Daniel spent two days keeping vigil in Camille’s hospital room. Her pregnancy was unstable. The doctor had ordered strict bed rest, so he stayed by her side constantly, feeding her meals and bringing her water.
Even when she frowned slightly, he would fuss over her anxiously for ages. Camille leaned against the headboard with a satisfied smile on her face, her fingers gently tugging at his
sleeve.
“Daniel, you’re so good to me.”
But Daniel found himself staring at the clock, somehow lost in thought.
In his memory, it seemed like someone else had once sweetly pulled at his sleeve and said to him, “Daniel, you’re so good to me.”
Someone who had once whispered promises of forever in his ear.
He snapped back to reality and forced a smile, but his eyes kept drifting toward the doorway. Ever since that day, he’d been strangely distracted for reasons he couldn’t explain.
“What’s wrong?” Camille picked up on his absent–mindedness.
“Nothing.” He stood up. “Let me get you some water.”
Leaving the room, Daniel’s pace quickened unconsciously as he headed straight for Valentina’s hospital room. The moment he pushed open the door, his breathing caught.
The hospital bed was completely empty, the sheets so perfectly smooth they looked like no one had ever lain there at all.
“Nurse!” He grabbed a passing nurse by the arm, his voice carrying a panic he didn’t even recognize. “Where’s the patient in this room?”
The young nurse, Serena Clarke, winced as his grip hurt her. She frowned. “Ms. Frost? She discharged herself several days ago.”
“Several days ago?” Daniel’s pupils contracted in shock.
“She was injured so badly! Why didn’t any of you keep an eye on her? How could you just let her leave like that?
“And when a patient is discharged, why didn’t anyone notify her family?”
Serena looked up at him in surprise, studying him with a mixture of confusion and judgment. No one came to visit her when she was injured so badly, so we all assumed she didn’t have any family…
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Chapter 9
“As for you, wasn’t your wife the patient in the other room? When both patients needed treatment, you told us you were Ms. Lane’s husband and to prioritize her care.
“It’s been days, and you’re only asking about her now. She obviously wasn’t that important to
you.”
Daniel felt a sharp pain in his chest as guilt threatened to swallow him whole. How could she not be important to him?
Even if he had been paying more attention to Camille lately, he’d never intended to abandon Valentina. She was his wife, after all.
“Where did she go?”
“How should I know?” Serena pulled free from his grasp, clearly done with the conversation.
She frowned. “We don’t pry into patients‘ personal affairs.”
Daniel stood frozen in place, feeling like something had slammed hard into his chest, leaving a dull, throbbing ache. He turned and rushed out of the hospital, driving straight to the base housing.
The entire way, his heart was pounding violently for reasons he couldn’t understand. And it felt hollow. It was as if he somehow knew he was about to lose something irreplaceable.
When he pushed open the door, the house was eerily quiet.
“Val?” he called out, but there was no answer.
Half her clothes were gone from the closet in the bedroom, her skincare products had vanished from the dresser, and even her favorite ceramic mug had disappeared.
Daniel’s hands trembled slightly as his eyes searched every corner of the room desperately. As if by doing so, he could find some trace of a message she’d left behind.
A piece of paper on the dining table caught his attention. He walked over and picked it up, and in that instant felt like he’d been struck by lightning.
It was a divorce certificate, officially stamped and dated three days ago.
“This can’t be…” Daniel’s fingers gripped the paper so tightly his knuckles went white.
He clearly hadn’t signed anything. How could they be divorced?
He grabbed his car keys and bolted out the door, speeding all the way to the courthouse.
Adrienne took the document and adjusted her glasses. “Captain Pierce, your divorce has already been finalized.”
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“I never signed anything! How did we get divorced?” Daniel’s voice was hoarse, his eyes. bloodshot.
“This doesn’t follow proper procedure! I want to file a complaint against you people. On what grounds did you process our divorce? I’m demanding you reverse it right now!”
Adrienne frowned and pulled out the file, pointing to one of the pages.
“Ms. Frost submitted sufficient evidence proving that you and Ms. Lane are living together. According to our country’s marriage law, when a spouse commits bigamy or cohabits with another person, the other party can file for mandatory divorce without your consent.”
Daniel felt like the ground had dropped out from under him. He stumbled out of the courthouse, squinting against the harsh sunlight.
How could this happen? Valentina loved him so much–how could she bring herself to divorce him?
He pulled out his phone and called several of his men.
“Find her. Find out where Valentina went! Train station, bus station–check everywhere!”
After hanging up, his subordinates immediately began searching. But hours later, they returned empty–handed.
“Captain, we looked everywhere. Nobody’s seen her.”
Daniel stood on the busy street, feeling completely lost. He’d thought he had everything figured out. Once Camille had the baby, he could go back to Valentina and everything would return to normal.
But how had it all gone so wrong?
He stared at the divorce papers in his hands, then slumped down on the sidewalk. Something inside his chest felt broken and empty.
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Chapter 10
