Chapter 6

By the time the car stopped outside the hospital, the icy, tense atmosphere between Ryder and me had eased considerably.

Thinking of his stomach pain, I made an excuse, wanting him to help me, and linked my arm through his.

But then, a sweet voice, edged with furious indignation, suddenly cut through the air beside us:

“Aria Montgomery!”

I turned to see Chloe, Julian’s childhood sweetheart, storming up to me, glaring angrily.

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you? You deliberately had Mrs. Davis’s medication cut off just to force Julian to bow to you!”

She glanced behind me, and her eyes welled up instantly.

“You said before, if I disappeared, you’d ask that renowned oncology specialist to take on Mrs. Davis’s case. Are you going back on your word now?”

“Chloe.”

Julian quickly walked past me, pulled Chloe behind him, shielding her.

Then, he lowered his gaze, speaking in a hushed, almost groveling tone.

“Aria, it’s all my fault. I’m not angry about what you did to me today, just don’t make things difficult for Chloe and my mom.”

“From now on, I’ll do whatever you say.”

It suddenly hit me.

In my previous life, that specialist who treated Julian’s mom? I’d arranged it through the Foster family connections.

“No…”

I hadn’t even had a chance to speak.

My arm suddenly felt empty.

Ryder pulled his arm free from mine, his eyes lowered, a mocking, cold, bone-deep frost in his gaze.

“So this is why you suddenly wanted me to bring you to the hospital.”

“Aria, this is what you wanted to tell me, isn’t it?”