My Uncle Made Me His Ex’s Replacement

Chapter 4

Before she could finish, Vivian clutched her hand and burst into tears. "Adrian, if you can't bear to part with her, then I'll leave! I'll go back to Valenne and never bother either of you again!"

His arms tightened around her. "Don't go."

He didn't even hear the rest of Martha's sentence. Turning to me, he gave me a cold look, as if he barely recognized me. "If this happens again, you can go back to Bellmont. Even if your father begs me, I won't let you stay."

Pain shot through me, and I broke out in a cold sweat. Yet my voice came out perfectly calm.

"It won't happen again."

He visibly froze. Perhaps I was too calm—nothing like the Ivy who always rushed to explain herself and was always afraid he might misunderstand.

But Vivian let out a soft whimper, and he forgot all about me. "Come on. We're going to the hospital."

He picked her up. As he passed me, his gaze landed on my swollen, reddened arm, and his brow tightened.

"You come too."

I rinsed the burn in the restroom, then silently followed them and climbed into the back seat, worried it might become infected. Up front, Adrian was fastening Vivian's seat belt for her.

My phone vibrated twice. The messages were from Adrian.

Adrian: I was too anxious just now. But I've already lost her once. I can't lose her a second time.

Adrian: If you're upset with me, I'll make it up to you later.

I read the messages, then looked at Adrian doting on Vivian in the front seat. What a joke.

I opened my contacts and blocked his number. Before I could put the phone away, a new friend request appeared on the screen.

Noah Hart.

The man I'd agreed to marry after our families introduced us. Looking at his name, I remembered meeting him once in childhood.

I took a deep breath and accepted the request.

The car stopped outside the ER. We had just gotten out and were heading inside when an SUV shot backward from the side. Its brakes shrieked.

Adrian acted almost on instinct, reaching out and pulling Vivian into his arms. As he turned, he slammed into me. I lost my balance and tumbled into the flower bed beside us.

When I raised my head, I saw Adrian hurrying toward the ER with Vivian in his arms. All she had was a scrape on the back of her hand.

"Doctor!" There was panic in his voice.

A passerby helped me up and handed me a clean tissue.

"Miss, your arm is bleeding."

I looked down. Blood ran down my wrist and soaked into my cuff. "Thank you."

Pressing the tissue to my wound, I hailed a yellow cab without hesitation.

The driver looked at me in the rearview mirror. "Where to?"

"The airport."

The cab pulled away, taking me farther from Adrian.

Meanwhile, after Vivian's wound had been dressed, Adrian remembered that I had been injured too.

He bought a tube of burn ointment from the pharmacy, returned to the ER entrance, and stopped a staff member.

"There was another woman with me—brown hair, injured arm. Where did she go?"

The staff member thought for a moment. "That young lady never came inside. She left in a taxi."

Adrian froze, his hand tightening around the box of ointment.

Left?

He checked his phone. No messages from me. Before he could call, Daniel Reed's name flashed across the screen. He answered, and Daniel's furious voice exploded from the speaker.

"Adrian, is this how you look after my daughter?"

He frowned, convinced Ivy had run to her father to complain. "Is she with you? Put her on the phone."

"What phone? I just got back from a business trip and ran into her at the airport. She's covered in injuries!"

Adrian tightened his grip on the box and started to explain, but Daniel cut him off in a rage.

"If you want to apologize, do it in person. Ivy's wedding is in two days. As her uncle, you will be there!"