation of the fragile peace they had shared during their first year of marriage—never deeply in love, but maintaining a comfortable facade.

Only Whitley knew that the facade had permanently shattered the moment she saw him at the hospital.

She desperately wanted to demand answers. When he had promised they would start a family, had he meant it for her? Or had he already made that identical promise to Yelena while they were abroad?

Had he flown back to honor his vows to his wife, or to play house with his pregnant mistress?

Before the words could leave her mouth, Clive's phone buzzed on the nightstand.

The screen lit up. The caller ID flashed a sickeningly bright "Babe." It felt like a physical knife twisting into Whitley's chest.

"Clive, I feel awful. Can you please come back to the hospital?"

Yelena's soft, pathetic whimper echoed through the phone's speaker, slicing through the quiet room.

Clive ended the call without a word. He stood up, grabbed his jacket from the chair, and said smoothly, "I need to step out."

Whitley stared at his broad, retreating back. "Clive. I need to talk to you."

"It can wait until I get back."

Her ultimatum hadn't mattered. Not even a little.

Whitley slumped against the cold wall, a hollow, self-deprecating laugh escaping her lips.

It was almost comical. A pathetic, naive part of her had genuinely hoped this was all a massive misunderstanding. When she threatened divorce, she was secretly praying he would stop, turn around, and ask her to stay.

Instead, reality had delivered a brutal wake-up call.

She meant absolutely nothing to him.

Clive didn't return that night. Whitley felt nothing. She wasn't even surprised.

After all, Yelena was waiting in the hospital, and he had a job to do.