He Treated Me As Her, I Cut Ties

Chapter 4 Silver Locket

Since I had already decided to leave, I no longer cared who Miles chose to protect.

I no longer cared whether he still remembered what Anne had wanted for me.

I had married into the Gosling family to repay a debt. Later, I had stayed only because I had not gathered enough courage to walk away for good.

But Carey would not even leave me that much room.

I sat in the bedroom and wiped the silver locket in my palm. The pale blue stone set into it still seemed to hold Anne's warmth.

Before they wheeled me into surgery, she had pressed it into my hand and said, "Kate, wear this. It'll feel like I'm right there with you."

My door was unlocked, so Carey barged right in and reached for it.

She asked, "Why do you have Anne's things?"

"Don't touch it!" I clutched the silver locket and backed away. "Anne gave this to me."

Carey grabbed my hand and tried to pry my fingers open. Her nails dug into my palm.

"What right do you have to keep Anne's things? You're just some outsider living off her kidney!"

During the struggle, Carey yanked hard. The silver locket hit the floor and cracked into two twisted pieces.

My chest seized as if someone had clenched a fist around my heart. The surgical scar across my stomach throbbed with it.

I curled up on the floor, and cold sweat soaked through my clothes in seconds.

Carey stepped on the broken pieces and sneered, "It's just a locket. Cut the pity act. Anne wouldn't want you using her stuff to fish for sympathy."

"Kate!" Gianna rushed in and bent down to help me. "Is it your complications again? I'm taking you to the hospital!"

Carey ran out instead and grabbed Miles the moment he walked in. Tears spilled down her face at once.

"Miles, I'm scared! Kate tried to hit me, and she insulted Anne. Please stay with me. Don't let her hurt me."

Miles glanced at the broken pieces on the floor, then at my bloodless face. After two seconds of hesitation, he patted Carey's back.

He said, "Don't be scared. I'm here. She won't touch you."

Gianna shouted in panic, "Miles! She's in serious pain! Can't you see she's about to collapse?"

Miles pulled out his phone and transferred money to me.

His voice was cold. "Kate, take the money and let Gianna take you to the hospital. Tell me if it's not enough. Stop making a scene and ruining Carrie's mood."

"Making a scene?" I used the last of my strength to sit up, my voice shaking from the pain. "Miles, that silver locket meant everything to Anne! She broke it, and you're just going to pretend you didn't see it?"

He frowned hard, his voice thick with impatience. "Kate, stop dragging Anne into everything. It was just a silver locket. If it broke, I'll buy another one. Carrie's scared out of her mind. Can you quit making a scene?"

At that moment, I laughed, even as tears slid down my face.

"Buy another one?" I said. "Miles, you never understood Anne. And you never cared whether I would survive this."

Gianna helped me toward the door. When I looked back, I saw Carey leaning against Miles' chest, a smug little smile curling at the corner of her mouth.

I lowered my voice and said, "Gianna, I don't owe their family anything anymore. Three years of marriage is more than enough to repay Anne's kindness."

After two days in the hospital, I asked Gianna to handle my discharge papers. Then I went straight back to Gosling Manor.

Laughter drifted out of the walk-in closet. Miles and Carey were inside, and he was helping her choose a new dress.

"Anne's clothes look best on you," he said.

I did not go in. I placed the divorce agreement and Anne's death report on the coffee table.

During my follow-up exam, I found the truth about Anne's death.

The signature on the report belonged to Carey's father, the hospital's vice president.