Julian's voice exploded across the lobby.

"Sir, this is a hospital—" a passing nurse began to intervene.

Before she could finish, Julian's hand came down hard across my face.

The nurse froze, clearly startled, standing there unsure what to do.

More and more people gathered. She hesitated for a moment, then turned to call security.

A burning pain spread across my cheek. My ears rang, as if something had exploded inside my head.

The noise around us suddenly fell silent the moment the slap landed.

Dozens of eyes turned toward us at once.

I slowly raised my hand, my fingertips trembling as they brushed my cheek. I sucked in a sharp breath.

It hurt.

In four years of marriage, this was the first time Julian had touched me with such force.

And it was to hit me.

The thought almost made me laugh.

I looked up at Julian. He was staring down at me, his face dark, his eyes filled with disgust.

As if the person before him wasn't his wife of four years, but something filthy he couldn't stand to look at.

"Evelyn." He lowered his voice. "Are you done making a scene?"

I didn't respond.

The pain in my cheek kept pulsing.

Whispers had already started spreading through the lobby.

Being watched like this made my entire body go cold.

Vanessa seemed startled by the slap, letting out a soft gasp.

But she quickly recovered and reached out to hold Julian's arm.

"Julian, don't," she said softly. "Everyone's watching."

She frowned slightly as she spoke, as if she were pleading on my behalf.

But the look she gave me couldn't hide her satisfaction.

Julian patted her hand lightly, still looking at me with cold indifference.

"Vanessa is here today for a corpus luteum rupture check." He spoke each word deliberately, anger clear in his tone. "Do you really have to slander her in front of everyone like this?"

Corpus luteum rupture.

Hearing those words, the video from last night flashed through my mind.

The woman straddling him, her voice soft.

His hand gripping her waist, head tilted back, eyes closed, his expression lost in pleasure.

The thought made me let out a quiet laugh.

Julian frowned at me. "What are you laughing at?"

I lifted my head and looked at Vanessa.

The pain in my cheek was still there, but suddenly, it didn't feel as important.

"So that's how it is. So my husband showed off his strength…" I paused. "And that's what caused Miss Whitmore's corpus luteum rupture?"

Vanessa's expression changed instantly.

"Evelyn!" Julian's face darkened. "You still dare to talk nonsense?"

As he spoke, his hand lifted again.

The last trace of hurt inside me twisted into a surge of anger I could no longer suppress.

"What?" My voice came out sharp and cutting. "Going to hit me again?"

Julian clearly hadn't expected me to question him back. He froze for a moment.

His raised hand hung suspended in midair.

I stared at him, the pain in my face only making me more clear-headed.

"You have the nerve to cheat," I let out a cold laugh, "but not the guts to admit it?"

"Evelyn!" Julian slowly lowered his hand, his teeth clenched. "Don't start spreading lies here!"

He lowered his voice. "This is defamation!"

I held his gaze and spoke slowly. "Defamation? But I have evidence."

Julian's expression changed instantly.

He glanced around instinctively.

More and more people gathered, murmurs beginning to ripple through the crowd.

Julian moved behind me and reached out to push my wheelchair, clearly trying to take me away. "Evelyn, don't make a scene here. Whatever it is, we'll talk about it at home."

Home.

I let out a mocking laugh when I heard those words.

Back to that empty house, so I could keep playing the fool who knew nothing?

I twisted around with effort, prying at his hand.

His fingers were hooked over the armrest. I yanked hard.

Julian clearly hadn't expected me to resist. His hand was knocked away.

The wheelchair jerked backward.

He lost his footing and stumbled back two steps.

"No need to go home." I looked at the man in front of me, my voice so calm it felt unfamiliar even to myself. "If you don't want me to present the evidence right here, then you only need to meet one condition."

Julian frowned. "What condition?"

I stared at him and spoke word by word. "I want ten percent of the shares in your company."

With his beloved standing right here provoking me, divorce was only a matter of time. Asking for shares now was just an early division of assets.

Vanessa was the first to react. "What? No way! Evelyn, have you lost your mind?"

Perhaps out of sheer agitation, her face twisted, completely unlike her usual gentle demeanor.

Everyone around immediately turned to look.

Even Julian turned to her in surprise.

Vanessa clearly realized she had overreacted. She quickly composed herself, lowered her voice, and grabbed Julian's arm. "Julian, you can't agree to this."

Her tone softened again. "This is a critical time… If you really give her shares, your position in the Crawford family will become even more unstable. We can give her money, but shares… that's too much."

Julian fell silent for a moment.

His expression gradually turned cold, and the look he gave me grew increasingly mocking.

"Evelyn." You don't have any evidence. In the end, you're just trying to get money out of me." He let out a cold laugh and continued, "I didn't expect you to be this kind of gold-digging woman. It's disgusting."

I didn't respond. I took my phone out of my bag.

Julian frowned. "What are you doing?"

I lowered my head, unlocked the screen, and opened the video.

But instead of handing it to him, I raised the phone high toward the crowd.

"Is that so?" I smiled faintly at them, then looked at the onlookers. "Then I suppose I'll just show the evidence to everyone."

The moment I finished speaking, Vanessa's expression changed abruptly. She lunged at me like she'd lost control.

"Evelyn, you can't!"

There was clear panic in her voice as she reached out to snatch the phone from my hand.

I hadn't expected her to get physical. I couldn't dodge in time.

Her hand slammed into the armrest of my wheelchair, jolting my whole body.

The phone slipped from my grip.

In that split second as it fell, I quickly hit play.

The phone hit the floor hard. The video was already playing.

A soft, breathy voice spilled out from the phone.

"Julian… slower…"

The sound was jarringly loud in the hospital lobby.

Even those who had been watching from a distance leaned in, looking down.

The image on the screen was unmistakably clear.

In the video, Vanessa was straddling Julian, her body pressed against his.

His head tilted back, his hand gripping her waist, his expression lost in the moment.

The intimacy left no room for misunderstanding.

The crowd fell silent for a beat.

The next second, gasps erupted.

"Isn't that the same couple from earlier?"

"Holy hell, this guy really cheated!"

The crowd exploded into chatter.

"Didn't he just say she was making it up?"

"The video's right there!"

More people gathered, some already raising their phones to record.

Someone couldn't help but shout, "Wasn't he so tough when he slapped his wife just now?"

Someone suddenly frowned, staring at Julian.

"Wait… why does he look familiar?"

The person beside him immediately chimed in, "Damn, isn't that Julian Crawford from the Crawford Group?"

The chatter grew even louder.

Disdainful looks fell squarely on Julian and Vanessa.

I sat in my wheelchair, watching it all unfold.

The pain in my face hadn't faded.

But the pressure that had been building in my chest for so long finally began to ease.

Julian stood there, completely frozen.

He clearly hadn't expected things to spiral like this.

The woman who had stood beside him moments ago, graceful and composed, was now the target of everyone's whispers.

And he had been dragged into the same mess.

He turned to look at Vanessa.

Along with shock, there was a trace of resentment at being pulled down with her.

But Vanessa didn't look at him.

She stumbled toward the phone on the floor, picked it up in a panic, and fumbled to lock the screen.

The indecent audio cut off abruptly.

Her usually polished face had lost all color.

But everything that mattered had already been seen.

The air filled with overlapping voices.

Julian stood there, his expression dark as a storm.

He clearly realized there was no containing this anymore.

The next second, he turned sharply and walked straight toward the exit, not even glancing back at Vanessa.

He didn't look back once.

For a moment, I didn't react.

He just… left?

Leaving Vanessa behind.

Someone let out a cold laugh.

"He sure ran fast."

"So he just ditched his mistress the moment things blew up?"

Surrounded by whispers, Vanessa didn't chase after him.

She stood there, watching Julian's retreating figure, her composure cracking for a split second.

But the panic quickly vanished.

In its place came a strange calm.

Then she turned and smiled at me.

My chest tightened.

She walked over in her heels and stopped in front of my wheelchair.

She leaned down, close to my ear, and handed me the cracked phone. "Thank you."

I didn't understand for a moment. "What?"

Vanessa smiled, none of her earlier panic remaining—only a hint of satisfaction.

"Thank you," she repeated. "For giving me a chance to claim my place. If it weren't for this scene you made, who knows how much longer I would've had to wait."

My heart sank.

I suddenly realized—she had never been afraid of the video being exposed.

If anything… she had been ready to use it all along.

"Evelyn," she said with a soft laugh.

"You've held onto the position of Mrs. Crawford long enough," she paused, "It's time to give it back to me."

I frowned, about to respond.

A hand suddenly reached out.

It placed itself between me and Vanessa.

I froze and followed the hand with my eyes.

The man wore a white coat, his expression cold, his voice low and unquestionable.

"Security," he said, "this person is harassing my patient. Remove her."

The two guards the nurse had called quickly approached.

Vanessa let out a cold laugh and lifted her head, about to lash out.

But the moment she saw his face, she froze.

All color drained from her face.

"Mr… Mr. Sterling?"

Vanessa's voice nearly cracked.

I froze for a moment, then looked up.

I didn't know when Damian had gotten so close. One hand rested behind my wheelchair, his body leaning forward, almost enclosing me within his arms.

From where I sat, all I could see was the sharp line of his throat and the tension along his jaw.

So his last name was Sterling.

"She's my VIP patient." His voice carried a pressure that was impossible to ignore. "Miss Whitmore, please show some basic courtesy."

Vanessa froze.

Her gaze flicked back and forth between me and him.

After a moment, she let out a soft laugh. "I see."

She spoke slowly. "Evelyn, you move fast."

I frowned.

Before I could understand what she meant, she continued.

"So you're cheating too."

My whole body went stiff.

Vanessa looked as if she had found leverage, the smile on her lips growing sharper.

"Who's any better than who?"

She tilted her head, her eyes tinged with mockery.

"Tell me—if Julian finds out you're cheating, do you think he'll divorce you right away?"

My chest tightened.

I was about to speak, but she had already straightened up.

Her heels clicked sharply against the floor.

"But that works too. After all, the position of Mrs. Crawford was always meant to be mine."

With that, she turned and walked away.

The guards had already approached, but seeing her leave on her own, they didn't stop her.

The onlookers in the lobby were gradually dispersed.

The tension in my body finally loosened.

Only then did I realize how close I was to him—almost pressed against his body.

He was standing very close.

Close enough that I could smell the faint scent of antiseptic on him, mixed with a clean, subtle woody note.

The scent made me suddenly uneasy.

Instinctively, I tried to lean back.

But at that moment, a familiar wet sensation spread beneath me.

My legs weakened, and heat rushed to my face.

I bit my lip, trying to steady my breathing.

Damian quickly noticed something was wrong and glanced down at me.

His gaze lingered on my face for two seconds.

His brows slowly drew together.

"Miss Ashford." His voice dropped low. "Is it acting up again?"

I closed my eyes.

I couldn't speak, only giving a faint nod.

The hollow sensation inside me made it almost impossible to sit upright. There was only one thought in my mind.

I wanted the man in front of me.

He fell silent for a second.

The next moment, he had already moved behind me, pushing the wheelchair. "I'll take you to the treatment room."

I tried to refuse, but a low moan slipped out before I could stop it, startling me into clamping my mouth shut.

I leaned back against the chair, letting him push me, my mind completely blank.

I didn't know how long had passed before the wheelchair stopped outside an office.

He pushed the door open. The room inside was empty.

He wheeled me inside and closed the door behind him.

The room fell silent.

I forced my eyes open.

He was already standing in front of me, leaning down to examine me.

"This needs to be handled." He said it calmly, as if stating a simple medical fact.

I instinctively grabbed his wrist.

"Dr. Sterling…"

His hand paused.

My voice trembled. "I have a husband."

His gaze darkened, his expression hard to read.

After a moment, he let out a quiet chuckle.

"Miss Ashford." His tone was calm, controlled. "I'm a doctor. Relieving a patient's symptoms is my responsibility."