Chapter 3

Staring at those words on his screen, the antiseptic smell of the hospital room suddenly turned nauseatingly sharp.

My dad, completely unaware, kept trying to make polite conversation.

"Lucian, Avery told me you've been doing back-to-back surgeries lately?"

Lucian didn't even lift his eyes from his phone. "Yeah."

"Being a surgeon must be exhausting," my dad continued, his posture slightly tense and timid.

"Back when I did heavy carpentry, I pulled all-nighters too, but that was just rough labor. Nothing compared to people like you who save human lives."

Lucian offered an absentminded hum.

His phone buzzed again.

Chloe texted:

【Mom is feeling so much better today. She said she wants to thank you in person. She even said... she wishes you were her son-in-law.】

The corner of Lucian’s mouth tilted up into a faint, involuntary smile.

Watching him, a wave of profound disgust washed over me.

My dad saw none of it, still trying desperately to smooth things over on my behalf.

"Avery can have a bit of a temper sometimes. Please don't hold it against her."

"Her mother passed away when she was little, and I was always away working jobs. There were so many things nobody ever taught her."

"Deep down, she has the softest heart. Please be patient with her, Lucian."

Lucian locked his screen, placed the phone face down in his palm, and finally looked up at me.

"Don't worry, Mr. Hayes."

"I know she's under a lot of stress lately."

He paused, then added pointedly, "She just tends to get stubbornly fixated on the wrong things."

My dad’s smile faltered. He looked at me with immediate anxiety, terrified that I might explode right then and there.

I said nothing.

Lucian stood up, smoothing his coat. "Alright, I have rounds back at my department. I should get going."

I glanced at the clock on the wall.

He had been in the room for barely three minutes.

My dad scrambled in panic. "So soon?"

"A lot of administrative work waiting," Lucian replied smoothly.

My dad suddenly remembered something and reached urgently under the nightstand for a canvas tote bag.

"Wait, Lucian, take this—"

Inside were vacuum-sealed cured meats my dad had personally prepared back home.

Before boarding the train to New York, he had painstakingly wrapped each one by hand.

But by the time my dad lifted his head, Lucian had already walked out into the corridor.

Holding the heavy tote bag against his chest, my dad sat awkwardly on the edge of the bed. He looked up at me, his voice small and hesitant. "Avery... did your old man say something wrong?"

A bitter sorrow flooded my throat. I forced a gentle smile to comfort him. "No, Dad. You didn't do anything wrong."

Yet I caught the sheen of wetness gathering in the corners of his eyes.

I'm done.

I don't want this boyfriend anymore.

Later that afternoon, I sent Lucian a single message:

【We need to meet. I have something to say to you.】

Lucian didn't reply.

An hour later, my phone rang. It was the vice principal from my younger brother’s high school.

"Is this Avery Hayes? Your brother, Leo Hayes, got into a physical fight on campus today. Can you come down to the administration office immediately?"

My head buzzed with a sharp ringing sound.

Leo was a senior in high school, an exceptional student who had earned a transfer spot to an elite preparatory academy in New York through a regional academic assistance program.

He was quiet, introverted, and rarely spoke up.

In all his seventeen years, he had never even raised his voice in an argument.

I couldn't fathom how he could possibly end up in a brawl.

When I rushed into the high school office, the first person I saw was Lucian.

He was standing right next to Chloe, leaning down to comfort her in a low, soothing tone.

Chloe’s eyes were rimmed with tears, and sitting beside her was a teenage boy in the school uniform.

It was Chloe’s younger brother, Julian Brooks.

Julian had a faint split on his lip and a light scrape on his forearm, slouching in his chair with an expression of immense, dramatic grievance.

Meanwhile, my brother Leo stood tucked away in the far corner of the office.

The collar of his uniform was ripped, and a deep purple bruise was already blossoming near his temple.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his fists were clenched so hard his knuckles were white.

The vice principal sighed heavily upon seeing me. "You're Leo's sister? The two boys broke out into a fight in the main hallway. It caused a massive disruption."

Before I could even open my mouth, Lucian turned his head toward me.

His brow was furrowed in sheer disapproval.

"Avery, what is going on with your brother?"

"He attacked Julian out of nowhere and bruised him up. Chloe has been frantic with worry."