Chapter 4

My mother was asleep when I reached her room.

She'd lost so much weight. Her skin was pale, her hand threaded with an IV line. She looked smaller than I remembered.

I sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand.

It was cold.

When I was a little girl and ran fevers, she would hold my hand all night, afraid I'd suffer alone.

She'd raised me by herself after my father died young. She'd weathered every kind of hardship without complaint.

She always said: Wren, we're not lucky women, you and I. But you have to live well. Don't let anyone use you up.

I used to think I hadn't let anyone use me.

Today I understood differently.

My phone buzzed.

A text from Ethan.

"I've already explained to the police — it's a private family matter. Get back here and help me contain this. Do you know how many clients and investors showed up today? Are you trying to destroy me?"

I stared at the message, fingers curling.

Then another.

"My mother is in shock. Leo's girlfriend is threatening to call off the engagement. Wren, enough. I said I'd pay you back. Don't burn everything down."

I almost laughed.

He still thought I was throwing a tantrum.

I took a screenshot and forwarded it to the responding officer.

Then I sent him one line:

"Ethan, I will account for every cent, and every count."

I blocked him.

The room fell quiet.

Then, less than ten minutes later, the door burst open.

Margaret Sterling swept in with Leo behind her.

Her eyes were red. The moment she crossed the threshold she came for me. "Wren Holloway, you vicious girl! You ruined my son's wedding and that wasn't enough — you had to call the police?"

I was on my feet in an instant, planting myself between her and the bed.

"Get out."

"This is a hospital — who do you think you're yelling at?" Leo was already red-faced. "It's only money. My brother said he'd pay you back. Did you have to blow the whole thing up? My girlfriend's about to leave me!"

I looked at the two of them and understood something clearly.

This was why Ethan had dared to take it.

In this family, everyone had decided that what they owed me was simply their due.

"You're the one who received the funds?" I asked Leo.

He jutted his chin out. "So what? I didn't force you. You were about to join the family anyway — what's a little money between us?"

"Good." I nodded. "Just confirming."

Margaret's expression shifted. "Were you recording?"

I pressed the nurse call button without answering.

"Nurse — there are unauthorized visitors disturbing a patient's rest."

Margaret snapped. She grabbed the edge of my gown. "You ungrateful little— Ethan was blind to ever pick you! Your mother can barely cling to life, and you think you deserve—"

"Enough."

A voice from the doorway. Cold and flat.

Calder Ashford stood there, two security guards behind him.

His face was expressionless. His voice was not loud. But something in it commanded stillness.

"This is a ward. Any further disruption and I will call the police myself."

Margaret sputtered, glanced at the badge on his coat, at the guards — and for the first time seemed uncertain. She kept muttering as the guards moved her toward the door.

"A woman like that — anyone who gets involved with her will regret it..."

"Remove them." Calder didn't bother to look at her.

The guards escorted both Sterlings out. The door closed.

Silence.

I leaned against the bed frame and noticed my palms were slick with sweat.

Calder glanced at me once, his gaze drifting to the still-pinned flowers in my hair.

"Do you need access to a private room to change?"

"No. I'll manage in the restroom."

He nodded, then laid a folder on the bedside table.

"This is the emergency fund paperwork. You have six months post-surgery to repay. And if those people come back — call me directly."

I stared at the folder. "Dr. Ashford — have we met before? Somewhere?"

"No."

"Then why—"

"I'm treating a patient, not intervening in your ex-fiancé's family drama." His tone carried no judgment — just fact. "You don't need to take all of this onto yourself."

That stopped me.

After a moment, I laughed — a real one.

He was right. Not every hand extended to you is a hand that wants something.

Not every man assumes a woman should simply endure.

Calder caught the laugh. Something shifted almost imperceptibly in his expression.

"Can you handle things from here?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Thank you."

"Too soon to thank me." He turned for the door. "Thank me when the surgery goes well tomorrow."

I watched his back disappear down the corridor, and for the first time since the morning, I thought — so this is what reliable looks like.