"I'm feeling much better now. Yesterday was so touch-and-go, I really owe it all to you, Dr. Simmons. I haven't even had the chance to thank you properly."

"The moment I woke up, I had a banner made to show my gratitude. I hope you won't think it's too much."

I smiled, but my gaze drifted to their interlocked hands.

On Maxwell's finger, which had always been bare, sat a ring identical to Olivia's. An unusual, distinctive design.

Noticing where I was looking, Olivia twisted the ring on her finger, her voice brimming with pride.

"My husband designed these himself. They're one of a kind. The only pair in the world."

"A little ugly, maybe, but I love them."

I dropped my gaze quickly, swallowing the storm rising behind my eyes.

The day after our wedding, Maxwell had taken off the ring I'd had specially commissioned by a master jeweler. I watched him seal it in its box and shove it into the back of a drawer, never to see the light of day again.

"Why won't you wear it?"

He'd frowned and shaken his head.

"It's too expensive. If I lost it, that would be a shame."

I hadn't said another word. I just quietly slipped off my own ring and tossed it onto the nightstand.

At home, Maxwell's ring finger had always been empty.

Now it wore a band that wasn't going anywhere.

So in front of me, he couldn't even be bothered to pretend.

The baby slept peacefully in a bassinet nearby. Even at this age, the resemblance to Maxwell was unmistakable in the curve of her brows and the set of her tiny features.

As she shifted in her sleep, a jade pendant slipped free from beneath her collar. The stone was luminous, its quality obvious at a glance.

It was the gemstone cut from the rough stone at our wedding, the one that had been unveiled as a lucky charm for the occasion. Now it had been carved into an ordinary pendant and hung around the neck of Maxwell's daughter.

Something hollow opened up inside my chest. Whatever had once been there, I'd already carved it out myself.

Olivia's sugary voice floated up from behind me.

"Babe, I'm a little hungry. Could you go grab me some breakfast?"

Maxwell hesitated, rooted to the spot.

"I don't feel right leaving you here alone."

Olivia waved him off and glanced my way.

"Relax. Dr. Simmons is right here. Nothing's going to happen."

Only after I nodded did Maxwell finally turn and leave.

The door opened and closed. The room fell quiet.

I couldn't help the bitter curl at the corner of my mouth.

"You and Mr. Delgado certainly have a wonderful relationship."

Olivia pulled Maxwell's jacket tighter around her shoulders and propped herself up in bed.

"Maxwell and I both came from a small town. When you're two people out in the world on your own, you learn to lean on each other."

"Luckily, he's ambitious. He worked hard and built his own company from the ground up."

"If it weren't for that impossible investor breathing down his neck, he'd already be one of the top names in the industry by now."

I raised an eyebrow. A slow heat kindled in my chest.

Maxwell's company, from its initial registration to every round of funding, had been built step by step under my father's guidance. And the biggest investor? Also my father.

Back then, Maxwell had refused a position at Simmons Group, insisting he'd provide me a comfortable life with his own two hands.

But his business instincts were painfully mediocre. The company had been hemorrhaging money for two years straight, and it was my father who'd been quietly covering the losses behind the scenes, all for my sake.

Yet in Maxwell's version of the story, my father was the difficult investor making his life miserable.

An ungrateful snake. That's what he was.

A knock came at the door. Someone stepped in carrying a red banner.

At some point, Olivia had already gotten out of bed and settled into a wheelchair that had been waiting beside it.

A smile lingered at the corners of her mouth. "Dr. Simmons, catch."

The banner was thrust toward me. The man holding it gave it a shake, and the fabric unfurled.

The moment I read the words, my expression went dark.

BRAZEN AND SHAMELESS. HOMEWRECKER.

Eight bold characters hit me like invisible slaps across the face, burning my cheeks crimson.

My whole body trembled. When I spoke, my voice came out cold as ice.

"What exactly is this supposed to mean, Ms. Walker?"

And just like that, Olivia's demeanor shifted completely. Her gaze raked over me from head to toe.

"Maxwell's not here. You can drop the act."

"The second you came out of that operating room yesterday, I noticed. Your eyes were practically glued to him."

"We're both women. Don't think for a second I can't see those pathetic little thoughts running through your head."

She pressed a hand to her mouth in an exaggerated gag, staring at me with undisguised revulsion.

"Some angel in white you are. Spending your days scheming to seduce a patient's husband. Disgusting."

I slammed the banner to the ground, the words of rebuttal already rising in my throat.

But then I thought of those two marriage certificates, and I couldn't tell which one was real. The words lodged in my throat and refused to come out.

Seeing me struck silent, Olivia's arrogance swelled.

"Hit a nerve, didn't I?"

"You picked OB-GYN on purpose. Figured you'd prey on families when they're at their most vulnerable."

She jerked her chin at the man who'd delivered the banner.

"You. Drag her out into the hallway."

I backed away, eyes locked on him, and snapped, "Don't touch me!"

But the next second, a cup smashed against my skull.

A warm trickle of blood ran down from my temple.

By the time I came back to my senses, the hallway was packed with onlookers.

Olivia wheeled herself out of the room, shouting at the top of her lungs.

"Everyone, come look! This OB-GYN doctor preys on women right after they give birth, seducing their husbands while they're still weak!"

"From the very first second she laid eyes on my husband yesterday, she hasn't looked away once!"

She ordered the man pinning me down to rip off my surgical mask, then grabbed a fistful of my hair and wrenched my face up for the entire crowd to see.

The instant she got a clear look at my features, a flash of jealousy cut through Olivia's eyes.

"Just as I thought. A face built for seduction. Born to lure men away from their families."

She stepped in front of me and swung her palm across my face.

A searing sting exploded across my cheek.

Then Olivia deliberately twisted the ring on her finger so the jagged setting faced her palm and dragged it hard across my skin, carving an open wound down my face.

A nurse who had rushed over at the commotion went pale. She stamped her foot and sprinted toward the director's office.

I fought to wrench free of the hands holding me down, but the blood streaming from my wounds was draining my strength faster than I could summon it.

Maxwell came back carrying breakfast. The moment he saw the crowd, panic seized him.

"Excuse me, let me through!"

He shoved his way through the wall of bodies and went straight to Olivia, checking her over from head to toe with painstaking care.

"Livvy, are you okay? What's going on? Why is everyone crowded around out here?"

Olivia grabbed his hand, her face glowing with self-satisfaction.

"You're back just in time. I just exposed Dr. Simmons's true colors in front of everyone!"

"She's been parading around in front of you on purpose, trying to sink her claws into you!"

Maxwell gave her nose an indulgent little tap.

"You and your jealousy. You know there's no room in my heart for anyone but you."

"But let me get a look at this Dr. Simmons and see what kind of face she's got, thinking she could make a play for my woman."

Olivia's finger pointed straight past him, aimed at something behind his back.

Maxwell turned to follow her gaze and locked eyes with me.

Clatter.

Everything in his hands crashed to the floor.

His pupils contracted sharply, the color draining from his face.

"Sapphire, what are you doing here?"