Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Her gaze held him in a pool of calm and clear light, brimming with deep and unabated longing.

It had been ages since she had looked at him that way. Or, to be precise, she had never looked at him with such tenderness.

Curtis was momentarily taken aback, his eyes softening as the corners of his mouth. curled up slightly, “Why the lovestruck gaze?”

“We should get a divorce,” Leanne said plainly.

That sentence had been rehearsing in her mind ever since Jennifer had first approached her, echoing over and over.

Perhaps due to her emotional immunity, voicing it out felt like a burden lifted, despite the waves of pain that surged in her chest like a flooding tide.

Letting Curtis go from her heart was no easy task.

His smile faded, replaced by a mysterious stare that lingered on her for a long time.

“There’s less than three weeks left until our three-year agreement is up,” Leanne reminded

him.

“Is this what you’ve been meaning to talk to me about all this time?” Curtis asked.

She nodded in confirmation.

With a scoff filled with mockery, Curtis said, “There are still three weeks. What’s the rush? Found someone new already?”

Her resolve hardened against his scornful words, any lingering sentiment swiftly eroding

away.

“It’s none of your concern. Once we’re divorced, we’re square. You can chase whoever you want, and I can see whoever I please, no strings attached.”

A cold smirk played on Curtis’ lips, his voice sharp as an icy glacier, “You just can’t wait to get rid of me, can you?”

He turned and walked into the bathroom, leaving her with a chilling promise, “Don’t worry. I’ll stick to the three-year term, not a day longer.”

Yet another discordant parting.

After his shower, Curtis left and didn’t return the whole night. Leanne only found out the next morning from Laura.

In the days that followed, he was nowhere to be seen.

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hapter 36

Selina was restless as ever. After two days in bed, she was climbing the walls, dramatically complaining that she’d start to rot if she lay there any longer.

Penelope had no choice but to get Selina an electric wheelchair. On sunny afternoons, she’d wheel Selina out for some fresh air.

Half an hour of freedom was nothing for someone as hyper as Selina. Seizing the opportunity when Penelope went home, she sent the nurse away on an errand and snuck out of the ward in her wheelchair.

After asking several nurses and navigating the elevator with her cast-laden leg, she managed to find the ophthalmology office.

Joy, with her flexible advertising job, came to wait for Leanne to finish work so they could grab dinner together.

“Just let me finish this patient file,” Leanne said, still busy.

Bored to tears, Joy sat in the hallway waiting when she heard someone ask, “Is Leanne in there?”

Looking up, Joy saw a bandaged figure maneuvering an electric wheelchair towards her, only one eye visible amidst the swathes of gauze.

Turning towards the office, Joy shouted, “Dr. Castillo, you’ve got a mummy coming your way!”

Selina was speechless.

It took a moment for Selina to realize she was the ‘mummy’ in question. If it weren’t for her broken leg, she might have leapt out of the wheelchair in protest.

“You’re the mummy!”

Leanne glanced back, recognizing Selina, and then turned back to her work.

Undeterred by previous tensions, Selina shamelessly wheeled herself into Leanne’s office and started snooping around.

“Dr. Castillo, my eye is hurting again.”

“Deal with it,” Leanne responded without looking up. “Amy, take her back to her room.’

As Amy stood up, Selina glared fiercely, “Don’t lay a finger on me. If you take one more step closer, I swear I’ll throw myself out of this chair and make sure you get the blame.”

Amy was at a loss for words and quickly sat down, hands raised in a gesture of surrender, “Okay, no need to get worked up.”

Selina pressed on, inching closer to Leanne, “Come on, tell me the story about you and your husband.”

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12:15

At her words, the office fell silent. Everyone from the doctors at their desks to Joy playing

her game outside turned to look their way.

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