When Madeline woke up, every part of her body ached as if it had been pieced together wrong.
The sound of running water came from the bathroom, and fragments of the previous night rushed back all at once. She forced herself to take slow, steady breaths until her racing heart finally settled.
She must have lost her mind.
At her own engagement party, she had crossed the line with her fiancé's cousin.
The water shut off soon after.
Nathan stepped out of the bathroom in a robe, his damp hair slightly tousled. He walked over to the sofa, sat down, lit a cigarette, and turned his gaze toward her.
His expression remained composed, his tone unreadable. "You're awake?"
Madeline pushed herself upright, but her throat felt parched, and no words came out.
Nathan took his time, drawing on his cigarette. Smoke drifted around him, softening his outline and making him seem even more distant.
Once he finished, he stood and spoke again. "You've got nerve."
He moved closer to the bed, his eyes fixed on her.
"Bringing your fiancé's cousin back to your room during your own engagement party. Tell me, Madeline—were you actually drunk, were you that desperate, or was there something else behind it?"
Nathan's gaze was too sharp, making Madeline instinctively retreat.
After a pause, she answered, "I really was drunk. Don't overthink it, Dr. Spencer. As for last night, we can act like it never happened."
Nathan let out a brief, cold laugh.
In the next moment, his expression returned to its usual cold detachment.
"Fine."
Surprise flickered across Madeline's face. By then, he had already put on his shirt and was fastening the buttons one by one.
Noticing her staring, he spoke evenly. "No one else will find out. I have surgery scheduled, so I'm leaving."
He reached the door, then paused without turning back.
"There are pills in the nightstand."
His voice stayed calm, but there was no room for refusal. "Take them."
The door shut quietly behind him.
Silence swallowed the entire room.
Madeline leaned back against the headboard, taking a long time before she could steady herself.
Her gaze eventually drifted to the drawer of the nightstand, where the emergency pills lay, and a complicated feeling stirred within her.
Of course. He was a doctor. Careful until the very end.
He had been thinking ahead, making sure she wouldn't end up pregnant.
...
Nathan arrived at the hospital right on time—ten-thirty, exactly half an hour before his scheduled surgery.
Daniel Palmer, his assistant, was already in the locker room. The moment Nathan stepped inside, Daniel approached with a teasing smile.
"Well, well, Dr. Spencer. You look surprisingly refreshed today. Something good happen?"
Then he caught a faint scent and paused.
"Hold on... is that alcohol? And... perfume?"
Having spent years around women, Daniel recognized the fragrance instantly. As a doctor, his sense of smell was sharp enough to pick up even the faintest trace.
"Come on, don't tell me you've got a girlfriend now?"
Daniel's curiosity flared at once.
Nathan paid him no mind and opened his locker, reaching for his white coat.
With calm, deliberate movements, he fastened his cuffs, his tone flat and indifferent. "Someone insisted I drink a few glasses at the Clarke family's engagement party last night."
"The Clarke family's engagement party?"
Daniel paused, then recalled that the event had been for Nathan's insufferable cousin. Earlier that morning, rumors had already spread that the engagement had fallen apart, but before he could dig into it, Nathan had arrived.
Interest lit up his eyes.
"Wait a second. There are still people in the Clarke family who don't know who you are? Someone actually made you drink? Who was bold enough to do that?"
"Madeline."
Nathan's voice stayed even, without the slightest ripple.
"Madeline... you mean Madeline Reed?" Daniel's eyes widened in shock. "The heiress of the bankrupt family? Julian's fiancée? The one at the center of last night's chaos?"
Daniel stared at Nathan, clearly stunned.
Nathan met his gaze briefly, his expression cool and unreadable. "Yes."
That detached look made Daniel uneasy, but his curiosity won out.
"Then why would she make you drink?"
Nathan's lips pressed together for a moment. "Julian cheated on her in front of everyone at their own engagement party. She lost control and drank too much. Given the situation, it wasn't surprising."
There was no chance he would let anyone know what had actually happened between them.
"She lost control and drank too much, but why do you smell like perfume? Is it hers?"
"It is. I took her back to her room."
Nathan picked up his ID badge and clipped it onto his coat, his voice steady and distant. "She couldn't even walk properly, so I helped her upstairs."
Daniel inhaled sharply. "You helped her upstairs? Since when do you care about that kind of thing?"
Seabrook General Hospital belonged to the Spencer family, and Nathan was one of the top orthopedic specialists in the country. Women—both inside and outside the hospital—had tried countless ways to get close to him, but none had ever succeeded.
So what made Madeline different?
Daniel studied him carefully, but Nathan only raised a brow. "The Clarke family had already embarrassed themselves enough. There was no need to let outsiders see more. It was convenient, so I handled it."
Just like that, he reduced everything to a simple matter of damage control—calm, controlled, and leaving no room for doubt.
Daniel nodded slowly. "That makes sense. I knew you wouldn't get involved with anyone anyway. After all, Claire came back from Phimvine just for you—"
"She's Professor Dawson's daughter." Nathan cut him off, his tone completely flat. "Returning here was part of Professor Dawson's plan for her. It has nothing to do with me."
Daniel fell silent. Before he could press further, Nathan had already changed into his surgical attire and walked straight into the operating room.
