Trapped in the Don's Vow novel Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I hurriedly hung up the call and forced an awkward smile.

“I’ll just get out here. You don’t have to go out of your way.”

Julian frowned, his tone firm.

“Stop pretending you’re fine. Look at the state you’re in. How could I let you walk off alone?”

Summer pressed her hand down on mine as well.

“Yeah, Nina. Let us at least walk you to the entrance. Otherwise we won’t be able to relax.”

I sighed.

“I’m steady. Look, I can walk just fine.”

I pushed the door open and stepped out.

My legs went weak, and I nearly collapsed.

Julian reached out immediately to catch me.

But another hand was faster.

“Sorry. My patient is under my care.”

Ethan appeared out of nowhere, pulling me into his arms and steadying me with practiced ease.

Julian’s face darkened. He strode forward and blocked our path.

“She’s my ex-wife. Since when is she none of my concern?”

Summer followed, eyes red.

“Dr. Wells, Nina’s emotionally unstable. We can’t just leave her with someone we don’t know.”

Ethan smiled.

His gaze swept over them before settling on Julian, thick with mockery.

“Mr. Hayes, you seem to collect wives. Which one should I defer to?”

Julian ignored him completely, his eyes locked on the arm Ethan had around me.

“So tell me. Is this real? Or is she putting on a show?”

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Ethan couldn’t be bothered to respond. He guided me toward the hospital entrance.

Julian suddenly exploded and lunged forward, grabbing Ethan’s arm.

“Answer me! Is she really sick?”

Instinctively, I shrank back behind Ethan.

Ethan understood at once.

He turned to Julian and said calmly, “I was joking. She’s not sick.”

Then, after a brief pause, he added, “She’s my girlfriend. I’m picking her up after work. Is there a problem?”

Julian’s breath caught. All the color drained from his face.

His lips moved, and it took a long time before he found his voice.

“Nina… that’s not funny. Tell me who he is.”

I didn’t answer. My silence was confirmation enough.

The last light in Julian’s eyes went out.

Summer suddenly grew agitated, pointing at Ethan.

“I don’t care who you are, let her go! She’s my best friend. I won’t let her be deceived!”

She reached for me.

Ethan stepped back, shielding me, and let out a cold laugh.

“Best friend? The deepest wounds she’s suffered in this lifetime, weren’t they inflicted by you two?”

“When her in-laws threw her out, when her parents distanced themselves, when she swallowed pills and tried

to kill herself three times, where were you?”

“Trying to conceive? Going to prenatal checkups? Waiting eagerly for new life?”

“When she was severely depressed, hallucinating, barely hanging on, where were you?”

“Picking out cribs? Throwing baby celebrations?”

“For five whole years, you offered not a single explanation. You let her drown in guilt and despair.”

“And now you show up to put on this act of loyalty?”

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When Ethan found me, I was curled up in the corner of the rehabilitation center’s restroom.

My wrists were slick with blood, my eyes empty like a corpse’s.

He carried me out, treated my wounds, then looked me in the eye and said every word clearly, “Nina, if you want to die, I won’t stop you. But could you at least die knowing the truth?”

“Wait until we uncover what really happened in that fire. Wait until the people who deserve to pay actually pay. Then, if you still want to die, go ahead.”

“I’m begging you.”

After that, he became my attending physician.

And the only thing that kept me afloat.

He guided me, step by step, back through the fire.

We checked call records, Julian’s movements that day, the source of that unknown number.

The process was agonizing. Like ripping open a healing wound again and again.

But he told me, “If it hurts, that’s good. Pain means you haven’t given up yet.”