Catarina snatched the phone from the carpet as if it were burning.

Extricated. Transported.

The words bounced around her skull like a rubber ball in a steel room.

She stood up, her knees shaking. She had to go. She had to go to the hospital. Not because she loved him-she told herself-but because this was a PR nightmare waiting to happen. Heiress's Husband Dies While She Partied. The headlines wrote themselves.

But before she could move, a wave of dizziness hit her. She hadn't eaten since lunch. The tequila shot was churning in her empty stomach, burning a hole through her lining.

She stumbled to the kitchen. She needed food. Just a bite, to steady her hands.

She yanked open the massive Sub-Zero refrigerator.

It was stocked. Jorden always kept it stocked. Rows of organic vegetables, expensive cuts of meat, imported cheeses.

But nothing was ready.

Usually, there was a container of cut fruit. A bowl of pasta salad. A pre-made smoothie. Jorden prepped everything so she never had to work for her food.

Now, it was just ingredients. Raw. Useless.

She stared at a block of cheddar cheese. She needed a knife.

She scanned the countertops. Where were the knives? She opened a drawer. Spatulas. She opened another. Towels.

Finally, she spotted the heavy wooden block pushed into the far corner under the cabinets. She grabbed the handle of a chef's knife. It felt alien in her hand, heavy and unbalanced. She had never actually used this thing. She sliced at the cheese, the blade slipping and nearly taking off her thumbnail. She dropped the knife with a clatter.

"Useless!" she screamed, though she wasn't sure if she meant the knife or herself.

She felt like a child in her own home. A helpless, incompetent child. And she hated Jorden for making her feel this way. He had enabled this. He had crippled her with his service.

She grabbed a carton of milk. She would just drink a glass of milk.

She checked the date. It expired yesterday.

Jorden never let expired milk stay in the fridge. He rotated the stock like a military quartermaster.

This meant he hadn't been paying attention for days. Even before the crash.

She threw the carton into the trash with a satisfying thud.

She pulled out her phone and opened a delivery app. Her fingers trembled as she ordered a pizza. A greasy, carb-loaded pizza. Jorden would disapprove. He would say it was bad for her skin.

Good, she thought viciously. I hope it gives me a zit. That'll show him.

While she waited, she paced the living room.

Meanwhile, uptown at New York-Presbyterian.

Jorden was eating lime Jell-O.

It tasted artificial and sweet, but he ate it with mechanical precision. His ribs ached with every breath, a dull, constant throb that reminded him he was alive. Every movement sent a spike of white-hot pain through his chest, but he categorized the sensation, acknowledged the nerve signals, and compartmentalized them. The Archive provided breathing techniques used by free divers to minimize oxygen consumption and manage pain. He breathed shallowly, efficiently.

Dr. Stein walked in, looking perplexed.

"Mr. Nash," the doctor said, flipping through a chart. "Your vitals are... remarkable. Your blood pressure has normalized. Your cortisol levels are down. Usually, after a trauma like this, the body is in shock for days."

Jorden swallowed the Jell-O. "The body follows the mind, Doctor. I've removed the stressor."

"The accident?"

"The marriage," Jorden corrected.

Dr. Stein raised an eyebrow but didn't pry. "Well, whatever you're doing, keep doing it. We might be able to move you out of the ICU tomorrow if this continues."

"Good. I have work to do."

"Work? You need rest."

"I have three years of lost time to make up for," Jorden said. He looked at his phone. He had asked Nurse Joy to help him order a replacement online, but for now, the cracked screen was still responsive to his touch.

He had unblocked Chloe just long enough to check the social media fallout. The algorithm, cruel and efficient, had already fed him a video.

It was from an hour ago. Chloe's Instagram Story.

Catarina and Atticus. Singing. Endless Love.

The caption: True Soulmates. EvansDeleon BirthdayBoy

Jorden watched the video. He watched Catarina's eyes.

The old Jorden would have been weeping. He would have been analyzing every pixel, looking for proof that she didn't mean it.

The new Jorden saw something else.

He saw the micro-expressions. The way Catarina leaned away when Atticus got too close. The tension in her jaw. The way her eyes kept darting to the table where her phone was.

She wasn't happy. She was distracted.

And Atticus? Jorden analyzed the man's posture. The narcissistic preening. The way he positioned himself to catch the best light, blocking Catarina.

Analysis: Atticus Deleon is a parasite. Catarina Evans is a host beginning to reject the transplant.

It didn't make him feel sorry for her. It made him feel vindicated.

He double-tapped the screen. He liked the video.

Then, he typed a comment.

Perfect match. Best wishes.

He hit send. It wasn't petty. It was a digital signature on a death certificate. A public acknowledgment that he was stepping aside, leaving them to their fate.

Then he turned off the phone.

Back at the penthouse, the pizza arrived. Catarina ate a slice standing up over the sink, grease dripping onto her chin. It tasted like cardboard and regret.

Her phone pinged.

A notification from Instagram.

Jorden Nash commented on Chloe Vance's post: Perfect match. Best wishes.

Catarina froze. A piece of pepperoni fell from her mouth into the sink.

He was awake.

He was online.

And he was... wishing them well?

"The audacity," she whispered. Her face flushed hot.

He wasn't dying. He was mocking her. He was sitting in a hospital bed, probably perfectly fine, making fun of her public humiliation.

"Best wishes?" she hissed. "I'll give you best wishes."

She threw the pizza crust into the disposal and grabbed her keys.

She was going to the hospital. And she wasn't going to hold his hand. She was going to strangle him.

The door to Room 304 flew open with enough force to bang against the wall.

Jorden didn't jump. He didn't even look up from the notebook he had requested from the nurse. He was sketching a diagram-a complex schematic for a high-efficiency battery cell that had popped into his head ten minutes ago.

Catarina stood in the doorway. She was a mess. Her hair was frizzy from the humidity, her silver dress was wrinkled, and her eyes were wild.

"You're alive," she accused. It sounded more like an insult than a relief.

Jorden finished the curve of a cathode before looking up. His face was pale, the bruising around his eye stark against his skin. He looked fragile, physically broken, but his eyes were steady.

He looked at her. Really looked at her.

For three years, she had been the sun in his solar system. Every mood, every whim, every glance of hers had dictated his orbit.

Now? She was just a woman in a wrinkled dress standing in a hospital doorway.

"Disappointed?" Jorden asked. His voice was raspy but calm.

Catarina stomped into the room. "Don't you dare. Do you have any idea what you put me through tonight? I was calling hospitals! I was calling the police!"

"You were singing karaoke," Jorden corrected. He pointed the pen at his phone on the table. "I saw the video. You were a little flat on the bridge, by the way."

Catarina's mouth opened, but no sound came out. He criticized her singing? Jorden? The man who used to applaud when she sneezed?

"I... I was trying to cover for you!" she sputtered. "People were asking where you were! I had to pretend everything was fine!"

"And now you don't have to pretend," Jorden said. He closed the notebook. "I'm fine. You're fine. Atticus is fine. Go back to the party."

Catarina walked to the side of the bed. She saw the bandages on his chest. The bruising on his face. The cast on his left arm.

The anger deflated slightly, replaced by that uncomfortable guilt she hated.

"Why didn't you call me?" she asked, her voice softer, but still demanding. "When you crashed. Why didn't you call me?"

"I called Chloe," Jorden said. "She made it very clear that your priority was the dress."

"I didn't know you were hurt! Chloe didn't tell me!"

"Because you didn't ask," Jorden said simply. "You asked about the dress. Atticus asked about the vest."

Catarina gripped the bed rail. Her knuckles were white. "That's not fair. You're twisting things."

"Am I?" Jorden looked at her. His eyes were like X-rays. "Catarina, look at me. Look at the monitor. I almost died tonight. My heart stopped in the ambulance for ten seconds."

Catarina gasped. She hadn't known that.

"And when I woke up," Jorden continued, "I realized something. If I had died, your biggest problem would have been finding a plus-one for the next gala."

"That is not true!" Catarina cried. Tears pricked her eyes. "I love you, Jorden! How can you say that?"

"You love having a fan," Jorden said. "You love having a servant. You don't love me. You don't even know me."

"I'm your wife!"

"For now," Jorden said.

The words hung in the air. Heavy. Suffocating.

"What does that mean?" Catarina whispered.

"It means," Jorden said, leaning back against the pillows and letting out a slow, controlled breath to manage the spike of pain in his ribs, "that I'm tired, Ms. Evans. I'm tired of the chase. I'm tired of the apology tour. I'm done."

"You're... you're breaking up with me? In a hospital bed?"

"I'm setting you free," Jorden said. "You want Atticus. Go have him. He's all yours. No more guilt. No more hiding. I'm removing myself from the equation."

Catarina stared at him. This was the moment she should feel relieved. She had told her friends a thousand times that she felt "trapped" with Jorden. That she wished he would just leave so she could be with her soulmate.

But now that he was saying it? Now that he was looking at her with that cold, indifferent stare?

She felt panic. She felt like the floor was dropping out from under her.

"You're in shock," she said quickly. "It's the concussion. You're talking crazy."

"Maybe," Jorden said. He picked up his pen again. "But I've never thought more clearly in my life."

He opened the notebook and started drawing again.

"Go home, Catarina. You look exhausted. And your eyeliner is smudged."

Catarina reached up and touched her face. She looked at her finger. A streak of black.

She felt small. She felt ugly.

"I'm not leaving," she said petulantly. She sat down in the uncomfortable plastic chair next to the bed. "I'm staying right here until you come to your senses."

Jorden didn't look up. "Suit yourself. But don't expect me to entertain you."

He continued to sketch. The scratching of the pen against the paper was the only sound in the room.

Catarina sat there, arms crossed, watching him. She waited for him to break. She waited for him to look at her and smile.

He didn't.

Ten minutes passed. Twenty.

Jorden was lost in his world of equations and diagrams. He had forgotten she was there.

For the first time in their marriage, Catarina Evans was invisible.

The hospital chair was designed to be uncomfortable. It was hard plastic, angled in a way that made slouching impossible and sleeping a torture.

Catarina shifted for the hundredth time. Her back ached. Her feet, still encased in the Jimmy Choo heels, were throbbing.

It was 2:00 AM.

Jorden was asleep. Or at least, his eyes were closed. His breathing was rhythmic, matching the slow beep of the monitor.

Catarina watched him.

His face was bruised-a nasty purple and yellow blotch on his left cheekbone. But he looked peaceful. More peaceful than she had seen him in years. Usually, he slept with a furrowed brow, grinding his teeth, stressed about her schedule or her moods.

Now, his face was slack. Relaxed.

He didn't care.

That realization stung more than the insults. He wasn't angry anymore. He was indifferent.

She pulled out her phone. She needed a distraction.

She opened Instagram again. The comments on Chloe's post were blowing up.

User123: "Wait, did the husband actually comment 'Best Wishes'? Is he being sarcastic or is he a cuck?"

GossipGirlNY: "I heard he was in a massive crash tonight. And she's posting karaoke vids? Savage."

TeamAtticus: "Finally! Cat needs a real man, not a purse holder."

Catarina felt sick. The narrative was spinning out of control. She looked like a monster.

She texted Chloe.

Cat: Delete the post. Now.

Chloe: But it has 10k likes! And Atticus looks so good!

Cat: I don't care. Delete it. And you're fired.

She typed the last sentence before she could stop herself. Then she backspaced.

Cat: And your quarterly bonus is suspended.

She hit send.

It felt petty. It felt small. But she needed to hurt someone, and she couldn't hurt Jorden right now.

Jorden stirred in the bed. He groaned low in his throat.

Catarina jumped up. "Jorden? Do you need water?"

He opened his eyes. For a second, there was a flicker of confusion. Then, the ice returned.

"No," he said. "I need you to stop hovering. You're blocking the airflow."

Catarina recoiled. "I'm just trying to help."

"You're trying to assuage your guilt," Jorden said. "It's not working."

He reached for the button to raise the bed. He winced as his ribs protested.

"Atticus called me," Catarina blurted out. She didn't know why she said it. Maybe to make him jealous. Maybe to remind him of the competition.

Jorden looked at her. "And?"

"He... he wants to visit. He feels bad about the car."

Jorden laughed. It was a dry, rasping sound. "He feels bad about the car? Did he ask about the driver?"

"He's worried about you, Jorden. He's a good friend."

"He's a thief," Jorden said.

"Excuse me?"

"He's stealing from you, Cat."

Catarina stiffened. "Don't start with the conspiracy theories. Just because you're jealous of his talent-"

"Talent?" Jorden scoffed. "The man paints circles on canvas and calls it 'The Void'. He's laundering money through that gallery in Chelsea. Why do you think he insists on cash transactions for the 'private' sales?"

Catarina froze. "How... how would you know anything about his gallery finances?"

"I had a lot of time to think in the ambulance," Jorden said, his voice deceptively casual. "And even more time to browse public records just now."

He tapped his phone screen.

"I accessed the state business registry. Did you know Atticus's gallery shares a registered agent address with three shell companies formed last month? And if you cross-reference his 'sold out' show dates with the timestamped photos on his own Instagram, the gallery was empty during the supposed buying frenzy. It's sloppy, Cat. Basic forensic accounting would tear him apart."

Catarina stared at him. He wasn't guessing. He was citing data. The old Jorden barely knew how to balance a checkbook.

"Check the books, Cat," Jorden said, closing his eyes again. "Look for recurring payments to 'Smith Holdings.' I bet you'll find his secretary, Deborah, is the signatory."

"Deborah?" Catarina whispered. "How do you know about Deborah?"

"She's tagged in his photos," Jorden lied smoothly. In reality, he had traced the digital footprint of the shell company to a personal email address listed on a forgotten LinkedIn profile.

"You're delusional," Catarina said, standing up, though her voice lacked conviction. "The concussion has made you paranoid."

"Then verify it," Jorden said. "Ask to see the ledger."

Catarina stared at him. Specifics. He gave specifics.

"I'm going home," Catarina said. Her voice shook. "I can't listen to this poison."

"Good," Jorden said. "Take the door with you. It's drafty."

Catarina grabbed her bag and stormed out.

She marched down the hallway, her heels clicking like gunshots.

She got into the elevator. She was shaking.

Smith Holdings.

Why did that name sound familiar?

She pulled out her phone. She logged into her company's vendor portal. She searched for "Smith Holdings."

Nothing.

She switched to the public business registry.

Smith Holdings LLC. Registered Agent: Deborah Maldonado.

Deborah. Atticus's secretary. The one with the fake nails and the chewing gum.

Catarina's breath hitched.

Why was Atticus's secretary buying his paintings for fifty thousand dollars a pop?

She leaned against the elevator wall. The metal was cool against her burning skin.

Jorden was right.

How was he right?

And more importantly... why didn't she care that he was right?

She realized, with a sinking feeling, that she wasn't angry at Atticus for stealing. She was angry at Jorden for ruining the fantasy.

She wanted the lie. She wanted the romance. She wanted the white knight.

And Jorden, damn him, was forcing her to look at the rust on the armor.