His Friend, My Living Hell

ong, leaving him in a coma. The surgeon was Fabiol

urces to save him, he gave me a chilling ult

as she deliberately scalde

infested wine cellar t

deadly allergy, and had me committed to a ps

ild a fortress around me had become the one launching t

he dark water below, I didn't fight. I let myself fall, be

pte

Kell

e a sterile blur-"complication," "cardiac arrest," "Fabiola Barron." Fabiola. The name was a drop of poison on my tongue. She was a surgeon, a celebrated one, b

desk. My father, Jack Cherry, had gone in for a routine heart procedure. Ro

ainst the silent dread. The hallway smelled of antiseptic and fear. I found my youn

ce," he stammered, his voice cracking. "Som

rom a medical drama, not something that could touch my kin

hospital staff looked at us with pity but offered no information. Bryan, a paralegal, immediately started the p

of money and influence. Our lawyer called, his voice heavy with defeat. "I'm sorry,

gging librarian trying to extort money from a brilliant surgeon, smearing Fabiola's good name. My photo was everywhere. My personal informatio

ly one person with the power to orches

. My h

ICU room. Each beep was a countdown, a reminder of the life slipping away. His vital

at. I called Julian, my fingers trembling so hard I could barely dial. Voicemail. I called agai

rep

e Silicon Valley mogul, my husband, stood there in a perfectly tailored suit, his handsome face an unreadable mas

lief so powerful it almost buckled

ark, intense eyes I had once found so captivati

arm. "They're giving up on him. You have the re

s voice flat. "But t

y blood turning to

he words dropping like stones in the

e hospital faded into a dull roar. "

You will drop the lawsuit. You will issue a public apology, clearing her name. You will say the c

th grand gestures and promises of a lifetime of protection, and saw a stranger. "Julian, s

ement in his world of glittering excess. He had canceled a billion-dollar negotiation in Tokyo to stay by my side, feedin

again. "Fabiola saved my life when we were kids," he said, his voice a low growl. "A car accident. S

die?" I whispered, the

s life, or Fabiola's career. Your brother is also a consideration. A paralegal... it

ting me. He would ruin Bryan. He wo

s room became a flat, continuous dron

their faces a blur of urgent moti

s surrounding the gurney. I reached for him, screaming

ied, trying to wr

st my ear. "Five minutes to decide. After that, I can't guara

und me and my quiet life, had become the one launching the attack. The love I thought we

attention consumed by her needs, her dramas. When my father' s heart condition worsened, she had swept in, insisting she was the only one qualified to perform the complex surgery. She

efused to listen. "You're being

ing to restart his heart, I knew I had no choice. Julian held

words tasting like ash. "I'll re

lled out his phone, his expression all b

d to speak, to utter the lies that would save my father and destro

p me! Oh my

s Fab

orgot the deal we had just made. He sprinted down the hallway toward her voice,

now stalled by the elevators, continue

thundercloud. He didn't come for me. He ran past me. Fabiola was clinging to him, he

ian snarled at me as I s

in. As I slid to the floor, my vision tunneling, the last thing I saw was Julian cradling Fabiola protectiv

save my fathe

oul. He had lied. And in that moment, as the sound of my father' s

d burn his world to the g