When Kenzie regained her consciousness, it was already noon the next day.
In the end, it was a security guard on patrol who spotted her half-dead in the underground garage and rushed her to the hospital.
The second she was conscious, she grabbed her phone and called her lawyer.
“Colton already signed the divorce papers,” she said flatly. “But I’m not sitting through some bullshit one-month cooling-off period. I want this divorce done within a week.”
Kenzie was a lawyer. She knew damn well it could be done.
On the other end of the line, Attorney Larsson went quiet for a moment.
“Alright,” he said finally. “I’ll make it happen.”
Hearing that, she hung up. Almost immediately, her phone buzzed again.
It was a message from Clarkson.
[Hey, I called you so many times last night. You didn’t pick up. Did something happen?]
[Kenzie, I’m worried sick. Please answer once you see this.]
There were dozens of messages like that.
And yet, not a single one from Colton or from her so-called brothers.
If Kinsey had so much as stubbed her toe, they sure would have shut the entire New York down looking for her.
‘So this is the difference between being loved and being hated,’ Kenzie thought bitterly.
She typed back.
[I went to bed early. I’m fine. Don’t worry.]
A lie. But she wasn’t about to let the only person who cared lose sleep over her.
Clarkson replied almost instantly, as if he’d been staring at his phone the whole time.
[As long as you’re okay. The weather’s bad right now and all flights are grounded. Once it clears up, I’ll be in New York to get you.]
She sent back one word.
[Okay.]
Just after sending it, a nurse walked in.
“Ma’am, you’ll need to contact a family member.”
Hearing the word family, Kenzie answered flatly, “Family? I’m an orphan. I don’t have one.”
The nurse hesitated, clearly recognizing her.
“Aren’t you Mrs. Parkhouse? Your husband is upstairs with your sister. You could ask him to come down and take care of the hospital bills.”
Kenzie froze. “Why the hell are they here?”
“Oh,” the nurse said casually, “your sister bit her lip while eating. Mr. Parkhouse and your brothers completely panicked. They even called in multiple specialists.”
The nurse’s face darkened as she looked back at Kenzie, clearly pissed on her behalf.
“You’re family, too, aren’t you?” she snapped. “It was barely a scratch, yet they acted like the world was ending. You almost bled to death last night, and not a single one of them came to check on you.”
Fuming, the nurse turned and stormed upstairs to call them down.
Kenzie didn’t even have time to react.
Moments later, the three men were already standing at the foot of her bed.
She looked pale. Fragile. Weak enough that even Colton couldn’t ignore it.
For the first time, guilt flickered across his face.
“You weren’t feeling well and ended up hospitalized,” he said stiffly. “Why didn’t you contact us?”
Kenzie glanced at him just once then curled her lips into a cold, mocking smile.
She didn’t answer.
That silence unsettled him.
In his memory, she had always been dependent on him. A tiny cut from cooking would have her eyes red and watery, clinging to him.
On the way down, the nurse had told him her wound had been stitched again: more than twenty stitches.
He’d expected her to cry the second she saw him. Instead, she wouldn’t even bother speaking.
For once, he lowered his head.
“I’m sorry about last night,” he said. “I thought you were faking it. If I’d known it was real, I wouldn’t have left.”
Bullshit.
He’d said the same thing countless times before.
And every single time, when forced to choose between her and Kinsey, Kenzie was the one left behind.
On their wedding day, when the crystal chandelier came crashing down, the person he shielded wasn’t his bride. It was Kinsey.
Once, when both “sisters” had severe allergic reactions and there was only one dose of medication left, he gave it to Kinsey without hesitation.
This time, Kenzie had been bleeding out on the concrete, and because it was Kinsey’s birthday, she’d been abandoned all over again.
From start to finish, Colton had never chosen her.
Whatever. A man who’d already made his choice wasn’t worth clinging to.
Kenzie was done listening. She closed her eyes, cutting them all off at once. “I’m exhausted. I want to rest. You can all leave. It’s not like this is the first time anyway.”
Whenever she needed them, they didn’t give a damn.
Now that she was done with them, they could stop pretending they ever cared.
Colton looked like he wanted to say something, his lips parting slightly, when Kobe let out a cold, mocking snort.
“Oh, cut the act,” he sneered. “If you really didn’t want to see us, why have the nurse drag us down here? We showed up, didn’t we? Learn when to stop pushing your luck. If you piss us off and we walk out, you’ll be the one crying later.”
Even now, they were convinced she couldn’t survive without them.
Their arrogance earned a soft, humorless laugh from Kenzie, but she said nothing.
That silence made something twist uncomfortably in Colton’s chest.
“Kenzie,” he asked, frowning, “you weren’t with our son last night. Who’s taking care of him?”
Before she could respond, a nurse suddenly rushed in from upstairs.
“Mr. Parkhouse! Ma’am Kinsey is very upset upstairs. Please go check on her!”
Tension snapped across all three men’s faces at once.
Kobe grabbed Colton by the arm. “Kinsey needs us. What the hell are you waiting for? Move.”
Colton hesitated just for a heartbeat. But then, like always, he chose Kinsey.
“Kinsey needs me,” he said to Kenzie. “I’ll go check on her first. Once things calm down, I’ll come back.”
Just like that, all three of them turned and walked out without looking back.
Kenzie watched their backs disappear, the bitter curve of her smile deepening.
Hah. Colton’s words were dead in under a minute.
‘Colton,’ she thought coldly, ‘our son has been gone for a long time now. And whatever future we had died with him.’
