My slightly lowered eyelashes cast a shadow, adding another layer of weakness to my already gaunt appearance.

Julian wanted to offer some words of comfort, but then he heard me ask, "Is Ethan... outside?"

His gaze darkened slightly. "No."

Hearing this, my expression froze for a moment.

Has he left?

It's just as well that he's gone. The moment I see him, it feels as though I will return to that hopeless waiting and the utter despair of having nothing left.

Seeing my silence, Julian's heart couldn't help but tighten. "Do you want to see him?"

I shook my head again, sounding so detached that it seemed I no longer cared about anything. "I just remembered that he and I haven't processed our divorce certificate yet."

Hearing those words, he felt his heart ease a bit.

Scooping up a spoonful of soup, he brought it to my lips and coaxed me warmly, "If you don't eat, how can your body get better?"

Pausing for a beat, he added, "Besides, your mother would be worried about you too."

These words felt like a stab to my heart, making the bridge of my nose sting with oncoming tears.

Mom...

I promised Mom that I would live a good life.

Even at the exact moment I thought I was going to die, I was worried that Mom would misunderstand and think I didn't cherish my life.

Thinking of this, I forced down the discomfort in my stomach and swallowed the soup Julian fed me.

Only then did Julian set his mind at ease. After finishing the soup, seeing that my forehead was drenched in cold sweat and worried I might catch a chill, he pulled out a tissue and gently wiped away my sweat.

"What are you doing?"

Suddenly, Ethan's freezing voice pierced the tranquility of the patient room like a sharp blade.

I lifted my eyes to look, only to see Ethan standing there, clad in a sharp suit underneath a long black coat. His slightly messy dark hair was beaded with water droplets, and his gaze was crystal cold.

Yet completely at odds with his powerful aura, his left hand held a plastic convenience store bag, while his right hand carried a hot water kettle.

Perhaps accustomed to Ethan's sudden appearances, Julian remained entirely unfazed.

He calmly wiped the remaining sweat from my forehead before packing away the thermal container. "I'll go attend to my work first, and I'll come back to see you in a little while."

With that, Julian ignored Ethan's razor-sharp glare as usual and departed with absolute composure.

In an instant, the patient room fell into a heavy silence.

I turned my head to look out the window, completely treating the man standing a few paces away as if he didn't exist.

My deliberate indifference caused Ethan's heart to twist violently.

He would rather the woman tell him to get lost or curse at him than be ignored like this.

Recalling the doctor's words, Ethan forcefully suppressed the jealousy burning in his chest and stepped forward, setting down the hot water kettle he had temporarily borrowed from the nurses.

Then, he pulled out a hot water bag, filled it up, and tucked it into my blanket.

The sudden wave of warmth made my entire body stiffen.

I turned my head, only to see that Ethan had removed his long coat, rolled up his sleeves, and was pouring the hot water into a washbasin.

"What are you doing?" I asked in a daze.

The moment the words left my lips, a warm towel was gently pressed against my parched face.

Ethan's movements were incredibly light, and his gaze was as intense and focused as if he were handling a critical matter that would decide his absolute fate.

"Doing what a husband ought to do."

As he spoke, he carefully avoided the IV needle inserted into the back of my hand.

The expected sarcasm and clinical detachment were entirely absent, which caught me completely off guard.

However, the images from my nightmare surfaced once more. I averted my gaze, pulled my hand away, and spat out a freezing sentence.

"The moment I am able to be discharged from the hospital, we will go and finalize our divorce certificate."

Chapter 20

The patient room fell silent once more.

Ethan's hand froze in midair as he stared fixedly at me, given that I refused to look at him.

The explanations caught in his throat left him at a complete loss for words. After a long pause, he finally lowered his hand in disappointment. "Alright."

Hearing Ethan's swift, unhesitating response, a tremor ran through my eyes.

A heart that had clearly died was aching faintly once again.

But in the next fraction of a second, Ethan's deep baritone echoed by my ear once more: "Until then, I will take good care of you."

I looked at him in sheer bewilderment.

Shouldn't he be questioning my relationship with Julian? Or offering some sarcastic remarks?

I opened my mouth, intending to speak, but Ethan granted me no opportunity to do so. He picked up the washbasin and walked out of the room.

His evasive attitude threw my thoughts into complete chaos.

I had always believed I understood him well enough, but only at this exact moment did I realize that I had fundamentally never seen through him at all...

By the sink area.

The family members passing back and forth couldn't help but look at Ethan, clad in his sharp business suit, with a hint of surprise.

Judging by his attire, he looked entirely like the kind of boss who ought to hire a professional caregiver instead of doing chores himself.

Ethan paid no attention to the stares of others, simply looking at his own reflection in the mirror.

His bloodshot eyes carried a defeat that could not be masked, along with a thread of uncontainable worry.

For the very first time in his life, he had absolutely no idea how to face Clara.

Suddenly, the ringing of his phone shattered Ethan's train of thought.

Glancing down, he saw that it was actually his father, whom he hadn't been in contact with for a very long time.

Years ago, after his father chased Melanie away, he had relocated to an overseas branch office, and had only returned once on the day he and Clara got married.

Stepping into the stairwell, Ethan finally accepted the call. "What is it?"

Through the line, his father's voice sounded raspy yet retained its usual authority: "Is that any way to speak to your father?"

Ethan remained silent.

The relationship between this father and son had always been incredibly strained.

When he was six years old, his mother was in critical condition, yet his father delayed his arrival for the longest time.

Until the day his mother passed away and was laid to rest, his father never showed his face, and eventually began to surround himself with all kinds of different women.

The people in the business world feared his father's ruthless efficiency, and many loathed his brutal methods.

As for the women who chased after him, they merely coveted his wealth; they possessed no sincerity, and his father would never offer his heart to them either.

Receiving no response from Ethan, his father spoke again: "I am returning to the domestic headquarters tomorrow. I'll drop by to see you and Clara while I'm at it. How is she doing? The two of you haven't been fighting, have you?"

Ethan gazed in the direction of Clara's room, his features darkening slightly.

After a long pause, he finally replied, "She was involved in a car crash. She is in the hospital right now."

"What?"

His father's voice instantly shot up an octave, barking textually in accusation, "You call yourself a man, yet you can't even take decent care of your own wife?"

These words caused Ethan's face to turn instantly freezing. "When it comes to the matter of taking care of a wife, you have absolutely no right to lecture me."

The moment the words left his lips, he hung up the phone immediately.

A few moments later, his father called back again.

Ethan paid it no heed. After shifting the device to silent, he stepped back into the patient room.

I was resting with my eyes closed, but the moment the familiar sound of footsteps reached my ears, my hands beneath the blanket couldn't help but tighten, though I refused to open my eyes.

His movements were exceptionally light, as if he were terrified of disturbing my rest.

Immediately following that, the blanket covering my body was pulled up a bit higher, and a hand textured with light calluses gently brushed against my cheek.

The faint friction caused my eyelashes to flutter slightly, making my already chaotic thoughts even harder to untangle.

"Clara."

His deliberately lowered voice was a bit raspy, carrying a thread of hesitation.

I feigned sleep, offering no answer and refusing to acknowledge him.

Ethan continued, "I know that by the time I uncovered the truth, everything was already far too late. But I don't want things to end like this..."