I pressed down the emotions churning behind my eyes and walked to the bedside for the routine checkup.
"How are you feeling today?"
Percy held Carina's hand, his voice soft and warm.
"She's feeling much better now. Yesterday was so touch-and-go, we really owe it all to you, Dr. Simmons. I haven't even had the chance to thank you properly."
"The moment I woke up, I called the factory to rush a shame banner for you. I hope you won't think it's too much."
I smiled, but my gaze had already drifted to their clasped hands.
On Carina's previously bare ring finger sat a ring with the same unusual design as the one on Percy's hand.
Noticing where I was looking, Percy twisted the ring on his finger and explained, his tone brimming with pride.
"My wife designed these herself. Only pair in the world."
"A little ugly, sure, but I love them."
I dropped my gaze fast, burying the storm rising behind my eyes.
The day after our wedding, Carina had taken off the ring I'd had a master jeweler custom-make for her.
I watched her seal it in its box and shove it into the deepest corner of the drawer, where it never saw daylight again.
"Why won't you wear it?"
She'd frowned and shaken her head.
"It's too expensive. If I lost it, what a waste that would be."
I said nothing more. I just quietly slipped off my own ring and tossed it onto the nightstand.
At home, Carina's ring finger had always been bare.
Now it wore a band that never came off.
So in front of me, she hadn't even bothered to pretend.
The baby slept peacefully in the bassinet nearby. Even at this age, traces of Carina were already visible in the child's features.
As the infant shifted, a jade pendant slid out from beneath the collar of the onesie.
The stone was luminous, its quality unmistakable at a glance.
The raw gemstone that had been cut open as a lucky prize at our wedding had been carved into an ordinary jade pendant and hung around the neck of Carina's illegitimate child.
My chest felt hollow. No anger, no grief. Whatever had once lived there, I'd already carved it out myself.
Percy's wheedling voice rose behind me.
"Babe, I'll go grab you some breakfast. You stay here and rest."
Carina looked at him, worry in her eyes.
"You don't know your way around here. Let someone else go."
Percy waved her off and glanced at me.
"Relax. Dr. Simmons is right here. He can show me the way."
Only after I nodded did Carina settle back with a reassured look.
The door opened and closed. Percy and I walked side by side down the corridor.
I let out a quiet breath, a sliver of mockery tucked into the corner of my mouth.
"You and Ms. Harding seem really close."
Percy smiled, eyes full of contentment.
"Carina and I both came from small towns. When it's just the two of you out in the world, you learn to lean on each other."
"Luckily she's driven. Built her own company from the ground up through sheer hard work."
"If it weren't for that one investor giving her such a hard time, she'd probably be one of the top names in the industry by now."
I raised an eyebrow. A slow burn of anger lit somewhere behind my ribs.
Carina's company, from incorporation to every round of funding, had been shepherded step by step by my father.
Her biggest investor was also my father.
She'd refused a position at Simmons Group, claiming she wanted to build something with her own hands and give me a comfortable life.
But her business instincts were mediocre at best. The company had been hemorrhaging money for two years, and my father had been quietly covering the losses behind the scenes, all for my sake.
Yet in her version of events, my father was the difficult investor making her life miserable.
A wolf you could feed forever and never tame.
