I had just laid Luna on the gurney when I heard a familiar voice.

“Shawn? How’s she?”

Kai stood a few steps away. He looked worried.

Marina was beside him.

“I was worried after Marina called, so I came with her to check on things.”

I instantly flew into rage when I saw them standing side by side.

“To check on things?!” I said scornfully.

“Or did you come to see whether Luna would make it, so you two lovebirds could start your new life together a little sooner, without so much baggage?”

Marina’s expression changed drastically. “Shawn Woods! What’re you saying?! How can you spout such nonsense, especially with Luna like this?”

“Me? Spouting nonsense?” I took a step forward. My tone grew sharper.

“Marina, look me in the eye, and tell me how long you and Kai have been together.

“Were you together even before what happened to Luna?

“While she was burning up with fever, were you sneaking around and secretly thinking she was in your way?”

“You!”

Marina was furious. She pointed at me and said, “That’s not true! Don’t you dare accuse me! Kai’s just a kind neighbor helping out!”

“Kind?” I scoffed. “Right. He’s so kind that he stalled me on the 911 call. He’s so kind that he slashed my tire!

“Marina, did you think I’m that big of a fool? Do you think I’d believe you’re innocent if I lose Luna?”

The weight of my words hit her like a ton of bricks. Marina was completely stunned. She was frozen in place.

Kai stood nearby, looking very hurt.

He tugged on Marina’s sleeve.

“Marina, is Shawn in shock? Is he hallucinating? I’d never do something like that!

“I know Shawn never really warmed up to me, but I’m genuinely worried about the child…”

As he spoke, he extended a hand toward Luna in my arms.

“Hey, kiddo. Are you feeling better? Let me have a look…”

My bottled-up rage exploded when I saw that Kai’s fingers were about to reach Luna’s burning-hot skin.

“Get your filthy hands off her!”

I gritted my teeth and shoved him hard.

The next second, he yelped in shock and stumbled backward.

Marina frowned. She helped Kai to a chair, then walked over to me.

She said in a low voice, “What are you doing?

“Can you not do this right now? If Kai hadn’t helped coordinate the dispatch just now, the ambulance wouldn’t have gotten here so fast!”

She looked at me with a disapproving expression. It was the exact way she had looked at me in the past when she accused me of being “overly emotional.”

Those memories flashed through my mind.

I remembered how flustered she had been the first time she held our daughter. I remembered her smile when our daughter called her “mom.”

I remembered us soothing the crying little Luna together in the middle of the night.

Yet here she was, defending another man and blaming me.

At that moment, all my feelings for her vanished.

But my resolve became stronger.

This time, I would make anyone who harmed Luna pay the price!

Luna was soon wheeled into the emergency room. The red light inside was on.

I let out a cold laugh. “First of all, the ambulance never showed up. It never came!

“I had to get her here myself. I flagged down a car.”

Marina seemed shocked when she heard that.

I turned toward the nurses’ station and said, “Nurse, I need to speak to my daughter’s doctor. I have information about what she might have been exposed to.”

As I spoke, my gaze swept over Kai’s clenched fists.

“I want to see if anything links back to him!”

Kai immediately became agitated.

“Shawn, I get you’re worried about Luna, but you can’t just throw around accusations like that!”

His eyes welled up with tears as he turned to Marina.

“Marina, I just came by to help. I was worried that you might be overwhelmed.

“Why on earth would I hurt a child? I’ve only even seen her a couple of times!”

Marina frowned. She looked at me. Her face shone with frustration.

“Shawn Woods! You’ve been completely out of line all night.”

She took a deep breath, then said, “She had a fever. I told you to call 911. You hung up for no reason and tried to drive her here yourself. I told you an ambulance was faster and safer, but you screamed at me. You said that I…”

She paused. A flicker of shame crossed her face, but she continued, “You said that I was trying to hurt our daughter.

“Fine! Let’s say you weren’t thinking straight. Before your tire was slashed, I called 911. Kai here was kind enough to help expedite things. He came to the hospital because he was worried, and you pushed him!

“Now, you’re telling the doctor about ‘suspicious exposure’ and dragging him into this?”

With every word she spoke, the few waiting family members and passing nurses glanced our way more intently.

“Is the dad having a mental breakdown?”

“Someone tries to help, and this is the thanks they get? No appreciation at all.”

“I get that he’s stressed with a sick kid, but this is too much!”

Kai sighed and looked even more hurt.

As I listened to Marina listing my faults one by one, cold dread spread throughout my entire body.

To her, all my struggle and vigilance tonight were merely me being ungrateful or hysterical.

I pulled the brooch from my pocket and held it up before Kai.

“This brooch is what popped my tire.

“This is yours, isn’t it, Kai? How did it just happen to be right next to my flat tire?”

Kai’s face paled.

“I might’ve dropped it. I was walking around the complex yesterday.

“Shawn, that still doesn’t prove I slashed your tire. That’s insane!”

He turned to Marina. “Marina, I didn’t do it! Maybe Shawn is too stressed and feeling paranoid.

“I get that he’s scared for his kid, but he can’t just accuse me like this!”

Marina’s gaze wavered. But then, she let out a sigh and rubbed her temples.

“Shawn, a brooch doesn’t prove anything.

“You’re not thinking straight. Just calm down. Can we wait until Luna’s out of surgery before we talk about this?”

Her taking Kai’s side was the final straw.

Kai then said softly, “Marina, don’t be too hard on Shawn. He’s just struggling. In case Luna doesn’t wake—”

A sharp slap struck his face.

Kai covered his face as his eyes widened in disbelief.

“Shawn, have you lost your mind?!” Marina screamed with rage.

“Kai saved Luna! He’s her rescuer! How could you hit him?”

She raised her hand to strike me.

At that moment, the nurse from earlier hurried back. She was holding a transparent sealed bag.