Chapter 52
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I glanced around the waiting room, scanning for my brother. My jaw tightened when I saw no sign of him. “Is Jason not here?” I asked, unable to keep the edge from my voice.
My mother’s face fell, eyes dropping to her lap. “He left after you answered the phone, saying he was in a hurry.”
Heat rushed to my face. I pulled out my phone, my fingers jabbing at the screen as I typed a furious message to my brother: [Dad is in surgery right now. Where the hell are you, you selfish jerk?]
A nurse approached us, clipboard in hand. “Mrs. Brown? Your husband has just gone into surgery. Dr. Winters from Sterling Medical Group is performing the procedure himself. It should take approximately four hours.”
My mother nodded numbly, and I thanked the nurse, forcing a polite smile I didn’t feel.
“Sterling Medical Group?” my mother asked after the nurse left, forehead creasing with confusion. “I thought we couldn’t afford specialists.”
I swallowed hard, mouth suddenly dry. “I… arranged for better care, Mom. Don’t worry about it.” My voice sounded
strained even to my own ears.
She didn’t press further. Instead, she leaned her head against my shoulder and closed her eyes, her body gradually growing heavier against mine.
The minutes stretched into hours. My back ached from the hard plastic chair, and I shifted uncomfortably, careful
not to disturb my mother who dozed fitfully beside me. Exhaustion had finally claimed her after days of worry and
sleepless nights.
I pulled out my phone, opening my messaging app. My fingers hovered over the keyboard as I drafted and deleted messages to Dominic. Each attempt felt inadequate, pathetic.
[I’m sorry for not telling you about Jason’s debt.]
Delete.
[Thank you for helping with my father’s surgery.]
Delete.
[I’m not trying to use you, I just didn’t know what to do.]
Delete.
In the end, I sent nothing. My throat tightened as I acknowledged he was probably still angry, and rightfully so. He’d explicitly told me to stay away from William, yet I’d gone to meet him anyway. My eyes burned with fatigue as I stared at the screen. The fact that I’d been threatened wouldn’t matter to an Alpha like Dominic, who expected
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12:06 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 52
obedience.
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My thoughts drifted to our relationship. Dominic had done so much for me–arranged my father’s surgery, given me a place to stay, bought me new art supplies. My chest felt heavy with guilt. What had I given him in return?
Relationship. The word made my heart beat faster. What exactly was our relationship? A business arrangement, certainly. A sexual partnership, definitely. But sometimes, in quiet moments like when he’d given me those new art supplies, I felt something shift between us.
My phone buzzed with a message. My pulse jumped before I realized it was Jason finally responding.
[Sorry sis, handling an emergency situation. Let me know how surgery goes.]
I shut off my phone, my teeth clenching so hard my jaw ached. Jason’s “emergency” was undoubtedly related to his gambling debts, and once again, he was leaving me to handle our family’s problems alone.
By eight thirty that evening, my back ached, my eyes burned, and I was surviving on vending machine coffee and stale crackers. The taste of cheap coffee lingered bitterly on my tongue. Then, finally, Dr. Winters emerged, still in his surgical scrubs but looking satisfied.
“Mrs. Brown, Miss Brown,” she greeted us, her voice warm and confident. “I’m pleased to tell you the surgery was very successful. We’ve removed the tumor and repaired the damage to the surrounding tissue.”
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