Everyone says you’re a loyal man, but they’re mistaken
Dr. Patel puts his hand under my elbow and guides me to a table set for two, next to the tiled patio that overlooks the dramatic coastline. I sit down opposite him. A peach-colored candle flickers between us. I hope it can dispel the gloom.
A grin flits across his square jaw. He must enjoy my astonished gaze around this place. It is large enough to accommodate scores of guests, but right now it is still empty—except for us.
I should have bit my lips before saying, “Oh, this must cost you an arm and a leg!”
“I can afford it,” he says, with a chuckle that sounds a bit bitter. “But don’t envy me for the misfortune of marrying into money.”
Oh, please. Is he going to complain about the woes of being misunderstood, being controlled by a rich wife?
“I thought she would be the perfect companion to help me fulfill my dream,” he says. “I was wrong.”
“Your dream?” I echo. “Which is what?”
“To become the one about whom everyone says, ‘He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.’”
Far from being humble, this man must think himself God. And his thin smile tells me that he excels at faking his feelings.
I must learn how to hide mine.
Instead, I blurt out, “Everyone says you’re a loyal man, but they’re mistaken. A discrete one, that’s what you are.”
“I try to be, Ash, for your sake.”
“Excuse me?”
“Didn’t I hear you have a boyfriend?”
“Didn’t I hear you have a wife?”
Overdose
Months after recovering from coma, Ash discovers that the man who performed her brain surgery has a questionable medical experience and a dark past. Should she expose him, at the risk of becoming vulnerable to his revenge?
