Waited For His Love, I Divorced Instead

Chapter 4

The coldness in Yannick's voice brought Hailey fully awake.

She hurried to explain. "I was dreaming. I didn't mean..."

"Enough."

Yannick interrupted her, shadows churning in his eyes. "Don't bother. I couldn't care less who's in your heart."

The rest of Hailey's words died in her throat.

He continued in a distant, cutting tone. "If you want another man around, at least be discreet about it. If this gets out, you'll disgrace the entire Serrano family."

He gave her a curt nod, turned, and left the bedroom.

Quade entered with the medicine he had prepared and found Hailey staring toward the door, bitterness written across her face.

He tapped lightly on the doorframe. When she looked at him, he walked over and handed her the bowl.

"Drink it while it's hot. If this happens again, the next time I come here may be to say the prayers over your body."

Hailey forced a faint smile and drained the medicine in one swallow.

"Thank you for coming. I'll have the driver take you back to the church."

Quade paused, then lowered his eyes. "All right."

After two days of rest, the housekeeper came upstairs. "Ms. Serrano, Ms. Blanchard is waiting for you in the living room."

Hailey frowned, rose, and went downstairs.

Mira stood in the living room wearing a simple dress and almost no makeup. She looked delicate, harmless, and vulnerable.

The moment she saw Hailey, she bowed deeply. "Ms. Serrano, I heard you weren't feeling well, so I came to see you."

Hailey answered evenly. "That was thoughtful of you."

Mira remained bowed. She glanced up, her eyes already teary. "There's something else I need to ask you!"

Hailey's expression hardened. Mira begged and bowed.

"Yannick has spent years wanting to go north and avenge his father and brother. Please replace the current commander and let him lead the operation!"

Hailey's face turned cold.

Mira continued through tears. "It's the one thing he wants more than anything. Do his wishes mean nothing to you?"

Hailey interrupted her. "The northern operation is classified at the highest level. Where did you hear about it?"

Mira's crying stopped abruptly. Her face went white, and under Hailey's sharp stare, she could not string together a coherent answer.

At that moment, Yannick entered the living room.

He stepped in front of Mira. "She's a civilian. Why are you treating her like a criminal?"

Tears filled Mira's eyes. "Yannick, this is my fault. Please don't fight with Ms. Serrano because of me."

He turned to her, his voice unusually gentle. "Don't be afraid. As long as I'm here, no one's going to hurt you."

Watching them defend each other, Hailey felt something tear inside her chest. For a moment, she could barely breathe.

She steadied herself. "She got her hands on classified intelligence. Do you have any idea how serious that is?"

Yannick dropped to one knee, his back straight. "Whatever you're going to do to her, do it to me."

For the first time, genuine anger rose in Hailey. "Even if she stole core company intelligence, a serious crime, you'd still take the fall for her?"

Yannick hesitated, then answered. "She took the risk because of me. This is on me."

The protectiveness in his eyes was unmistakable. Bitterness spread through Hailey's chest.

After a long silence, she turned to the security team. "Take Ms. Blanchard home. She is not to set foot in Serrano Villa again without my permission."

Security escorted Mira away, but Yannick remained on one knee.

Hailey's hand clenched until her nails broke the skin. Her voice stayed steady. "Landry men have always had too much pride to kneel. How long are you planning to stay down there for her?"

Yannick met her gaze and said firmly, "I was forced to marry you. I've already hurt Mira enough. All I'm asking is that you leave her alone."

The words drove Hailey's nails deeper into her palms, but the physical pain was nothing compared with what tore through her chest.

'Yannick remembered every promise he believed he owed Mira. Had he forgotten the promise he had made to me in the Landry family's private memorial hall?'

She walked over and looked down at him, saying coldly, "Get up."

Yannick did not move.

Blood rose into Hailey's throat, and she forced it back down.

"Fine. I'll let it go."

She closed her eyes briefly, unable to hide the disappointment in her voice. "I'll pretend none of this ever happened."

Then she turned and walked past him without another glance.

As she passed, an uneasy feeling stirred inside Yannick, one he could not name.

Hailey forced herself forward, but after only a few steps, blood burst from her mouth.

"Ms. Serrano!" her assistant cried.

Hailey raised a hand to stop the assistant from supporting her. She took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from her lips.

She stared at the vivid red stain. A cold gust swept through the open window and carried the handkerchief into the grass outside.

Hailey looked back at Yannick. Her voice was soft and faintly lost. "Yannick, if I were gone one day, would you be sad at all?"

She rarely called him by name so directly. Yannick stared at her for a moment before answering with stiff formality.

"If anything happened to you, Serrano Group would suffer a tremendous loss. Everyone would mourn you."