Nadine lay in the hospital bed, pale against the crisp white sheets. The steady beep of the monitors was the only sound cutting through the thick tension in the hallway outside her
room.
Scott paced back and forth, the sleeves of his shirt still stained with smoke and dirt from the fire at the warehouse. His hands shook each time he raked them through his hair, replaying the scene over and over, how he’d pulled her out, how she’d gone limp in his
arms.
When the doors swung open, Claudia stormed in. Her heels clicked like gunfire on the floor.
She didn’t even spare Scott a glance before rushing to her daughter’s bedside through the glass panel. Seeing Nadine unconscious, bruises on her neck and wrists, something inside her snapped.
She turned sharply, eyes like daggers. Without warning, Claudia’s hand cracked across Scott’s face. The sound echoed through the hallway.
“This is your fault!” she seethed, voice shaking with rage. “Look at her! Is this what you call love?! How many times did you have to break her before you were satisfied?”
Scott didn’t flinch, only touched the red mark on his cheek. His eyes were hollow, guilty. “I never wanted this-”
“You never wanted this?” Claudia mocked, her voice rising. “You never wanted this, yet you ruined her life! You let that vile woman torture her! And now you dare show up here pretending you care-”
“I saved her!” Scott barked back. “I was the one who went in,I pulled her out- I protected her-”
“Protected her?” Claudia spat. “Where was this so–called protection when she was crying herself to sleep every night, when she was begging for scraps of your attention while you crawled into another woman’s bed? Don’t stand there acting like a hero now.”
Scott’s chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath, but before he could speak, another voice cut through, deep, calm, and full of quiet authority.
“That’s enough.”
Niccolo stepped forward from the shadows, eyes glinting coldly at Scott.
His presence was like an anchor beside Claudia’s fury. He looked tired but determined, his arm wrapped protectively around Claudia’s shoulder.
Scott’s brows furrowed. “What are you doing here? Who are you?” he demanded. “You have no right-”
Niccolo’s lip curled into a half–smile. “No right?” He looked at Claudia, then back at Scott, his voice steady. “Nadine is my fiancée. I have every right to be here.”
Scott froze, the words hitting him like a punch to the gut. “Fiancée?” he echoed, disbelief
Dear Husband, We were never Married!
twisting his features. “That’s not possible. She, she loves me!”
“Loved,” Claudia corrected sharply. “She used to love you. Past tense. Now she’s choosing someone who knows how to treat her right.”
Scott laughed bitterly, shaking his head as if trying to process it. “She can’t. You think you can just replace me? After everything we’ve been through?”
Niccolo stepped closer, his voice low and lethal.
“Replace you? Scott, you threw her away the moment you chose Jasmine over her, every single day for years. You don’t get to act like you were forced to do this. You did this. And now you can’t stand the fact that she’s done with you.”
Before Scott could fire back, the door to Nadine’s room opened. A nurse poked her head out, eyes wide. “She’s awake. You can see her now but please, only one at a time.”
Scott didn’t wait for permission. He shoved past Claudia and Niccolo and rushed inside. Nadine lay there, eyes fluttering open, confusion giving way to sharp awareness when she saw him.
“Nadine,” he breathed, his knees hitting the floor by her bedside. He grabbed her hand, pressing it to his chest like a lifeline. “Thank God, you’re okay. I’m here, baby, I’m here-” Nadine’s eyes filled with tears, but they weren’t for him. She yanked her hand away so hard the IV line almost tugged loose.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “Don’t touch me.”
Scott blinked, his voice cracking. “Nadine, please, I- I’m sorry. I was wrong. I was blind. I know that now. I should’ve protected you from Jasmine. I should’ve never let you go. But I saved you- didn’t I? Doesn’t that mean anything?”
Nadine let out a broken laugh. “You think pulling me out of hell at the last second erases the fact that you were the one who threw me in there to begin with?” Her voice trembled, raw and bitter. “You say you saved me? No. Niccolo saved me. My mother saved me. You
you just finished what you started.”
–
Scott’s face crumpled. “Nadine, please, I love you-”
She shook her head, cutting him off. “You don’t. You never did. You loved what you could use me for. You loved that I worshipped you like a fool. But I’m done. Do you hear me?” Her eyes darted to the door, and her voice broke. “Niccolo…”
In an instant, Niccolo was by her side, one hand on her shoulder, his presence warm and grounding. She leaned into him, ignoring Scott entirely.
Scott’s eyes brimmed with tears as he reached out one more time. “Nadine, please-” She flinched away, her voice barely above a whisper. “Yes, you saved me from that fire. But you are the one who let me burn. So no, Scott. It’s not enough. It will never be enough.” Niccolo wrapped his arm around her protectively, glaring over her head at Scott. “It’s time for you to go.”
Scott looked between them, broken, the weight of years of betrayal crashing down all at once. “I–I just wanted-”
Chapter 17
