"She ate the meal I made! That was my first time ever cooking, and I specifically asked you how to make it!"

Wendy Winters was beside herself with grievance, pounding her chest as she yelled.

"How could you let her eat it? How could you trample all over my heartfelt gesture like that!"

Vincent Reed, on the other hand, was extremely agitated and paced around the hospital room.

"I admit it. I still love her. I regret marrying you."

"Vincent Reed! You bastard!"

"Me, a bastard? What about you? You were fooling around with Stanley Lynch behind my back. You’re an even bigger bastard than I am!"

"I don’t care! You can’t treat me like this! You have to love only me and be good only to me! You swore an oath! When you made that vow, you were still with her. You said you could have many women, but none of them mattered to you. Only I—only I was the one you truly loved!" Wendy Winters was sobbing uncontrollably.

"I just... I just didn’t understand my own heart back then. I don’t even know when it started, but I fell in love with her. By the time I came to my senses, I had already married you. I... I’ve been in agony these past few days. Of course, this is my karma, but I haven’t wronged you. In fact, you’re the one who has wronged me."

"No, you do still love me."

"It’s Yvonne I love."

Yvonne felt like she was watching a farce. If she wasn’t a character in it herself, she probably would have laughed out loud.

The two of them were acting like they’d lost their minds, baring their souls and trading accusations right there in her hospital room.

Just as her patience wore thin, Wendy Winters suddenly turned to her.

"Yvonne, I’m begging you, please! You’re already married, and to Wyatt Shaw of all people! It’s Wyatt Shaw! Just let Vincent go. He’s all I have!"

Yvonne’s brows knitted together. "Don’t drag me into your mess. He and I have nothing to do with each other anymore. Not now, not ever."

"Did you hear that?" Wendy turned back to Vincent Reed. "She doesn’t love you anymore!"

Vincent Reed looked at Yvonne, his expression full of deep emotion. "She does love me. I know it."

"Tell him! Tell him you don’t love him!" Wendy cried, looking at Yvonne again in desperation.

Yvonne had finally had enough. "Both of you, get the hell out!"

But Wendy was relentless. "Say it! Tell him yourself!"

"I have no obligation to!"

"Fine! You really do still love him! You’re deliberately stringing him along so he’ll divorce me! Yvonne Sutton, you’re tormenting me! I’ll kill you!"

Wendy Winters suddenly lunged at Yvonne. Stunned for a second, Yvonne scrambled backward. Just then, Vincent Reed jumped between them, shielding Yvonne and giving Wendy a hard shove.

Wendy stumbled backward, her foot slipped on the spilled soup on the floor, and she fell hard.

"Agh, it hurts!"

Wendy let out a pained shriek. Yvonne tilted her head and saw that Wendy was bleeding... down there.

"Vincent, you hurt me... for *her*!" Wendy’s face was a mask of disbelief. Seeing Vincent remain cold, she shot a hateful glare at Yvonne. "Yvonne Sutton, I won’t let you get away with this! I’ll make you pay!"

Since they were in a hospital, Wendy was quickly carried away.

"Yvonne, don’t be scared..."

Vincent didn’t go with her. Instead, he stayed behind, trying to comfort Yvonne.

"Get out!" Yvonne snarled.

"Yvonne, you must see my resolve now. You believe I love you, don’t you?"

Yvonne was incandescent with rage. She bent down, snatched a plate from the floor, and hurled it at Vincent. He scrambled to dodge. Seeing she was grabbing for another "weapon," he had no choice but to back out of the room.

"Yvonne, just think about how good I was to you! We can start over!"

Yvonne grabbed a bowl and threw it at him.

He fled, and the bowl slammed against the doorframe with a loud BANG.

Then, the room fell silent. All Yvonne could hear was the sound of her own ragged breathing.

Wyatt Shaw got word of what happened and arrived shortly after.

Yvonne threw herself into his arms, feeling so aggrieved she wanted to cry.

"I want to go home."

Wyatt dipped his head and kissed her forehead. "I’ll have them moved to another hospital. I won’t let them bother you again."

"I just want to go home."

"Yvonne..."

"Honey, let’s go home, please," she said, looking up at him pitifully.

Wyatt looked at her, a mix of helplessness and adoration on his face.

"Alright, I’ll go talk to the doctor."

While Wyatt went to find the doctor, Yvonne composed herself and went downstairs to see Claire Lawrence. When she got to the room, she found Claire packing.

"Claire, are you being discharged?" she asked.

Claire froze for a second before turning around with a slightly exaggerated smile. "I’m fine, there’s no reason to stay. Besides, the smell of disinfectant in here is killing me."

"Are you sure you’re okay?" Yvonne asked, concerned.

"Of course I am! I have to go audition for a new role."

"You should still rest for a while."

"I love acting, and besides, I need to earn money to pay you back." She raised a fist, cheering herself on. "Claire Lawrence will not be defeated! I’m going to climb back to the top!"

Yvonne stepped forward and hugged Claire. "I’ll always have your back. Whenever you’re tired, just turn around and lean on me."

Claire hugged Yvonne back tightly. "You’re my best friend, for life. So I’m going to rely on you for life!"

Seeing Claire full of her old energy, Yvonne breathed a small sigh of relief.

"By the way, where’s Joshua?"

"He went to take care of the discharge paperwork." Claire pouted. "He’s acting like such a mother hen lately, nagging me all day. He’s even insisting I stay at his little pub. He said if I didn’t agree, he wouldn’t let me leave the hospital."

"So you agreed?"

Claire nodded. "Does that put your mind at ease?"

Yvonne let out a breath. "It does."

When she got back upstairs, Wyatt had already handled everything. The hospital would arrange for a doctor to visit the villa daily to check on her wound and change the dressing.

"Then let’s go home!" Yvonne said, delighted.

Wyatt dipped his head and gave her a kiss. "Alright. Home we go."

Yvonne put on her down jacket and a hat. Wyatt then wrapped a scarf around her neck, bundling her up like a rice dumpling before they got on the elevator.

"I just hurt my forehead, it’s not like I’m in postpartum confinement," Yvonne grumbled.

Wyatt wrapped his arm around her. "When you *are* in postpartum confinement, I’ll add another blanket."

Yvonne blushed and gave him a light kick. "I’m... I’m not pregnant."

"You never know. After all, I’ve been trying very hard."

"Shut up!"

There were two young nurses in the elevator with them. They must have overheard the conversation, because they both ducked their heads, trying to hide their smiles.

"By the way, you know Wendy Winters, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I know her."

"She had a miscarriage. She was just wheeled out of the operating room."

"What? How did she have a miscarriage?"

"They say she argued with her husband, he pushed her, she fell hard, and then she miscarried."

"Wow. But I heard the baby wasn’t even her husband’s."

The elevator doors opened, and the two young nurses got off.

Yvonne’s brow furrowed. ’So Wendy had a miscarriage after all. I hadn’t done anything to provoke them, yet I’d somehow been dragged into their mess.’

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" Wyatt asked.

Yvonne’s spirits lifted. "Your three-delicacy dumplings, of course!"

Wyatt smiled. "Alright."

Back home, Wyatt got to work in the kitchen mixing the filling, kneading the dough, and wrapping dumplings. Yvonne relaxed in the sunroom, dozing on and off in a hazy slumber.

When it was time to eat, Wyatt brought her a bowl of dumpling soup. Just as she reached for it, he pulled it back.

"Wait, why did I put cilantro in this? You don’t eat cilantro."

Yvonne paused. "But I do eat cilantro."

’Not only do I eat it, I love it. Why would he think I don’t?’