Trapped in the Don's Vow novel Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Yes. I was sick, not physically, but mentally.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, accompanied by severe depression and anxiety.

At my worst, I had auditory hallucinations.

I would hear Julian screaming my name from inside the fire.

also experienced visual hallucinations.

I would see Summer standing by my bed, holding her baby, smiling at me.

I even engaged in self-harm, digging my nails into my own skin until it was torn and bleeding.

The doctors said I needed long-term treatment.

That I might never fully recover.

But my attending physician, Ethan Wells, told me, “Nina, trust me. You can get better. Spring is coming. Let’s see if we can help you smile at yourself again before the flowers bloom.”

Ethan was infuriating. He always forced me to face the memories I wanted to avoid most.

He forced me to speak the pain I tried hardest to hide.

He confiscated the razor blades I hid under my pillow.

He watched me take my medication on schedule, even when I vomited violently.

But when I completely broke down and sobbed, he would quietly hand me tissues and say, “Go ahead and

cry. You’re safe here. No one’s judging you.”

In the rearview mirror, Julian’s gaze was locked onto me.

He swallowed hard. “That doctor…. do you know him well?”

“Not really.”

I tugged at the corner of my mouth.

Ethan truly wasn’t likable.

He was too calm, too rational, and he could see through my defenses at a glance.

He would say flatly, “Nina, you’re lying again. You don’t actually want to get better. You’re just pretending to

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want to get better for someone else.”

Every time, he hit the mark.

After hearing everything, Summer’s tears started falling again.

She clutched my hand tightly.

“I’m sorry. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t been so selfish back then, maybe you wouldn’t be sick…”

Julian’s reaction was completely different.

He always protected Summer first.

The moment she cried, his blame turned toward me.

“That’s enough! Summer, this has nothing to do with you!”

He pulled her into his arms and patted her back gently, like soothing a child.

When he looked at me again, his eyes had gone cold.

“Nina, haven’t you gotten tired of this sympathy act after five years?”

I froze.

Then I saw that familiar impatience and suspicion in his eyes, and suddenly I remembered.

When Julian and I were together, I really had used illness to keep him around.

Headaches. Stomachaches. Fevers.

At first, he would panic, take me to the hospital, stay up all night with me.

After it happened too many times, he began to frown.

“Why are you sick again? Can’t you take better care of yourself?”

Later, he would say outright, “Nina, I’m really tired. Can you stop being so needy all the time?”

So now, he still believed I was pretending.

That I was using “mental illness” to trap him.

“Nina, I know you hate me. But it’s been five years. Summer and I finally have a child. We just want a peaceful

life. Can you… let us go?”

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“No matter how pitiful you make yourself sound, there’s no going back for us.”

Those words hit like a key, and Summer’s tears just poured out.

She threw herself into Julian’s arms again, shaking as she cried.

“I knew it… I knew you wouldn’t abandon me…”

Just as the two of them were about to kiss right in front of me, my phone rang.

The ringtone shattered the suffocating atmosphere inside the car.

Flustered, I tried to hang up, but accidentally hit speaker instead.

Ethan’s cool, detached voice came through the speaker.

“Nina, where are you? It’s time to come back for treatment.”

The car fell into dead silence.