Nicholas stood rooted with his temples throbbing. After a moment, he looked at Linda with a complicated gaze and said, “Calm down, okay? Zephyr doesn’t wish for this either…”
“What doesn’t he wish for?” Linda raised her voice. “Hah, he’s bored of living his rich heir life in Centrolis and came here pretending to be a former convict to get married?”
“Don’t make it sound so bad. You don’t understand. He was conspired against and got seriously injured. That’s why he hid his identity in Jangasas!”
Linda was quiet for a moment and scanned him judgingly before she scoffed. “You knew so much?”
Nicholas was rendered speechless.
“Nicholas Thompson!”
Nicholas wanted nothing more than to slap himself.
“Zephyr Hamerton!” Linda’s voice was shaking from how furious she was. “Recover and recuperate all you want. Why get Cordelia involved?
“Do you really think you’re a prince? Hah, being a womanizer even when you’re badly injured. How much will your rich heir friends be envious of you when you talk about it in the future? Am I right?
“But what about Cordelia? Will you really be able to marry her!?”
“Linda!” Nicholas looked stern. “Enough!”
Linda took a deep breath and forced her tears back.
The hallway fell into silence suddenly, as if warped into a vacuum.
The light above the emergency ward went out a while later, and Zephyr got up to run over.
“Don’t worry. She’s not in a critical state.” Seth came out with a relieved smile. “Fortunately, the cut was shallow and didn’t cut the artery. As for her other injuries, they’re superficial wounds. She just has to rest up.”
Zephyr’s lips wobbled, and his eyes turned red.
Seth had mixed feelings facing him again. Never in his dreams would he have thought that the man he had saved back then was so distinguished.
He said softly, “M-Mr… Hamerton, the nurses are finishing up inside. Once there’s no anomaly after some observation, Cordelia will be wheeled to the ward.”
Zephyr nodded and thanked him softly.
Seth licked his lips. “Also, I suggest that Linda keeps her company for now…”
“Why?” Zephyr was alarmed.
“She was almost assaulted. There’s definitely repulsion toward men. It’s a normal reaction. Give her some time and let her recover slowly.”
Zephyr was silent with glum.
Linda nodded quickly. “I can do it! I’ll go home and pack now and come keep her company!”
“Then… then I’ll go with you!” Nicholas followed her.
“No need!” Linda glared at him. “Mr. Thompson, take a break! You men are all liars! All rotten!”
“Linda, you can’t overgeneralize us. I’m different from Zephyr—”
Linda turned back to glare at him as if saying with her eyes, “Are you saying eight years isn’t much for a lie?”
Nicholas caved immediately, standing on the spot and sighing as he listened to the vanishing sound of her heels clicking on the floor at the other end of the hallway.
“I told you to tell her earlier, yet you had to stall it!” he complained to Zephyr. “You’re setting me up for this!
“Zephyr, I don’t care. You either appease Cordelia or give me back my wife!”
Seth chuckled soundlessly. He was also being lied to for a very long time.
“Yeah, it doesn’t feel good being lied to,” he said softly. “Mr. Hamerton, even I’m upset that you’ve gone from Marcus Grist to Zephyr Hamerton all of a sudden. What more could Cordelia feel?”
Zephyr bit his lips, his deep eyes oozing despair.
Cordelia felt like her head was splitting. Her heart drummed. She pulled her hand back abruptly and looked at the man before her in terror.
“Cordelia.” Zephyr’s voice was hoarse. “Don’t be scared. It’s me…”
“Go away!”
Cordelia wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, curled up and quivering.
“Honey!”
“Who are you?” Her tears fell.
Zephyr’s heart felt like it was being stabbed. He tried to stroke her hair.
“Don’t touch me!”
“Cordelia…”
“I beg you, don’t stay in front of me!” Cordelia was bawling as she buried herself in the blanket. “I can see you hitting me once I close my eyes…”
“That person wasn’t me.”
Cordelia showed her eyes from the blanket after a moment. Her bright eyes lost their luster, which was replaced by fear and terror.
“I know. That’s Marcus Grist,” she said softly. “But I’ve always thought that you are Marcus Grist.”
Zephyr clenched his fists, not feeling the pain even when his nails stabbed into his flesh.
“I’m sorry, Cordelia.” He spoke in a deep tone. “I should have told you everything in the beginning…”
Cordelia clutched the blanket as she heard him say clearly, “I’m not Marcus Grist. I’m Zephyr Hamerton.”
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