Wait a minute.
ire suddenly snapped out of it-why was she even analyzing this?
Whatever Wilbur''s reasons were, they had nothing to do with her. She was already drowning in her own messy life; there was no need to drag innocent bystanders into
it.
Besides, every time she argued with Felixtely, he would bring up Wilbur to get under her skin, and it seriously annoyed her.
Staying in the hospital was boring and frustrating. Especially for someone as energetic as ire, being cooped up was an invisible form of torture.
After her morning IV was done, ire couldn''t sit still anymore and wanted to go out for some fresh air.
The assistant Wilbur had left behind insisted on following her, iming it was an order from Mr. Prescott.
Right in front of her, ire did a few stretches and some jumping jacks to prove she was perfectly healthy and far from incapable of taking care of herself.
"Alright then."
The assistant understood. Everyone needed their own space.
Because it was raining, ire could only wander around inside the building. After walking ap and finding nothing interesting, she figured she might as well go back to her room and y on her phone.
Just as she was turning back, two familiar figures caught her eye.
At the end of the corridor, a tall, slender man was carefully supporting the woman walking next to him. He had his head bowed slightly, listening intently to whatever she was saying.
His expression was tender and focused.
Although the woman next to him was wearing a mask, ire would recognize those pitiful eyes even if the woman turned to ash.
ire stopped dead in her tracks, instinctively stepping aside to hide.
It felt like a needle had pierced her heart. It hurt a little, but it was bearable.
When someone hurried past the two of them, Felix instinctively shielded Madeline in his arms, terrified she might get bumped. He protected her wlessly.
Yet ire clearly remembered a time shortly after she and Felix had gotten married. She had gone with him to the hospital to visit Old Mr. Quigley, who was seriously ill.
It was a hospital, too. The exact same setting.
But Felix had walked far ahead, leaving her with nothing but his cold back.
She had been knocked over by someone, dropping all the nutritional supplements she was carrying with a loud crash.
But Felix never once looked back.
Even when she ignored the pain in her scraped knees, picked up the bags and hurried to catch up with him, he just stared at her with deep annoyance.
Why was she walking so slowly? Her dawdling was wasting his time, he had scolded.
Toward her, he was always impatient and icy. But he saved all his patience, warmth, and indulgence for Madeline.
Ack of care stemmed from ack of concern. At the end of the day, it just meant he didn''t love her.
As the two walked past ire, shepletely hid herself behind a piece of medical equipment. Her slender frame was perfectly concealed. Along with it went thest few shreds of emotion she had
left.
swnl
A cold breeze blew in through a nearby window, washing over her and snapping her back to reality.
"It''s so cold," Madeline said suddenly, her voice dripping with vulnerability.
Felix immediately swapped ces with her to block the wind. He naturally opened up one side of hisrge coat pocket.
Madeline seamlessly slipped her hand into his pocket.
The two walked side by side like that, drawing plenty of attention. Some people were even whispering about what a perfect couple they made.
ire just stayed hidden in the corner, listening to everyone praise their beautiful
romance.
In that moment, she, the legal wife, felt like the shameful secret that couldn''t see the light of day.
How did the saying go? The one who isn''t loved is the real third wheel.
It was incredibly ironic.
ire had no idea how she made it back to her hospital room. As soon as she walked in, she heard Wilbur interrogating the assistant. "Just because she said she didn''t need you, you stopped following her What were my exact instructions? What if something happened to her?"