Filed To Story: The Broken-Hearted She and The Icy He Book PDF Free
The nurse, clearly intimidated by James’ presence, didn’t need to be told twice. She practically fled the room.
James regretted his offer the moment it left his lips.
But he had already said it. Backing out now would only make things more awkward. Expression cold, he sat at the edge of the bed and prepared to treat her wound himself.
Lily sat there nervously, hands clasped.
She knew he wasn’t doing this because he cared about her. It wasn’t concern or affection.
He simply couldn’t stand the nurse fumbling around, spilling disinfectant three times in a minute. His sense of order and perfectionism had clearly kicked in:
Still… she couldn’t help but worry. What if he was even worse at this than the nurse?
She couldn’t very well voice the thought out loud-it would hurt his pride. So instead, she closed her eyes halfway and stretched out her leg like a soldier accepting her fate.
When James lowered his gaze, the bloody wound on her calf came into view.
The rest of her skin was far too fair, smooth, and delicate. Against that pristine canvas, the raw, torn flesh, on her calf looked even more jarring.
It made his eyes sting. His chest, too.
Without betraying any emotion, he lowered his lashes and focused intently on treating the wound.
Lily was bracing herself, half expecting him to mess it up and make things worse. But to her surprise, his touch was steady and skilled. By the time he sprinkled the hemostatic powder, she barely felt any pain.
Concerned she might aggravate the wound again, he decided to wrap it up.
The light in the room was soft.
It bathed him in a warm glow, softening the edges of his cool, angular features. In that moment, he looked even more breathtaking than usual.
As she stared at the perfection of his profile, her heart began to race uncontrollably.
She realized she might truly be falling for him.
She knew some questions shouldn’t be asked-but her thoughts were scattered, her heart pounding. She couldn’t hold back. “James, if someone you don’t like tried to get close to you… even wanted to be with you… would you feel disgusted?”
If he said no, maybe she could finally tell him the truth-that she was Leila.
James didn’t answer right away.
His thoughts drifted to what had happened earlier that day.
A young woman on an electric scooter had gone the wrong way and deliberately scraped a huge chunk of paint off his car. When confronted, she claimed she couldn’t pay for the damage but offered herself as compensation. He had refused her, of course.
The repair cost meant nothing to him.
But he had no intention of letting her off the hook.
That kind of behavior-dangerous, reckless-could easily cost lives one day. He had told Ashton to call police.
When the woman realized what was happening, she panicked. She ranted about how this kind of thing was normal in web dramas-the female lead damages the male lead’s car, offers her body in return, and the two fall in love and have a happy family.
James had spent over four years in a coma. He didn’t know much about current trends or those kinds of shows.
But even so, he found the whole situation absurd.
It wasn’t that he looked down on women.
On the contrary, he believed women-seemingly delicate as they might appear-held up half the sky. He respected those who were independent and hardworking.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t find someone like her revolting.
If any woman could crash into a man’s car and then claim it was romantic to throw herself at him… what kind of world would that be?
In his opinion, she’d had her brain rotted by short dramas.
When she made another move toward him, he immediately had Ashton pull her aside and proceed with the police report.
Snapping back to the present, he answered plainly, “Yes. I’d be disgusted. Even nauseated.”
Lily’s fleeting sense of hope-of excitement-shattered in an instant.
Her past with John had already been a disaster. She had given everything, throwing herself into it like a moth to flame.
After such a painful loss, even though she tried to stay optimistic, her heart still trembled at the idea of love. She couldn’t help but be timid, hesitant.
She was terrified that pouring her heart into someone again would only end in more heartbreak.
Worse yet, what if her love became a burden to James?
If even the idea of her wanting to get close made him feel sick…
The only thing she could do now was let him see her scarred, ugly face on Sunday. Let him pull away for good.
Then he could get on with his life.
The Luke family elders would no longer worry about him being interested in another man.
He’d meet someone new. Get married. Have children.
And she would hold up her end of the deal. She’d help him secure that divorce. They’d go their separate ways.
“Lily, once we’re divorced, you don’t have to delete my number right away.”
Her thoughts were still being drowned by bitterness when his cold, emotionless voice cut in. “If you and your old classmate-or someone else-end up getting married, let me know. I’ll have Ashton send over the money.”
He really wanted her to get married.
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It was clear he feared something might go wrong during the cooling-off period. He was desperate to draw the line as soon as possible.
She had already promised multiple times that she’d go with him to get the divorce once the waiting period was over.
But after tonight-after seeing how Henry and the others disapproved-he must be getting nervous. She decided to reassure him one more time.
“I’ll let you know.”
She paused, then added softly, “Don’t worry. Even if Grandpa doesn’t agree to the divorce, I’ll still go with you to sign the papers, James, you and your family have been really good to me. You’ve helped me so much… you’ve given me so much warmth. I want you to be free. I want you to be happy. I’ll talk to Grandpa. I’ll try my best to get him to agree to the divorce.”
“Once we’re divorced, let’s both be happy!”
James’ eyes darkened.
He felt like he was losing his mind.
He had always wanted to finalize the divorce with Lily as soon as possible-so he could spend the rest of his life with Leila, and she could find her own happiness with someone who cherished her.
And yet, for reasons he couldn’t understand, hearing her bring up signing the divorce papers again made his chest feel tight.
But no matter what, the divorce had to happen.
Only after ending things with Lily could he be with Leila without guilt or shame.
Their love might never be accepted by the world, but he would still find a way to marry her. He would give her a wedding that shook the earth.
“Mm.”
He responded coolly. Without another word, he finished wrapping Lily’s wound and returned to the accompanying bed.
As he straightened the blankets, he happened to notice a pearl on the floor near the edge.
Only then did he realize-the bracelet on his left wrist had been broken during all that chaos.
The bracelet could be restrung.
But the rules he had broken-those could never be erased.
He closed his eyes for a moment, the memory of his reckless passion and lack of control burning behind his lids. Then, pretending not to care, he crouched down and quietly began picking up each pearl one by one.
The hospital room wasn’t large. Lily had naturally seen him gathering the bracelet.
She assumed she had accidentally torn it off during everything that had happened. The shame and guilt that already weighed on her deepened further.
Her heart was pounding with anxiety. She couldn’t bear to look at him any longer, so she quickly turned her back and pulled the blanket over her face, trying to disappear.
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