Cold Husband Burning Regret: The Divorce He Couldn't Handle novel Chapter 324

Hospital.

Charlotte was making her usual rounds through the inpatient wing, jotting down notes on her patients, when a nurse approached her and whispered, “Dr. Sterling, the patient in Room 36 is refusing to listen. He’s insisted on hobbling out with his cane to visit his wife in another department.”

Charlotte paused, pen hovering over the chart. Room 36—that was Stevenson, wasn’t it?

“His wife’s here too?”

“I think so. She’s in orthopedics.”

Charlotte closed her notebook and offered the nurse a reassuring smile. “I’ll bring him back in a bit.”

“Thank you, Dr. Sterling.”

At the nurses’ station, Charlotte picked up the phone and called the orthopedics department to find out which room Candida was in, then headed across the corridor.

The nurse in orthopedics explained that Candida had fallen down the stairs, suffering a shattered left foot and a dislocated pelvis. She’d been brought in by ambulance—alone.

It was likely Candida herself had contacted Stevenson.

Charlotte reached the room and lifted her hand to knock, but paused when she heard Candida’s muffled sobs from inside. “I carried my daughter for nine months—how could she suddenly belong to someone else? How could something like this happen?”

Stevenson’s voice sounded worn, exhausted. “This… this is my fault…”

Charlotte pushed open the door.

Stevenson looked up, startled, then quickly dropped his gaze, lost in thought.

“Mr. Donovan, you’re still under hospital care. You can’t just leave your room without permission. If administration finds out, your insurance won’t cover the cost,” Charlotte reminded him gently, though her tone was firm.

Candida quickly spoke up, “I was the one who called him over, Dr. Sterling. I’ll send him back right away.”

“My wife has no one else with her. Just give me ten more minutes. I promise I’ll go back afterward. If anything happens, I’ll take responsibility. The hospital won’t be at fault.”

His words caught his wife off guard; her eyes turned red as she tried to hold back tears.

Charlotte was silent for a moment. “Just this once. Don’t let it happen again.”

You’re even more like a Rayburn than that girl.

They found my real sister, but it doesn’t seem to make me as happy as I thought. Sometimes, I wonder if she’s really my sister after all.

You’re my daughter. You always have been.

Voices from Charlotte’s memories rushed in, making her go rigid. If what Stevenson said was true, then the true Rayburn heiress—Wesley’s sister—was actually her…

Later, when Stevenson returned to his room, he found Charlotte standing by the window, waiting for him.

He hesitated. “…Dr. Sterling?”

“You’re back.”

“You didn’t wait this whole time, did you?” Xavier gave an awkward laugh. “I told you I’d come back, and I always keep my word.”

Charlotte lowered her gaze. “I heard everything you said to Mrs. Donovan.”