After Nine Rejections, I Stopped Waiting

Chapter 3

The atmosphere inside the private dining room had completely frozen over.

Jacob stood in place, his fingers tightening.

Amara hurried forward to comfort him, her voice gentle.

"Dr. Jenkins, don't be angry. I understand Camila. She just acted on impulse. In a couple of days, she'll come to her senses and return."

My father also sighed.

"She was simply spoiled by me. Let her cool off alone for a few days and suffer a little, and she'll come back!"

Jacob said nothing, but the unease in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

I didn't return to the Jenkins family villa, nor did I go back to the Perry family home.

It was raining heavily outside, but I didn't have an umbrella.

I ran through the rain to the nearby bus stop, got on a bus, and returned to my studio apartment.

I couldn't tell whether it was rain or tears on my face.

But I gritted my teeth and cleared out everything in my home related to Jacob.

Photos of us together, medical journals he'd been published in, matching couple items—I packed them all up.

I put those things into cardboard boxes and threw them out.

That night, I had a stomachache and a high fever.

The fever swept through my body overnight. I was burning up and utterly weak, lying in bed in a stupor, unable to move.

Half-asleep, I heard someone push open the door and come in. He wiped me down, gave me medicine, and tucked me in.

Those steady movements were incredibly familiar.

I knew it was Jacob.

For two whole days, Jacob canceled all his appointments and stayed by my side.

The companionship that normally required months on a waiting list was now mine out of nowhere.

The moment my fever broke, and I woke up, I looked up and met his concerned gaze.

His usual cold impatience had faded away, leaving only gentleness.

My heart gave a violent lurch, a bitter ache swelling in my chest.

I even wondered if I had really been too domineering, too sensitive, refusing to let go of trivial matters.

Perhaps he wasn't unfair to me. Perhaps he was occupied. Perhaps he simply wasn't good at showing tenderness.

The remnants of my love clung on, dragging at my heart and nearly making me cave.

But this moment of weakness lasted only an instant before the apartment door was thrown open.

My father strode in.

Before I could utter a word, a barrage of accusations came crashing down.

"Camila! Are you done making a scene?"

He stood by the bedside, his face full of rage. "For the past two days, Jacob has suspended all his clinics to stay by your side, turning down two important off-site surgeries! Countless complaints have piled up with no one to handle them. VIP patients are protesting. It nearly caused a major disaster!

"If Amara hadn't taken the initiative to go to the hospital to help pacify the families, coordinate patient care, and stabilize the team, the private hospital's reputation would have been dragged down by your unwarranted temper long ago!"

Every word pinned the blame on me.

My heart turned cold, and I instinctively looked at Jacob.

He clearly knew that all of Amara's patient communication skills had been taught by me.

Even every major medical incident at the hospital had been resolved by me behind the scenes.

This hospital would have gone bankrupt long ago without me.

I waited for him to defend me, to set the record straight with my father, but he said nothing.

His silence seemed to confirm every distorted accusation my father had hurled at me.