After ending the call, Deanna turned her gaze to the hospital garden. For once, she felt nothing close to sadness or regret.
All those days spent waiting for things to change seemed like a distant dream. She had once wondered how she would ever survive divorcing Connor.
The idea used to fill her with dread. She thought it would leave her in pieces.
Now, a strange sense of freedom washed over her.
There was no more need to chase affection or bend to anyone's will. She no longer had to pretend to care for someone she never chose.
A fresh chapter beckoned, and Deanna let herself feel lighter than she had in years.
With a hint of a smile, she lifted her chin and noticed that even the world outside seemed to shine brighter.
Theresa's voice rang out, cutting through her thoughts. "Let's hurry up and find something for you to wear. You'll divorce that jerk this afternoon, and then you'll be done with the Dixon family for good. I can't stand hearing another word from them."
The suggestion made sense, so Deanna nodded and reached for a dress. Before she could choose one, a gentle knock sounded at the door.
Standing there, Nikolas looked a little uncomfortable as he held out a phone. "Deanna, Helena just called."
Thinking of her stepmother, Deanna paused for a beat, then headed toward the door to answer the call, saying, "Helena."
A deep, commanding voice came through the speaker first. "Three years is long enough, Deanna. Don't you think it's time to come back home and put all this behind you? How much longer are you going to keep this up? You're not a child anymore, and your behavior is wearing me out!"
Right away, Helena's voice broke in. "Must you speak to Deanna like that? She's gone through enough already. Instead of making her feel worse, try saying something supportive. If you can't be gentle, please hold your tongue."
No matter how assertive Helena got, her words always landed softly and never came off as harsh.
Helena said then into the phone, "Don't listen to your father, Deanna. He always puts on that stern face, but the moment he's at work, he can't stop telling the board how you've been gifted since you were little. He's so proud of what you've done at Benignity Hospital. He calls it your masterpiece."
A quiet sound escaped Deanna, her response little more than a whisper, while her expression gave nothing away.
On the other end of the line, a hush settled in, as if the next topic weighed heavily and needed careful handling.
Moments slipped by before Deanna recognized the uncertainty.
She filled the silence. "Don't worry about me. I'll be home in a couple of days, once all the paperwork is finished."
"That's wonderful," Helena said, her joy ringing clear. "Just let us know when you'll be back, and we'll make sure to send the car for you. I'll even cook all your favorites. Everyone's waiting to welcome you home."
With a soft word of agreement, Deanna ended the call.
Nikolas lingered in the doorway, wringing his hands in awkward apology. "I hope you're not upset. Your father and I have business together, and news of your divorce can't be kept from him. If I hadn't told him, he'd never let me hear the end of it. I hope you understand where I'm coming from."
Deanna nodded, her face untroubled. "That's fine. He would have found out soon anyway."
Nikolas offered an encouraging smile. "You have a complicated family, and sometimes I say too much, but I mean well. Honestly, I'm relieved for you. Connor was never the right man. I hope you find real happiness and that your late mother would be proud."
A nod was all Deanna gave in return.
Throughout her life, Deanna had lived by every rule, always the model daughter. She never guessed her choice of husband would become everyone else's concern.
Three years before, nothing could have shaken her resolve to marry Connor.
Warnings filled the air, people telling her she was making a mistake, saying Connor just wanted someone with medical knowledge to help with Gillian, nothing more.
Deep down, she had known that, yet she had chosen to leap in anyway.
At the time, she convinced herself that sometimes loving someone meant giving everything up, even if it meant being wrong.
She once believed in that love so fiercely that she gambled everything she had, spending three years discovering just how wrong she could be.
Those years bought her nothing but an ultimatum from Connor—"Either give up your career or end this marriage."
His feelings belonged to Gillian. Despite Gillian choosing Andrew, a man lacking Connor's ambition and skill, his devotion never wavered.
For Deanna, her role as his wife was nothing more than a convenient disguise in the background of someone else's romance.
She couldn't help but feel utterly foolish for it.
To stand at Connor's side, she had argued with everyone. Her father, Roy Watson, had warned her, "If you insist on choosing Connor, you must let go of Carter Medical Group, the company your mother built from the ground up." Even knowing that, she had clung to Connor anyway.
Sometimes she wondered—if her mother could see her now, would she be disappointed that all those years of hard work were tossed aside for a man?
That question stung. Deanna bowed her head, eyes growing red and wet.
She remembered making a promise to her mother—to spend her life nurturing the world of herbal medicine. That vow had been broken.
Theresa lingered at her side, wanting to help but struggling to find the right words. "Deanna..."
When they were still in medical school, Theresa had felt powerless while her own mother battled a terminal disease. Deanna cared for her friend's mother as if she were her own, even going so far as to test new treatments on herself before trying it. With Deanna's careful watch, Theresa's mother eventually recovered.
Theresa never forgot the moment she learned her mother was safe. In that crowd, Deanna stood quietly, her gentle smile unshaken, surrounded by praise from all sides.
No hint of pride or restlessness ever showed on her face. Deanna simply double-checked every instruction for the patient's care, then faded into the background, quiet and unnoticed.
Despite her steady kindness, Connor's disregard had worn her down.
Theresa waited until Deanna's spirits seemed to return before blurting out, "You said you wouldn't let Gillian off easy. Whatever it takes, I'm with you."
Deanna gave a slow shake of her head, and her voice came out rough. "Let's wait a bit."
"Why wait?" Theresa retorted, frustration in her tone.
Nothing would satisfy her more than tearing the mask off Gillian and seeing the real person beneath the act.
She imagined the moment Gillian's polished smile would break, her true colors finally exposed for everyone to see.
Theresa burned with curiosity, eager to see whether Gillian would still have the nerve to go after Deanna once every secret was brought to light.
"Come on, Deanna! Don't keep me hanging!" Theresa said, barely able to contain her impatience.
With a calm smile, Deanna reassured her, "We have to wait a little longer. I need to settle the divorce first. After that, we'll show everyone who Gillian really is, and it will keep the Dixons from causing extra drama."
Marriage had always come with invisible chains.
Connor would only twist her actions into some strange game if she exposed Gillian now, and Deanna refused to waste her energy explaining herself again.
She had no patience left for his way of thinking.
Now that she was leaving, she wanted a clean break. No drama, no lingering attachments.
She never had the patience for messy endings.
If she was going to end this marriage, she wanted nothing left behind. She hoped they would go their separate ways and never have a reason to look back.
In the past, her world had revolved around him. His words became her wishes.
That love had faded. She was done caring.
