The Cold Surgeon's Contract Bride novel Chapter 150

Hearing Zelda's relentless teasing, Zoey's face flushed a brilliant shade of crimson. "Stop making fun of Dr. Sterling!"

Though she sounded like she was defending him, the coy, bashful look in her eyes was the absolute picture of a girl head over heels in love.

"Dr. Logan, what did Selena and Leon write?"

It was the head nurse who asked, finally dragging the room's attention away from Ferris and Zoey's blatant romance. A second later, Dr. Logan let out a loud gasp.

"Whoa, Selena and Leon wrote the exact same thing!"

Leon had also written, 'Witnessed by friends and family.'

The head nurse laughed, "Great minds think alike!"

I was completely caught off guard by the match. I glanced over at Leon, only to find him already looking at me, a soft smirk playing on his lips. For some reason, my heart gave a strange little skip.

"Alright, final question!" Zelda announced. "What is the one trait you absolutely cannot accept in a partner?"

This question took me by surprise.

If the first two questions were about finding common romantic ground, this one cut straight to the core of personal boundaries and fatal flaws.

I lifted my gaze, instinctively looking across the hotpot spread. My eyes violently collided with Ferris's pitch-black stare. In that split second of eye contact, his brows furrowed, flashing a look of profound disgust.

I immediately tore my eyes away and typed the word 'Cheating' onto my screen.

"Best two out of three! Round one went to Dr. Sterling and Zoey, and round two went to Dr. Lennox and Selena. That means this final round determines the winner!" Zelda hyped up the crowd, dragging out the suspense. "Dr. Logan, do the honors."

Dr. Logan picked up the four phones. As he read the screens, his eyes went wide. "Whoa, wait a minute!"

"Did nobody match?" the head nurse asked eagerly.

"No, no, no," Dr. Logan corrected, completely bewildered. "Leon and Selena both wrote 'Cheating'. But Director Sterling and Zoey both wrote 'Lying'."

It was a dead tie.

Nobody saw that coming.

Realizing the game was gridlocked, Zelda scratched her head in frustration. "Well, I guess we need a tiebreaker. What is the one gift from a partner that would truly win your heart?"

A gift.

Thinking back over my three years of marriage to Ferris, I had prioritized his needs above my own in every single aspect of our lives, pouring my soul into taking care of him. To me, that was the ultimate display of devotion.

But I knew Ferris didn't see it that way. Honestly, I was dying to know what kind of gift could actually thaw a man as ruthless and cold as him.

A minute later, Zelda revealed the answers. I had written 'Something handmade', Leon wrote 'A home-cooked meal', and Zoey wrote 'A home for the two of us'. Finally, all eyes locked onto Dr. Logan as he read Ferris's screen.

A hard lump formed in my throat.

Look at me. It was literally just a stupid party game, yet I had let it rip my heart to shreds.

Four questions. Zelda had only asked four simple questions, and out of all of them, my legal husband and I didn't match on a single one.

Eight years. I had chased this man for eight agonizing years, completely convinced that we shared some underlying, unspoken bond. But those four questions were like four vicious slaps to the face, screaming at me that I had less chemistry with my own husband than a girl he had known for less than two months.

It was utterly pathetic.

"You're in quite a good mood, Dr. Hayes."

The sudden, freezing voice right next to my ear made me jump. I spun around and found Ferris standing just a step away.

Half of his face was swallowed by the shadows of the corridor, but the harsh lines of his clenched jaw and the dead, glacial emptiness in his eyes were unmistakable.

"Can I help you?"

Ferris took a slow, predatory step forward. His gaze locked onto my face as he sneered, "Your chemistry with Dr. Lennox is really quite impressive."

I should have known he only followed me out here to pick a fight. Refusing to back down, I shot back, "You flatter me, Dr. Sterling. It's absolutely nothing compared to the profound connection between you and Zoey."

The man scoffed, his eyelids lifting slightly as he drawled, "Of course. After all, the thing we both can't stand the most is a liar."