Chapter 53

Lucian’s POV

An ice cold feeling started within me, where my heart was, and stretched outwards along my limbs to the very tips of my fingers and the base of my toes.

Aria and Matt used to date.

Sick to my stomach, I couldn’t stand the sight of the picture anymore. I tucked it away in my pocket, yet even from there, it continued to haunt me.

Aria’s wide smile, her open body language, the way she touched Matt’s arm.

She’d been fond of him. She probably still was.

Even more than before, I felt like a fool standing here. Though I’d waited for hours for Aria to appear, I was suddenly glad she never appeared.

Without saying a single word more, I left the doorway. Ben followed along behind me as I walked back to the car.

“Take me to the office,” I told the driver, who set his newspaper aside.

“Yes, Alpha,” the driver said.

Ben hustled to his own car, likely to follow us.

I didn’t bother looking back at the house. I just rolled up my window and pretended I was anywhere else.

Aria’s POV

Much later in the day, when my work was finished, I went with Cathy back to her house to relax for the evening.

“I have to watch the news tonight,” I told her as we walked through the front door. “Matt said something strange about it. He was acting weird today.”

Cathy grinned like a cat who caught the canary. “Ah, so you talked to Matt…”

I rolled my eyes. “Dr. A talked to Matt. He didn’t know he was talking to Aria.”

Cathy hummed but shrugged, seemingly conceding. “Well, maybe you should call him as Aria.”

“Cathy, now wouldn’t be an appropriate time. He’s losing his father.”

“He might like the distraction. I’m sure he’d appreciate it if it was you.”

I glanced at her. “You are trying to convince me to date him again, aren’t you?”

“Why not?” Cathy asked. “He’s a good guy, and you deserve a good guy. It’s time to let Lucian go.”

“I’m going to shower and change,” I told her, not wanting to have this conversation anymore.

Cathy stayed in the living room while I retreated to my bedroom. Grabbing a change of clothes, I headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

Standing under the warm spray of rain, I allowed my mind to wander.

While Matt was indeed a good man, I didn’t feel like that would be enough to maintain a relationship. He would deserve more from me than I was ready or willing to give.

I didn’t know if I was ready to be with anyone right now. My double life as Dr. A kept me more than busy, and with the divorce, the one Lucian still hadn’t committed to, I couldn’t tell anyone that I was available.

Matt knew, but we’d always have to sneak around so the public wouldn’t catch on, else I risked ruining both Lucian and my reputations.

Our marriage might have fallen apart, but that didn’t mean that I wanted to ruin him.

Yet perhaps the biggest reason for my hesitation was my own heart.

My feelings were tangled and confusing. I had suffered so much hurt over the past few years, trying to be everything for Lucian only to have him reject me by denying me his love.

That rejection, however, did little to dissolve my own feelings. Despite everything that had happened between us, from the start of our marriage until now, I couldn’t deny the sad truth, not even to myself.

My heart still belonged to Lucian.

Cathy would say that was the perfect reason to date someone else, to get over Lucian, but I wasn’t so sure. It felt dishonest.

Matt, especially, deserved better than the quarter of my heart I could maybe offer him.

So distracted by my thoughts, I shampooed my hair twice and totally forgot the conditioner. By the time I stepped out of the shower, I had no idea if I was actually clean at all.

Sighing, I toweled myself off and apologized to the universe for wasting water. I’d have to get another shower in the morning.

When I walked out into the living room, Cathy wasn’t there. Likely she was in the other bathroom cleaning up or changing into her own pajamas.

Without someone to distract me, my gaze drifted to the phone.

Lucian had been so proud of Dr. A today. While it upset me that he never gave me such compliments as Aria, his words also made me miss him.

I didn’t know what I would say, but I really wanted to hear his voice again. I wanted to talk to him, not as Dr. A, but as myself.

Before I could stop myself, I walked to the phone and dialed his number. Pulling the phone into the hallway, I hoped to hide from Cathy’s obvious attention if she were to happen to walk by.

She wouldn’t approve of what I was doing. I wasn’t certain I approved either, but I was overcome with emotion.

It had been such a long day. I just needed to hear Lucian say my name.

Instead, the phone rang and rang. Lucian never picked up.

After hanging up the phone, I returned to the living room. Cathy was there now, clicking on the television.

Spotting me, she said, “Oh, there you are. Come on, the news is about to start. We don’t want to miss whatever Matt was talking about.”

I didn’t, so I hurried over and sat down beside her on the couch.

I worried that she might ask me again about starting a relationship with Matt, but fortunately, she seemed to let the subject drop for now.

Instead, we watched the news. It started out simple enough, covering the traffic and the weather.

“Breaking news today at Nightfall Hospital,” the news anchor said. Her hair and makeup were done perfectly, her lips a classy red. “Following a mob attack on the hospital, and a timely intervention by the Alpha King and World Healer Association president Silas, Dr. A was about to wake War Hero Caleb from his coma. Reportedly, Caleb informed his family that he did not want to take the controversial life-extending medicine.”

She reported this news without any pause for breath, a true professional. While she was handling the material seriously, it still felt strange to have the full weight of those moments condensed into a few short sentences.

“Several interviews were conducted outside of the hospital after the event,” the reporter continued. “Including a few words from Caleb’s own family.”

Immediately, the screen cut to pre-recorded footage of earlier that day outside of the hospital. The entirety of Caleb’s kin were standing there, including Matt, but only Montgomery was speaking into the microphone.

I braced myself, expecting his criticism.

“I want to take this opportunity to publically apologize to Dr. A,” Montgomery said. “I had erroneously thought that what she accomplished today was impossible. The decision of whether or not to extend my father’s life has weighed heavy on all of us. Dr. A was the only one brave enough to face what that truly meant head on. She didn’t give up on her beliefs, even as we pressured her. Truly I could not be more grateful.”

“Would you look at that,” Cathy said, amazed.

I was entirely speechless.

“Dr. A, if you are watching,” Montgomery continued. “I apologize to you, and thank you so much for what you’ve done for my family.”