My Jealous Husband Turned Into a Stranger

After remarrying Odette Fairbanks, Ezra Whitlock turns into the perfect husband, one who no longer checks up on her or gets jealous. He no longer wakes up early to make her a balanced breakfast, and he no longer shows up at the hospital right on time with a home-cooked lunch for her. Even when he finds a box of ultra-thin condoms on her passenger seat, he quietly puts it away for her and pretends he hasn't seen it. Odette, however, begins to panic and starts volunteering the very explanations she's always been too proud to give. Chapter 1 "Take another look. It's unopened. We ran out at home." Odette Fairbanks tried to explain. Ezra Whitlock gave a low "mm" and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes as if to nap. He was putting on a show of being unbothered and refusing to talk, and for once, a crack appeared in Odette's usually cool composure. "Are you upset?" She pinched the bridge of her nose, sounding exasperated. "When Rafe was misdiagnosed with cancer, his only wish was to have a wedding with me. He's my mentor's son, and I just wanted to grant his dying wish. The moment I found out it was a misdiagnosis, I divorced him. "Ezra, I promise you, it was a sham marriage. Rafe and I never slept together. It's only ever been you, right from the start." Ezra gave a thin smile and finally asked the question that had been eating at him for so long. "Odette, you're a doctor. Are you really telling me you couldn't see what shape Rafe was in?" When Rafe Ellington said he had cancer, Odette believed him without question. When he said he wanted to marry her, she forced Ezra into a divorce. Ezra couldn't just throw away ten years together. He clung to their failing marriage, ready to bring everything down with it, and pushed himself until he became a hysterical wreck. Around the same time, his mother, Maureen Haskell, was diagnosed with a malignant tumor and needed surgery. As it happened, nobody but Odette could perform it. So, she used Maureen's life to force him into the divorce, then rushed to marry Rafe. Even then, she made sure to reassure Ezra. She told him she was an orphan, that her mentor had always looked after her, and that Rafe was like a little brother to her. She asked Ezra to wait for her, promising they would remarry once she had seen Rafe through the last stretch of his life, and Ezra forced himself to believe her. That lasted until he saw Odette and her so-called little brother tumble into the bed they'd once shared as husband and wife. The suggestive, grating sounds hit him like a slap across the face. This time, Ezra didn't make a scene, and he left Port Seward that same night with Maureen, who by then had fully recovered. Six months later, Odette showed up at his door. She told him Rafe's cancer had been a misdiagnosis, that she and Rafe were already divorced, and that she wanted to take Ezra to the county clerk's office to remarry. Before Ezra could lift a finger, Maureen chased Odette out with a broom. Still, Odette refused to give up and started waiting every day along the route Ezra always took. Fed up, Ezra threw his coffee right in her face. "Odette, I will never remarry you as long as I live. Never!" The coffee dripped down her delicate face and left a small stain spreading across her collar. Even so, she kept her cool composure and didn't look the least bit humiliated. "Ezra, you'll come begging." At the time, Ezra found it laughable, but six months later, his mother's illness came back. Maureen couldn't bear to see him beg anyone, so she wanted to stop treatment. But she was the only family Ezra had left, and he would've given his own life for hers without hesitation. Begging was nothing compared to that, so he went to Odette. "Ezra, if you're going to beg, you need to act like it." She leaned back in her chair, curved her red lips into a smile, and beckoned him over. "So, are you ready to admit you were wrong?" Ezra did as he was told and walked over to her. Under her smug, satisfied gaze, he nodded, and later, they remarried. But what was broken could never truly be mended, and Rafe would always stand between them. The name had barely crossed Ezra's mind when Rafe called. Odette hesitated for a moment, then answered. Rafe's crisp voice came through the line right away. "Odette, I twisted my ankle playing basketball. Could you come keep me company?" Odette glanced at Ezra without thinking, but he just kept staring out the car window as if he hadn't heard a thing. A wave of irritation washed over her. "Rafe, you're an adult. You can't keep relying on me." "But you said that even though we're divorced, we're still family. You were always there whenever I got hurt playing ball. I'm used to it." "That was then." Odette's voice turned cold. "I'm remarried now, and I can't keep being there for you." "Got it." Rafe scoffed. "If it's not convenient for you to come, I'll just get some other woman over here." Odette tightened her grip on her phone. "Don't you dare! Stay right there." She hung up abruptly and turned to Ezra. "Ezra, I—" Before she could finish, Ezra had already pushed the car door open. "I'll take a cab home. Go keep him company." He moved so fast that Odette didn't even have time to react. "Ezra!" She got out, chased after him, and grabbed his wrist. "I owe his father my whole career. I can't cut ties with Rafe completely, but I really only see him as a little brother. Don't—" Ezra cut her off. "I know. Go on, don't keep him waiting." "Then head home first. I'll try to get back early—" She meant to say she'd try to be home early, but Ezra had already flagged down a cab and climbed in without looking back. Odette was still standing there after the cab pulled away. As its taillights disappeared into traffic, for the first time, she felt as though something was slipping out of her control. In the cab, Ezra opened the notes app on his phone and checked the date of Maureen's surgery. It was ten days away. Once his mother made it through her final surgery, he would be free to divorce Odette again without a second thought, and then he would take Maureen abroad and get as far away from Odette as possible. Chapter 2 When Ezra got home, he didn't sit on the couch and wait up for Odette like he used to. He simply freshened up and went straight to bed. He was drifting in and out of sleep when he caught the scent of perfume. He opened his eyes to find that Odette had come home at some point and was standing by the bed, staring at him without blinking. He hadn't expected her to come back tonight, and surprise flickered across his face. "What are you doing home?" Odette's eyes darkened, and her voice went cold. "You're awfully relaxed about this, Ezra. I'm out with another man, and you can still sleep?" It took Ezra a moment to catch on, and he let out a soft scoff. "He's not a stranger. He's just your dear little brother, so why should I worry?" Hearing her own words thrown back at her, Odette was speechless for a moment. She came closer and leaned down over him. "Are you still upset about me and Rafe—" "No." Ezra fought back the discomfort of having her so close and cut her off. "That's all in the past, isn't it?" "Then why didn't you call and tell me to come home? Why didn't you wait up for me?" She nuzzled into the crook of his neck. "You never used to go to sleep until I got home, and now you won't even leave a light on for me. I—" Ezra cut her off, a flicker of impatience in his eyes. "Didn't you say that was annoying?" Odette stopped short, and every word caught in her throat. She clearly remembered all those ugly fights too. She opened her mouth, and her voice softened. "An emergency came in today, so I didn't stay at Rafe's long. If it bothers you this much, from now on, I'll keep my distance from him. Don't be mad anymore, okay?" Ezra had heard that promise more times than he could count. In the past, he would've argued with her and gone through every way she and Rafe crossed the line, along with every hurt he'd swallowed. But now it all felt pointless, and he couldn't be bothered to say more than a half-hearted reply. "Got it. Can we go to sleep now?" Odette's expression stiffened for a split second, then she pressed a hand to her stomach as if to win his sympathy. "My stomach hurts. Could you make me some soup?" Whenever Odette used to come home from a late shift, Ezra would make her a bowl of chicken noodle soup, and having something hot always eased her stomachaches a little. But once the love and concern were gone, all that was left was irritation at being woken up. Ezra burrowed deeper under the blanket and turned his back to her. "I'm tired, and I have to get up early tomorrow to take care of my mom. Make it yourself. Close the door on your way out." Silence hung behind him. After a long while, heavy footsteps sounded, and the door slammed shut. The bedroom went quiet again, and the faint sound of a car starting drifted up from downstairs. Ezra rolled over and fell back asleep. The next morning, he got up early, packed the soup he'd made into a container, and took a cab to the hospital. Maureen looked much better, and when she saw Ezra, she scolded him gently. "Why didn't you sleep in? I have a caregiver here, so you don't need to keep running over. Now that you and Odette are remarried, focus on building a life together." Ezra gave a low hum in reply and poured her a bowl of soup. Back when Maureen started treatment, Ezra had pretended he still wasn't over Odette and wanted to remarry her so his mother could focus on getting better, and only then had she stopped standing in his way. After the remarriage, he only ever told Maureen the good news, so she believed he and Odette had patched things up. Only Ezra knew this marriage had been over in all but name for a long time, and he was simply waiting for his chance to leave Odette for good. Not wanting to talk about Odette any further, Ezra used paying the hospital bill as an excuse to step out of the room. He had just reached the hallway when he saw Rafe carrying Odette into the ER in a hurry. A young nurse holding a patient chart spoke up. "What happened to Dr. Fairbanks? Is that the cute younger husband everyone's been talking about?" "I heard it's a ruptured ovarian cyst." The nurse at the front desk grinned. "Dr. Fairbanks sure has stamina. She got called in for an emergency in the middle of the night, operated for five hours straight, and didn't get home to rest until almost dawn. She's barely been home since then, and now this. Younger guys really are something else. He clearly doesn't hold back." The two nurses exchanged a knowing look and giggled. Ezra looked away, unmoved, and turned to head back to the room, only to lock eyes with Odette the moment he turned around. Chapter 3 Odette stood at the ER entrance, her face pale. She had clearly heard the nurses' gossip too, but she said nothing and just stared at Ezra, as if waiting for him to get jealous and make a scene. But Ezra only looked at her calmly and didn't say a word. He seemed completely detached from the whole thing, and the panic on Odette's face gradually settled into something heavier. "Don't you have anything you want to ask me?" Ezra was quiet for a moment before he answered. "No." "It's not what you think between Rafe and me," Odette explained. "The pressure inside the cyst built up and caused a spontaneous rupture, and he just happened to give me a ride to the hospital. "Besides, people here don't know Rafe and I are divorced, which is why they got the wrong idea. This weekend, I'm taking my coworkers out to dinner, and I'll bring you along to meet them." Odette had only transferred to her current hospital on a promotion after their divorce. When they remarried, they simply signed the paperwork without holding a reception, so nobody at the hospital knew who Ezra was. But he didn't need anyone's acknowledgement. After all, before long, he and Odette would have nothing to do with each other anymore. Ezra opened his mouth to tell her not to bother, but a doctor walked over and cut in before he could. "Dr. Fairbanks, your husband's looking for you. You'd better go see him." Odette said she would, but she didn't correct him. Before she left, she turned to Ezra. "Honey, head back to the room for now. I'll come see Mom when I get a chance." Unsurprisingly, Odette never showed up. Fortunately, Ezra was no longer the man who would sit there like a fool, waiting for her with his hopes up. That weekend, Ezra stayed at the hospital with Maureen as usual, but for once, Odette actually came by the room. She asked about Maureen's health as she always did, then made the excuse that work kept her too busy to visit often. To be fair, Odette really was busy. But no matter how busy she was, she wasn't completely without free time, especially when her office was just upstairs. If she'd really wanted to, she could have found time to stop by. Yet apart from scheduled checkups, she hadn't come by even once. Meanwhile, she made a point of playing chess and going grocery shopping with Rafe's parents, and she even sat through romance movies with Rafe, the kind she considered "a waste of time and life." It wasn't that she had no time. She simply gave all her free time to Rafe and his family. Ezra had long since stopped caring, though, and he certainly had no use for her fake concern. "Mom, if you're not feeling well, call me anytime," Odette said suddenly. "Ezra and I have a dinner to get to, so I'll take him with me now." Being put on the spot like that made Ezra frown without meaning to. He was about to refuse when Maureen pushed him out of the room. "Yes, yes, go! You young people should get out more instead of always being stuck in the hospital." With no other choice, Ezra followed Odette to the dinner. The moment they walked in, the lively crowd fell silent all at once. "Dr. Fairbanks, didn't you say you were bringing your husband?" someone asked, puzzled. "Who's this?" Odette took the opening. "I wanted to use tonight's dinner to formally introduce—" Before she could finish, the door to the private dining room swung open, and a crisp voice came from the doorway. "Oh, everyone's here. Perfect, why don't we do the introductions together?" Chapter 4 Everyone turned toward the voice as Rafe walked in with his arm around a woman in a red dress. He smiled as he looked around the table, but his eyes landed squarely on Odette. "Let me introduce you all. This is my girlfriend, Gina Rowley." Odette frowned and snapped without thinking. "What are you talking about? Since when do you have a girlfriend?" Rafe's lips curled into a smirk. "She's new. Is that a problem? Or is it one rule for Dr. Fairbanks and another for everyone else? "We're divorced, so you don't get a say in who I date. And for the record, I only started seeing her after the divorce, all fair and square." As he said it, he shot Ezra a pointed look. Everyone at the table was sharp enough to catch on right away, and the looks they turned on Ezra filled with contempt. A few coworkers who were close with Rafe started whispering among themselves. "Oh, so he's the one who broke them up. What does Dr. Fairbanks even see in him? He can't hold a candle to Rafe." They kept their voices low, but Ezra was sure Odette heard them, and yet she said nothing. It reminded Ezra of the past, when Rafe used the "little brother" excuse to worm his way into Ezra and Odette's life. A close friend of Ezra's had stood up for him and called Rafe out as the other man, sometimes with hints and sometimes outright. Odette flew into a rage back then. Not only did she defend Rafe openly, but she also had people spread rumors about that friend until he lost his job. When Ezra found out Odette was behind it, he had a huge fight with her. But Odette just looked at him coldly, as if he were a lunatic throwing a tantrum over nothing. "Can't you see I'm teaching him a lesson? If he doesn't know what he should and shouldn't say, learning the hard way will set him straight. And stop badmouthing Rafe in front of your loser friends. They don't know the situation between Rafe and me, but you do. "When are you going to learn to be the bigger person? Stop acting like some useless deadbeat with nothing better to do than obsess over every little thing between a man and a woman." Her face was full of cold disgust, and for the first time, Ezra regretted ignoring his friend's advice. He had chosen to believe in their so-called sibling bond and insisted on marrying Odette anyway. "Since we all know each other, you don't mind if we join you, do you, Ezra?" Rafe's voice pulled Ezra back to the present. Ezra saw the challenge in his eyes and nodded, completely unbothered. "Go ahead." Rafe froze, and Odette shot Ezra a surprised look too. In the past, Ezra would have risen to Rafe's bait and fought him for the upper hand, and back then, Odette had found him unreasonable and petty. But now that he'd stopped making scenes and stopped competing, she felt an inexplicable sense of unease. Maybe it was to make it up to him, but Odette was especially attentive to Ezra throughout the meal. Whenever someone came over to toast him, she took care to fend off the drink for him, and whenever Ezra's eyes lingered on a dish for a second too long, it appeared on his plate a moment later. But Ezra quietly pushed everything she served him to the side of his plate and didn't take a single bite. Rafe was livid. He deliberately leaned in close to his girlfriend's ear, getting cozy with her. "This is so boring, babe. Why don't we head back to the hotel early?" He didn't say it loudly, but it was enough to make the whole table go quiet. There was a soft click as Odette set her fork down sharply on her plate. She shot to her feet, marched straight over to Rafe, and grabbed his arm. Her voice was frighteningly cold. "Come outside with me." "What for? Who are you to tell me what to do, Odette?" Rafe made a token effort to pull free. Odette pressed her lips together and said nothing. She all but dragged Rafe out of the private dining room and shoved him hard against the balcony railing. "How long have you even known her, Rafe? And you're already taking her to a hotel?" Rafe let out a sudden laugh, as if he'd just heard the funniest joke in the world. "What? Do I need to report to you about what I do with my girlfriend? You're just my ex-wife, Odette. You have no right to interfere in my life!" "As your ex-wife, maybe not, but as your big sister, I do. I promised your father I'd look after you, and I'm not letting you run wild on my watch." She took hold of his hand, and her voice softened. "When dinner's over, you're coming home with me." Rafe shook her hand off. "How long do you think you can keep bossing me around as my big sister, Odette? I'm going to get married sooner or later." The words "get married" struck a raw nerve in Odette. A surge of possessiveness and resentment, tangled with emotions even she couldn't sort out, swept away every last bit of reason in an instant. She suddenly rose onto her toes and kissed Rafe hard on the lips. A flash of triumph crossed Rafe's eyes. Then he wrapped an arm around her waist and bent his head to kiss her back. Caught up in the kiss, neither of them noticed that the balcony faced the windows of the private dining room. Plenty of the people seated by the windows saw everything, but they all silently agreed to say nothing and just kept sneaking glances at Ezra. Ezra, however, carried on eating quietly as if none of it had anything to do with him, completely undisturbed. The whispering around the table started up again. "Guess the older ones really do know how to keep their cool. No wonder he managed to land her." "Oh, please. He's acting calm, but he must be dying inside. Dr. Fairbanks clearly isn't over Rafe. Who knows what this old guy did to make her divorce him?" "Maybe he's just that good in bed. Still, an older guy can't compete with a younger one. Looks like this old man is about to get kicked to the curb." Once Ezra had eaten his fill, he set down his fork and looked straight at the two people talking. "You don't know the first thing about what happened, but you're spreading rumors anyway, and you don't even realize you're being used. Honestly, your brains are even more pathetic than your manners." With that, Ezra stood up and left the room. While he was waiting for a cab on the side of the road, Rafe suddenly came up beside him, sounding smug. "Ezra, even if we did this all over again, you still couldn't beat me. I got Odette to divorce you once, and I can get her to divorce you a second time. "But this time, I'll make sure she sees exactly what's in her heart, so you can stop dreaming about staying married to her." "Rafe." Ezra looked up, the corner of his mouth lifting in the faintest smile. "Don't you think you're pathetic? You're like some poor thing stuck in the past who can only feel relevant by stepping on other people. What you're so desperate to prove is exactly what you've never really had. Otherwise, why would you be so panicked?" Chapter 5 Rafe's face darkened instantly, as if Ezra had hit a nerve. "Then today, I'll show you exactly where you stand with Odette!" He looked past Ezra at the passing traffic, and a vicious glint flashed in his eyes. "Drop dead!" Rafe raised his hands and shoved Ezra with all his strength. Caught off guard, Ezra stumbled and fell backward. In the chaos, he instinctively grabbed the hand Rafe hadn't pulled back yet, and Rafe let out a low cry as the sudden pull dragged him toward the road too. At that exact moment, a white sedan came speeding toward them. In a split second, Ezra saw Odette rush over and pull Rafe into her arms, and then the car slammed into him and knocked him to the ground. Searing pain tore through his entire body. Ezra lay sprawled on the pavement as warm blood poured out of him. "Ezra!" Odette's heart lurched when she saw him lying in a pool of blood. She called 911, and for once, her face was full of panic. Ezra tried to smile, but he coughed up a mouthful of blood and passed out. When he came to, he was in the hospital. The moment Ezra opened his eyes, a piercing pain shot through his whole body. "Ezra! Are you awake?" Odette's voice rang out. Ezra turned toward the sound and stared at her blankly, still struggling to process where he was. It wasn't until his eyes focused on her worn-out face that he finally came back to himself. "How are you feeling? Does anything else hurt?" Odette grabbed his hand, her voice trembling slightly. Ezra didn't answer. He just slowly but firmly pulled his hand out of hers. Odette's hand froze in midair, and her expression changed. Assuming Ezra resented her for not saving him first, she rushed to explain. "Ezra, Rafe is my mentor's son. When he stayed behind in Port Seward, I promised his parents I'd take care of him. I can't let anything happen to him. You—" "I know." Ezra cut off the same excuse he'd heard a hundred times. "Besides, who you save is your call. You don't have to explain yourself to me." "Then please forgive me." Odette took his hand again and coaxed him softly. "As long as you forgive me, I'll do anything." "Anything?" Relieved that he was finally willing to talk to her, Odette quickly agreed. "Yes, whatever makes you happy." "Then I want Rafe to go to prison. He shoved me into the road and nearly got me killed. That's attempted murder, and I'm pressing charges." "Ezra, Rafe got hurt trying to save you too. While you were unconscious, he kept blaming himself for not holding on to you." Odette pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a soft sigh. "I know my relationship with Rafe bothers you, but can you stop being so biased against him? He really wants to get along with you." Ezra's face showed no reaction, as if he'd seen this coming all along. He simply looked up and gave Odette a cool glance. "Whether it's bias or fact, all you have to do is pull the security footage and you'll—" Before he could finish, a nurse pushed the door open and walked in. "Dr. Fairbanks, your husb— Mr. Ellington just finished his tests, and he's been asking for you." Odette murmured an acknowledgment and glanced at Ezra without thinking, hesitating as if she wanted to say something. "Go ahead," Ezra said before she could speak. Odette's eyes snapped up to him, a flicker of surprise in them. In the past, whenever Rafe called her away, Ezra would do everything he could to make her stay, but now he was actually sending her off himself. Odette stared at him, searching his face for any sign that he was just putting on a brave front. There was none. He was so calm that he seemed completely detached. A strange feeling welled up inside her, mixed with an irritation she couldn't explain. Finally, Odette couldn't hold back. "If you want me to stay, I—" "No need. Just go." Ezra cut her off with a suffocating calm. "I really don't need you here." Odette flinched as if something had struck her hard. His words left a sudden hollow in her chest, but it quickly filled with an even deeper anger. "You don't need me?" She leaned in close, her voice sharp. "Then who do you need?" Ezra instinctively pulled back. Watching him recoil from her only fueled her fury. Odette bit her lip and was about to say something when the door burst open. Rafe hobbled in on crutches. "Odette—" Chapter 6 Rafe broke off, and the smile on his lips froze. "Looks like I came at a bad time. Sorry for interrupting your little moment as husband and wife." With that, he turned on his crutches to leave, but he caught his foot on the threshold and fell to the floor. Odette rushed over and held him in her arms as she helped him up. "You twisted your ankle. Why are you running around?" She sounded reproachful, but her face was full of concern. Rafe made a show of pushing her away, looking stubborn and hurt. "Do you know how long I waited for you? If you wanted to stay with your husband, you should've just said so. I would've had my girlfriend come pick me up. Why leave me sitting there waiting for nothing?" "Didn't you promise me you'd break up with her?" Odette demanded without thinking, but the hurt look on Rafe's face softened her right away. "Don't be mad. It's my fault. Ezra's badly hurt, so I just stayed a little longer to go over a few things with him. Don't go reading into it." Rafe turned to Ezra, who was lying in the hospital bed. "Are you okay, Ezra? This is all my fault. If only I'd kept my balance when you grabbed me." Ezra couldn't help laughing at his act. Rafe's expression stiffened for a moment. Odette clearly felt for him, and the look she gave Ezra carried a hint of displeasure. "Ezra, Rafe may not have managed to save you, but he did everything he could. Instead of being grateful, you're sneering at him. Is that how you treat someone who tried to save your life? "If it weren't for you, Rafe wouldn't have gotten hurt either. You don't just owe him a thank-you. You owe him an apology too!" Ezra's mouth twitched. Not wanting to waste any more breath on them, he simply closed his eyes. His refusal to listen sparked a sudden flare of anger in Odette. "Ezra, if I remember correctly, your mom's surgery is in three days. If you still want me to operate as planned, apologize to Rafe!" Ezra's eyes flew open, and the heart he thought had long since gone numb gave a sharp twist of pain. Odette was about to stop him when he yanked out his IV, walked over to Rafe, and stood stiffly in front of him. "I'm sorry you got hurt because of me, Mr. Ellington." While the two of them stared in shock, he went on in the same flat voice. "And thank you for saving my life, Mr. Ellington." A smug smile spread across Rafe's lips. He was about to say something when Odette suddenly let go of him and reached for Ezra's bleeding hand. Ezra stepped back, dodging her touch, and faced her with cold formality. "Please, Dr. Fairbanks, do everything you can to save my mother." Odette's hand froze in midair, and a heavy weight settled on her chest until she could hardly breathe. It took her a long moment to force the words out. "Ezra, your mom is my mom. Of course, I'll do everything I can to make her better. You don't have to be so formal with me." Ezra's lowered lashes trembled slightly. "Then thank you on my mother's behalf, Dr. Fairbanks." Odette's fingers curled at her side. She stepped forward and took his hand, and when Ezra instinctively tried to pull away, she held on tight. "Don't move." Ezra stopped struggling and let her lead him back to the bed, where she reinserted the IV into his hand. He told Maureen he'd found a new job and was away for training out of town just so she wouldn't worry. For the next few days, he stayed in the hospital and focused on recovering. Odette came by every day at mealtimes to keep him company. Ezra never argued or made a fuss, and he agreed to whatever she said, which left her feeling strangely powerless, as if every effort she made just sank into nothing. The night before his mother's surgery, Ezra had a lawyer draw up the divorce papers before he went to her room. When Maureen saw him, she rallied her strength and chatted with him for a while. After she fell asleep, Ezra took out his phone and texted Odette to remind her of the surgery time. But the next day, Odette disappeared. Chapter 7 Odette's phone kept going straight to voicemail. The doctor who had been rushed in to take over the surgery was drenched in sweat. "We can't reach Dr. Fairbanks. You're her husband, and you don't know where she is either? I have less than a ten percent chance of pulling this off, so you need to prepare yourself!" Ezra paced frantically, sending message after message and numbly dialing the same number again and again. He had lost count of how many times he'd called when the line suddenly connected. "Odette, what the hell are you—" "Oh, Ezra?" Rafe's voice came through the phone. "Odette went abroad with me on short notice. She's sleeping off the jet lag right now." Ezra's mind went completely blank, and he practically roared into the phone. "Put her on! Tell her to get back here right n—" "She can't come to the phone. She's worn out from last night." All the emotions Ezra had been holding back came crashing down, and his voice broke as he begged. "Rafe, I'm begging you. Get her to come back and do my mom's surgery, and I'll do whatever you want." Rafe chuckled. "Whatever I want? Then get on your knees at the hospital entrance and say it over and over. Say you're a loser who tried to steal someone else's wife, that you're worthless and guilty, and that your mom getting sick is your punishment." Ezra was shaking all over, and he kept seeing his mother lying gaunt and withered in her hospital bed. "Fine." He could lose his dignity, but he couldn't lose his mother. Ezra turned and ran for the hospital entrance, telling himself to hold on just a little longer because it would all be over soon. Then, with everyone watching, he dropped to his knees. People going in and out of the hospital stopped short and stared at him in confusion. Ezra dug his nails into his palms, hunched over the cold tiles, and muttered, "I'm a loser who tried to steal someone else's wife. I'm worthless, and I'm guilty. My mom getting sick is... my punishment." The sympathy on the onlookers' faces turned to contempt in an instant. They pointed and whispered, and some even took out their phones to record him. "Well, well. You were so high and mighty at dinner the other day. Look at you groveling now." One of Rafe's buddies had his phone pointed at Ezra, apparently on a video call with Rafe, and he couldn't hide how much he was enjoying this. Ezra looked into the camera with red-rimmed eyes. "Happy now?" Rafe smirked. "Fine. I guess I'll do you a favor and pass the message along." A spark of hope flared in Ezra, and he raced back to the waiting room with his phone. Before long, Rafe's reply came in. "Sorry, man. Odette must be really worn out. I can't wake her up no matter what I do." The phone slipped from Ezra's hand and smashed against the floor, the screen shattering into pieces. For the next few hours, Ezra knelt outside the operating room, begging death over and over not to take his mother. But when the light above the operating room went dark, all he got was a death certificate. Chapter 8 Before he heard the news, Ezra had thought he would fall apart and cry until he couldn't breathe. Instead, he felt strangely calm, as if the ending he'd seen coming had finally arrived. He calmly watched the grief on the doctor's face, calmly signed the death certificate, and calmly watched as they wheeled his mother out. It wasn't until he pulled back the white sheet himself and saw her familiar face, now gray and lifeless, that it finally hit him that he no longer had a mother. In this whole wide world, he had no home left to go back to. Tears blurred his vision, and Ezra finally broke down and sobbed like a child. He went through all the paperwork in a daze, then carried his mother's urn back to his hometown for the funeral. That was when Odette showed up. She stood in the ‌funeral hall, travel-worn, her face full of guilt as she looked at Ezra. "I'm sorry, I—" "Get out," Ezra rasped, cutting her off. "Watch your mouth, Ezra!" Rafe charged forward. "We rushed all the way back to pay our respects to your mom, and this is the thanks we get?" Ezra caught the faint glint of satisfaction in Rafe's eyes and raised his hand to slap him, but Odette grabbed his wrist. She shielded Rafe behind her and explained with forced patience. "Ezra, this is on me, but it has nothing to do with Rafe. His mother suddenly got seriously ill, his ankle still hadn't healed, and his father has done so much for me. "I just couldn't stop worrying. But I worked out the timing. As long as I made it back before the surgery—" "And did you make it back?" Ezra yanked his hand free and swept everything off the table at her. "You killed my mom, Odette!" Odette stood still and took the full force of his anger. Rafe stepped forward to stop Ezra, his face full of concern, but a glass smashed against his temple. Odette's expression changed instantly. She shoved Ezra hard and snapped, "If you're angry, take it out on me. Don't hurt Rafe! "I didn't tell you before because I was worried about how you'd take it, but your mother's condition wasn't good. Even if the surgery had worked, she would've suffered through round after round of chemo. Maybe this way isn't such a bad—" "Get out!" Ezra was shaking so hard with rage that he couldn't even finish a sentence. Odette looked at him and hesitated, but in the end, she only said, "Take some time to calm down. I'll come see you later." With that, she gently touched the scrape on Rafe's temple and hurried him into the car. As the car sped off, Ezra's phone suddenly chimed with messages from Rafe. "My condolences, Ezra. I told Odette my mom just had a little cold, but she insisted on ditching you and your mom to come visit her with me. "But hey, who told you to keep pestering her to remarry you? You've only got yourself to blame. "Ever think maybe you're the jinx that killed your mom? If you'd just kept your head down and stopped wanting what was never yours, your sickly mom might've lived a few more years." A drop of liquid suddenly smeared across the screen. Ezra reached up to wipe it away without thinking, only for his hand to come back covered in blood. It took him a moment to realize he'd hit his head on the corner of the table when Odette shoved him. Ezra looked at the blood on his hand and the wreckage around the room, then suddenly started to laugh, and the longer he laughed, the more the tears came. He had nothing left to lose now, but he was going to make Odette and Rafe pay for what they'd done. Ezra roughly wiped away his tears, picked up his phone, and dialed a number. "Hello, I'd like to report a crime. I want to press attempted murder charges against Rafe Ellington." After he hung up, Ezra laid his mother to rest and went back to Port Seward. Then he took all the evidence he'd gathered and stormed into the hospital. Odette was showing some senior officials around the hospital, and when she saw Ezra charging in, she went rigid.