Chapter 1
The other end of the line went silent for 3 seconds before Adrian finally said, "So you finally understand that the first-come, first-served rule can't be broken. I've already worked everything out. The company is a little tight on cash right now, but this project has a quick turnaround. I'll transfer the money to you at 10 tomorrow morning."
I wiped the moisture from the corner of my eye as my trembling voice slowly steadied. "There's no need."
While Adrian was still talking about his plans, Ryan Foster had already arrived at the hospital and paid my mother's surgery bill.
A sudden scoff came from around the corner. Vanessa stepped into view. "Mr. Cole, I told you Miss Hayes would find some other way to get the money. Look at that. She turned around and found another man to pay for her."
"Katherine, don't you owe me an explanation?"
Adrian came out behind her, his voice low as he stared straight at me.
I looked at the phone in my hand, the call still connected, then at the corner they had just stepped out from. My nails bit painfully into my palm. "Explain what? Explain why I called you because my mother's life was in danger and all you could do was lecture me about rules? Or explain why the two of you hid around the corner and watched me panic because I couldn't borrow enough money?"
Adrian's expression stiffened, his lips pressed into a hard line. Flustered, he started searching his pockets.
Then Vanessa took a bank card from her purse. Adrian visibly relaxed, took it from her, and held it out to me. "I had the money ready all along. There are 500,000 dollars on this card. Your family gets priority."
My nose stung as I looked at the bank card, and I instinctively turned away.
For 7 years, I had always come last in Adrian's priorities. Not once had I truly come first.
7 years ago, it had been this same bank card. In our tiny rental apartment, he had wrapped his arms around me and comforted me. "Katie, this is the priority card I set aside for you and your family. When it comes to my wife, there is no first come, first served. There is only the priority rule. The money on this card will only ever be used for my wife and her family."
Now that he was successful, the same priority card had to be pulled from another woman's purse before he could offer it to me.
"All right. Go pay the bill. Your mom can't afford to wait."
Adrian pushed the card toward me again and instinctively reached out with his other hand to stroke my hair.
"As for making you wait just now, I'd already agreed with Vanessa that we'd play a little joke on you. I couldn't exactly break the rules."
"My mother is lying in a hospital bed waiting for life-saving treatment, and you're standing here talking to me about rules and calling it a joke?"
I stepped back half a step, avoiding his hand.
"No. I don't need it anymore. I don't need you anymore."
His hand froze in midair. Then he frowned.
"Katherine, there's a limit to how unreasonable you can be. If you turn the money down now and it gets committed to something else, you'll have to go to the back of the line."
"If you've paid for the patient, a family member needs to come sign the forms."
I turned, grabbed Ryan's payment receipt, and rushed over to sign. As I watched my mother being wheeled into the operating room, my legs nearly gave out beneath me.
Adrian instinctively stepped forward to steady me. He took off his suit jacket and spread it on the floor beneath me before I sat down.
He did it with such practiced ease that it looked as though he'd done it countless times before. But my mother had never had surgery before, and I'd never been to this hospital.
"How could Miss Hayes let another man pay her hospital bill? If word gets out, it could easily affect the company's stock price."
Vanessa unconsciously dragged her nails across her purse, leaving scratches, even as she wore a look of concern.
Only then did Adrian seem to snap back to himself. He grabbed my arm, his voice rising.
"I'm your husband. You won't use my money, but you'll use another man's? If you needed money, shouldn't I have been the first person you came to? It was just a joke. It's not like I didn't come here with the money."
"But Ryan gave me the money first. He paid the bill first. What were you doing then?"
I tore my arm free. A dark bruise from his grip had already formed on my skin.
"That was about following the rules!"
"We're husband and wife! What about our marriage? Shouldn't it be love and responsibility?"
'But Adrian, all you've ever talked to me about are rules. You've always insisted on the first-come, first-served rule.'
He stared at me for a long moment, as if something had finally clicked. Then he exhaled and softened his tone.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you. I won't use the first-come, first-served rule against you again. You must be hungry. I'll get you some oatmeal and some medicine for the swelling."
As his footsteps faded, I lowered my eyes to the suit jacket beneath me.
'But Adrian, there won't be a next time for us. I don't want one.'
