Isadora stared at the angry red mark on the man''s face, her lips parting as if to speak.


    She wanted to tell him it was an ident.


    But before she could get the words out, his voice-sharp and furious-cut her off.


    The apology she''d been about to offer withered on her tongue.


    For a moment, Isadora thought, maybe this was for the best.


    They were breaking up anyway. There was no point in pretending to leave things on a good note.


    She shoved him off her, rose from the bed, and stood with her slim back turned stubbornly toward him.


    But herposure was short-lived. Tears blurred her vision, her eyes burning as each drop fell silently down her cheeks.


    When she finally spoke, her voice was hoarse and strained. "Three months are up."


    "Victor, let''s not contact each other again..."


    She''d practiced this goodbye a hundred times in her mind, rehearsing how to walk away with dignity, how to make it graceful and civilized.


    But she''d never imagined it would end like this.


    Isadora thought she''d be able to walk away without looking back. Yet the moment she turned, she was already crying uncontrobly, her resolve shattered.


    Even now, she couldn''t keep the tremor out of her voice. "And thank you... for looking after me these past few months."


    With those words, Isadora clenched her fists tight, fighting the urge to nce back, willing herself forward as pain exploded in her chest.


    Then, unable to bear it a second longer, she ran out the door.


    Victor watched as she left, her back straight and unyielding.


    Suddenly, heughed a hollow, bitter sound that shook his shoulders. Heughed until his eyes stung, until there was nothing left but the sting of tears.


    She hadn''t even looked back. Not once.


    Victor wiped his eyes roughly. "Isadora, is your heart really still with him?"


    A momentter, he swept his hand across the table, sending the medical supplies crashing to the floor.


    The room echoed with the chaos of breaking ss and splintered stic.


    Meanwhile, Isadora left the VIP suite in a daze, her whole body numb.


    She wandered blindly, not noticing where her feet were carrying her, until she found herself just outside the surgery wing.


    Faustina and Genevieve were still waiting anxiously by the door.


    Isadora didn''t approach them. She leaned against the wall around the corner, hugging herself.


    Suddenly, the doors swung open, and a team of doctors wheeled Magnus out on a gurney.


    She heard Faustina crying out, "Doctor, how''s my son? Please, tell me he''ll be alright!"


    The doctor replied, "The surgery was a sess. Fortunately, the injury missed his heart by a fraction; otherwise, it could have been much worse."


    Genevieve broke down in tears. "Thank you, doctor. Thank you for saving my brother."


    Relief finally washed over Isadora, easing the tight knot in her chest.


    At least, she thought, tonight wasn''t a total disaster...


    The next day.


    Isadora was summoned by the police to give a statement.


    At the station, she saw Ca again-handcuffed, her eyes as cold and sharp as


    ever.


    Ca''s expression twisted with hatred the moment she caught sight of Isadora. She leapt up from her seat as if to lunge at her, but the officers quickly restrained her.


    Ca screamed, "I was just teaching an ungrateful daughter a lesson! What crime is that? I raised her for twenty years-I''m her mother! Isn''t it a mother''s right to discipline her child?"


    "Enough!" one of the officers barked.


    Turning to Isadora, the officer asked, "Did she have any aplices this time?"


    Ca''s eyes flickered. "Aplices? What aplices? Isadora''s ignored me for three years. She''s heartless and cold. I was angry after getting out of prison, that''s all!"


    Isadora shot her a frosty look and followed the officer into an adjoining room for her statement.


    It was clear the police had already heard plenty of Ca''s sob stories.


    The officer, ncing at Isadora''s impassive face, asked, "She''s your mother?"


    "No."


    "She says she raised you for twenty years."


    "More or less."


    "So you lived with her for twenty years?"


    "Something like that."


    The officer frowned, clearly thinking this was just a family dispute.


    "Would you consider reconciling?"


    Isadora''s tone was icy. "No. I wouldn''t."


    "Miss Vaughan, Ms. Ca has cancer. If this is just a family matter, I''d suggest


    you try to settle things. Otherwise, you might end up regretting it."


    At that, Isadora''s eyes shed cold as steel as she stared down the officer taking her statement.