Chapter 2
With that, he left the room and slammed the door shut on his way out.
Bitterness welled up in Tessa, and her eyes stung. She chewed her lower lip, refusing to let her vulnerability show even as her heart ached. She had loved Ethan from the first day she saw him, but in the years following the incident, nothing she did was ever good enough to make him pay her any attention.
The tears that threatened to overwhelm her finally did. The prickling sensation in her eyes sharpened to the point of pain, causing her to break out in a cold sweat.
With what little vision she had left, Tessa changed her clothes and staggered out of the house, heading toward the hospital.
She was almost completely blind when she arrived at the hospital. She stumbled through the door and, on several occasions, nearly bumped into those who passed her. In the end, one of the nurses escorted her to Rosalie’s office.
“Tess! What happened?” Rosalie cried in alarm as she hurriedly approached Tessa.
Tessa clutched Rosalie’s wrist. Her voice trembled uncontrollably as she said, “Rosie, my eyes hurt.”
Rosalie’s voice was edged with tension as she reassured Tessa, “Don’t worry. I’ll check your eyes right away.”
Rosalie was the doctor in charge of Tessa’s case, so she knew the latter’s condition well. After she ran several tests, her expression grew grim.
Noticing this, Tessa managed a wry smile. “It seems like things aren’t looking too well for me.
“You’re fine. All you need is a pair of corneas,” Rosalie said anxiously as she gripped Tessa’s hand. She feigned nonchalance. “I’ll give you my corneas if it comes down to that. No big deal.”
Tessa felt her heart skitter, and tears pricked her eyes once more. A bitter smile curved her lips as she explained, “The donor didn’t actually change his mind at the last minute. His corneas were simply poached.”
“What?” Rosalie screeched. “Why am I just finding out about this now?”
Ethan’s patient and gentle demeanor from earlier flashed in Tessa’s mind. She muttered, “If I hadn’t heard the phone conversation myself, I might have never found out about it, either.”
After all, with Ethan’s wealth and power, poaching a pair of corneas behind everyone’s backs was child’s play to him.
Realization dawned on Rosalie. She clutched Tessa’s arm and pressed, “What happened?”
Tessa was frank with Rosalie and gave her a brief rundown of what had happened earlier. Having listened to the whole story, Rosalie flew into a rage. She smacked her desk and shot to her feet, ready to march out of her office to even the score with Ethan.
“Calm down,” Tessa said, holding Rosalie back. She paused before saying, “I’ll find a way to get them back.”
The corneas were meant for her, to begin with. Not even Ethan had the right to take them away from her.
“Get what back?” A familiar voice rang out from behind Tessa. She tensed and turned to see Ethan standing at the door.
Beside him, Charlotte cut a demure figure in a white dress, her long, chestnut-colored hair falling in waves over her shoulders. Exasperation filled her alluring eyes as she turned to look at Tessa.
“There’s no need to get worked up, Ms. Langford. Nothing is going on between me and Ethan.” Charlotte paused, then added, “I felt discomfort in my eyes, and because I’m not from around here, Ethan offered to help. You didn’t have to… come and keep an eye on him.”
She might have come off as gracious if her hand hadn’t been in the crook of Ethan’s arm.
Tessa was relieved when she heard Charlotte’s words. From the sound of it, neither Charlotte nor Ethan caught the earlier parts of her conversation with Rosalie.
“Damn bitch! Keep your hands to yourself before you try to explain yourself, why don’t you?” Rosalie was short-tempered and didn’t hesitate to lash out at Charlotte.
Tessa chuckled and said, “I was talking about getting back something stolen from me by a greedy scoundrel.”
As if stealing Tessa’s husband wasn’t bad enough, Charlotte just had to go after the corneas meant for Tessa, too!
“Ms. Langford…” Charlotte’s eyes turned red with tears as she mumbled dejectedly, “What do you mean by that?”
Ethan frowned when he saw Charlotte crying. He snapped at Tessa, “What are you talking about, Tessa? Lottie’s eyes cannot be aggravated! Apologize to her right now!”
“Why should I apologize?” Tessa retorted loudly. Charlotte meant nothing to her. If it weren’t for Charlotte, she would have gotten the bilateral cornea transplant tomorrow. She was very close to recovery, but Charlotte had to come along and ruin everything.
An intense hatred filled Tessa as she glowered at Charlotte. She wanted nothing more than to lunge at Charlotte and claw that wide-eyed, naive look off her face!
Charlotte whimpered, looking terrified as she ducked behind Ethan. “I’m scared, Ethan…”
Shielding Charlotte, Ethan shot Tessa a warning look and barked an order, “Don’t even think about hurting Lottie, Tessa! Go home right now!”
“Shit-eating bastard!” Rosalie seethed, stomping her foot. Tessa had to pull her back.
It was like a black veil had been draped over the world before Tessa. She strained to keep her eyes wide open, her heart going cold when she saw how protective Ethan was over Charlotte. The vein at her temple throbbed like it might burst at any moment.
Tessa remained in her seat, gripping the desk corner so firmly that her fingertips turned white. “I came to see Rosie, which is none of your business.”
Ethan’s brows furrowed. He seemed convinced that Tessa wanted to stay just so she could pick a fight with Charlotte. “In that case, I’m meeting with a couple of friends tonight. You’re coming with me.”
He only invited her because he wanted to keep an eye on her, lest she attack Charlotte. Tessa was incredulous. Ethan was her husband, yet he was looking out for another woman’s well-being. She flat-out rejected his invitation, saying, “Like hell I’m going.”
“You were always whining about wanting to tag along, so what gives?” He sounded annoyed, then paused as if realizing something. “I’ll make sure they won’t pick on you. Don’t worry.”
His words stung Tessa. It turned out that he’d known about his friends bullying her all this time but chose to overlook it.
Tessa only married Ethan because of an accident that happened years ago. The Langfords had gone bankrupt at the time, and because the debtor couldn’t collect his dues, he forcibly took Tessa from her school in hopes of getting a ransom from her mother.
Unfortunately, Tessa’s mother and younger brother fled with the remaining three million dollars in the family reserve. In his desperation, the debtor considered killing Tessa, but Ethan came through in the nick of time and paid the ransom.
Ethan brought Tessa home to the Ziegler residence. A few days later, they accidentally slept together.
After that, Ethan’s grandfather, David Ziegler, spoke up about the matter and forced Ethan to take responsibility for his actions. The old man claimed that he owed Adam a life debt and would not tolerate his grandson taking advantage of Tessa.
Ethan tried to object to David’s demands, but the latter threatened to take his own life if Ethan refused to listen. Ethan ultimately had no choice but to accede. Since then, he’d hated Tessa, and his friends picked on her with equal loathing.
Tessa’s eyes grew misty, but she blinked to hide it. “I might have wanted that before, but not anymore.”
She didn’t want Ethan anymore, let alone hang out with his friends to get in their good graces.
Ethan grimaced and gravely warned, “Even if you’re playing hard to get, Tessa, you should know your limits.”
“I don’t—”
Before Tessa finished speaking, Ethan approached her, grabbed her arm, and hauled her out the door.
Seeing this, Rosalie made to stop him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Ethan?”
Rosalie had taken no more than two steps when Ethan’s bodyguards materialized and blocked her way. Incensed, she hurled abuse at the guards. “How dare you stop me from going after them! Get out of my way!”
Alas, the bodyguards did not budge and formed a human wall that kept Rosalie from following Ethan and Tessa.
A dark look flashed in Charlotte’s eyes as she watched Ethan leave with Tessa. A moment later, she said, “Don’t worry, Dr. Gray. I’ll call Ethan right now.”
“What for? You’re on his side, aren’t you?’ Rosalie turned and glared at Charlotte viciously. “Do you think you’re so important that you can interfere in Ethan and Tessa’s marital affairs?
“It’s bad enough that you stole someone’s corneas, but you just had to steal someone’s man, too! When you look in the mirror, I wonder if you see what I see—a shameless slut!”
Having spat the words at Charlotte, Rosalie cursed at her and closed the door. The door slammed shut in Charlotte’s face like a hard slap. She clenched her fists and lowered her gaze to hide the malice in her eyes.
A second later, she registered that Rosalie had mentioned something interesting about her stealing corneas. Charlotte had only recently learned that she was getting a bilateral cornea transplant, so how would Rosalie know about it?
She whipped out her phone and typed a text that read, “Look into my cornea donor and find out who he is.”
“Roger that,” came the reply.
