Aurora nced at the IV stand–there were still two or three more bags to go.


    Letting her assistant wait through all that wasn’t right; it wouldpletely disrupt his rest.


    “Go home. That’s an order. I’ll be fine on my own. I’m nning to get some sleep anyway. If anythinges up, I’ll call the nurse.”


    Hearing that, Ian couldn’t insist any further.


    One look at the seriousness on Aurora’s face, and he knew she meant it.”


    “Alright then, Miss Walton. I’lle by first thing tomorrow morning.”


    Aurora nodded, agreeing atst.


    She knew if she didn’t, he would likely stay the whole night.


    She understood her people well, especially the kind of person he was.


    After he left, the hospital room fell into a heavy silence, leaving Aurorapletely alone.


    She stared nkly at the television mounted on the white wall.


    Time passed without her noticing.


    The vibrant glow that usually lit up her features was gone now, leaving behind only weariness and fatigue.


    She picked up her phone and checked her call log.


    Lucas hadn’t called.


    What happened? Why was his phone turned off?


    Did something go wrong?


    Her thoughts spiraled with one question after another.


    Absentmindedly, she began scrolling through her feed, until her eyes caught on a particr post and her focus snapped back to


    the screen.


    It was a simple post–four photos of food at dinner.


    But the man in the photos… the face was unmistakable.


    If that wasn’t Lucas, who else could it be?


    What stung more was who had posted it –Wendy.


    The caption read: “I want to have many, many meals with someof important!


    Aurora’s longshes trembled


    Her lips pressed into a tight line as she tapped on the post to see the timestamp


    It was posted at the exact une abe’d tried calling hop


    so, the reason <b>he </b>did answer her cell and turned off his phone by me he was having dinner with tast


    They were ditungtogether then what were all those things he’d die her before supposed to that


    pid he really think he was that gullible?


    Aurora stared at the image on her screen–the man and woman looked striking together, handsome and beautiful, undeniably a good match.


    She kept trying to reason with herself, reminding herself how Lucas usually treated her.


    There had to be some kind of misunderstanding.


    He deserved another chance to exin himself.


    With that thought, she took a deep breath and typed out a message:


    “Where are you right now?”


    She waited, but there was still no response.


    Frustration churned in her chest. The rise and fall of her breathing grew sharper as her anger mounted at how Lucas was handling things.


    So, she sent another message:


    “Who are you having dinner with? I want a proper exnation.”


    After that, she powered off her phone. She wasn’t going to keep staring at the screen. She would wait and see how Lucas nned to exin this.


    But both messages disappeared into silence–no reply and acknowledgment.


    His phone was still in Wendy’s possession, still turned off.


    She was happily helping herself to the dishes, piling food onto Lucas<b>‘ </b>te like nothing was wrong.


    At first, Lucas kept telling her not to, insisting they eat separately.


    But Wendy, thick–skinned as ever, didn’t care.


    She continued doing what she thought was right<b>, </bpletely


    unfazed.


    After the fifth or sixth time, Lucas gave up arguing altogether. H


    e simply ignored her. Whatever she ced on his te, he left untouched.


    All he wanted now was to quickly get this dinner over with. He had no interest in dragging it out any longer.