Divorce Freed Me, Condemned Him

Chapter 4

Diaia pressed her lips tight, staying stubbornly silent.

Driven by my professional ethics as a doctor, I kept pressing my hand against Liam's upper abdomen, monitoring his reaction closely.

Once I had a clear idea of his condition, I turned to meet Diaia's gaze.

"If you want to find another doctor, that's fine. You can either transfer him to another hospital, or wait here until 8 a.m. tomorrow when the other doctors come on shift."

At that, I glanced over at Liam, who was already half-conscious from the excruciating pain. "Whether he'll make it that long, though, is anyone's guess."

Diaia was fuming, but she knew better than to argue. She knew full well that leaving or waiting for another doctor to come on duty was completely unrealistic. His condition would only worsen the longer they delayed.

She had no choice but to agree.

An hour later, I finished Liam's emergency treatment, wrapped up all my required duties, and headed home from my shift.

The next day, I came back to his ward to carry out his post-operation checkup.

The second I stepped through the door, I realized he was the only one in the room. Diaia was nowhere to be seen.

Post-op patients have limited mobility and need someone to look after them. There should have been at least one person by his side at a time like this.

After I logged all of Liam's vital signs, I frowned and asked him, "Why are you here alone? Doesn't anyone come to take care of you?"

Liam was propped halfway up against the bed's backrest. His lips were pale, and his voice was rough and hoarse when he spoke.

"She went to buy me something to eat."

The words were barely out of his mouth when the door swung open.

Diaia walked into the ward, toting Buffalo Wings—crispy fried chicken wings tossed in tangy buttery cayenne hot sauce.

She lifted the bag in her hand, holding it up to show Liam with an excited grin. "Liam! I got your favorite Buffalo Wings! I waited in line forever to get these."

Liam's already pale face went rigid for a second.

I stared at the snack, and spoke up as a matter of professional duty. "Diaia, he just got out of surgery. It's best he sticks to light, plain food for now."

The second those words left my mouth, Diaia's face immediately twisted with irritation, and her eyes welled up with angry tears.

"Emma, what the hell is your problem? You just hate seeing me be nice to Liam, don't you? Cut the crap and stop trying to drive a wedge between us!"

Nice of her to take my good advice and throw it right back in my face.

I rolled my eyes, too fed up to waste another breath. I just dropped my head and kept scribbling in the medical chart.

Liam dropped his gaze and reached out to tug Diaia's arm.

"Diaia, my stomach really can't handle spicy food right now. You go ahead and eat those, okay? I'll just order some soup for delivery."

Diaia's voice wobbled with obvious hurt when she spoke. "But I went out of my way to buy these for you, and you won't even take a bite..."

Liam immediately softened his tone to soothe her. "Don't cry. My heart aches so bad when you cry."

My hand froze mid-sentence on the chart.

That exact line was what he'd used to comfort me hundreds of times before.

When I was curled up in agony from period cramps, when I was upset because he'd shown up late to a date, when he'd been too rough with me in bed... Every single time, he'd pull me gently into his arms, brush the tears off my cheeks with soft kisses, and whisper those exact words: "Don't cry. My heart aches so bad when you cry."

But now, he was saying it right in front of me, to another woman.

I couldn't even remember how I stumbled out of that room.

I was still reeling when Owen Parker, a colleague from my department, stopped me in the hallway. "Emma, could you take a look at this patient's CT scan for me? Something seems off."

I walked over and reached for the report in his hand when a little kid suddenly darted out of a nearby ward and slammed straight into me. I was caught completely off guard, stumbled back several steps, and landed right against Owen's chest.

He instinctively reached out to steady me.

I got my feet under me and opened my mouth to say, "Thanks..."

Before I could get the word out, Diaia's high-pitched squawk rang out from a short distance away. "Emma! How are you cuddling up to another man while you're on the clock? Do you have any shame?"

I frowned and turned to look. Liam, still in his hospital gown, was standing in the ward doorway next to Diaia, his face thunderous.

Diaia huffed and shot me a cold glare, then turned to Liam. "See that, Liam? She's forcing you to leave the marriage with nothing but the clothes on your back, but it looks like she was the one cheating first!"

My face immediately darkened.

Owen beside me frowned, hurrying to clear the air. "What the hell are you talking about? That was just an accident!"

But Liam let out a cold, sneering laugh. "Wow, that's one hell of a coincidence, isn't it? How come Emma just happened to end up falling directly into your arms of all people?"

Just as Owen was about to speak up again to set the record straight, I cut him off.

"Owen, you should get back to work."

I wasn't about to let my own personal mess drag an innocent coworker into the crossfire.

Once Owen left, Diaia kept right on nattering. "Liam, since Emma cheated on you first, it's totally unfair to make you leave the marriage with nothing."

Liam didn't say a word, just stood rooted in the doorway, his gaze heavy and sharp as it pinned me in place.

I didn't bother listening to any more of her nonsense. I walked straight up to the two of them and stared Diaia dead in the eye.

"Diaia, you're a paralegal. You should know that defamation comes with legal consequences, right?"

Diaia's eyes darted away nervously, and she was just about to make up some excuse when Liam cut in first, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Emma, are you really too cowardly to own up to what you did? You don't get to throw the word 'defamation' around when you're the one guilty of hiding what you did."

I stared at him, totally bewildered. "What are you even accusing me of doing?"

Liam curled his lip in a cold, sneering smirk. "You're still going to play dumb at this point? Fine, I'll spell it out for you!"

"Emma! That baby you intentionally got rid of six months ago—do you dare admit it wasn't even mine?"