Chapter 378
[ 527 words ]
Chapter 378:
“I was scared,” Caroline choked out, her own tears starting to fall. “I didn’t want you to be terrified. I just… I couldn’t lose you.” Her voice cracked. “I know it was stupid. I just… I didn’t know what else to do.”
Donovan’s expression softened. The anger in his eyes faded, replaced by a deep, paternal sorrow. He saw the immense weight his daughter had been carrying alone.
But then his gaze sharpened again, a new, practical question cutting through the emotional haze. “The money, Caroline,” he said, his voice firm. “The private room. The surgery. The specialists. This costs a fortune. Where did it come from?”
He stared at Caroline, his eyes demanding the truth. “It wasn’t that doctor, was it? You said your husband paid for it, but he’s been overseas for months.”
Caroline’s blood ran cold. She had told her father Jarrod wired the funds to ease his mind, but she had never anticipated this level of scrutiny.
𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴.𝘤𝘰𝘮
Before she could answer, Jarrod stepped into the room. His face was a thundercloud, his eyes boring into her. He had heard every word, and the realization that she had been juggling lies about his financial involvement while he was gone clearly infuriated him.
“Caroline,” he said, his voice dangerously quiet. “Is that what you told him? That I was the one who paid for this?”
She was trapped. Caught between her father’s pained suspicion and her husband’s cold, demanding fury. There was nowhere to run.
The silence in the room was thick, suffocating. Caroline felt the weight of two pairs of eyes on her, one filled with hurt, the other with a gathering storm of anger. She couldn’t look at Jarrod. She focused on her father, Donovan.
“Dad, please,” she said, her voice pleading. “Don’t worry about the money. It’s handled.”
Her evasion was a mistake. It only fueled the fire in Jarrod’s eyes. He saw it as a confirmation that she was hiding something from him, excluding him.
Donovan wasn’t letting it go. He reached out, his hand surprisingly strong as it gripped Caroline’s wrist. “Was it him, Caroline? Just tell me the truth.”
Caroline’s shoulders slumped in defeat. She gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.
A look of deep, weary pain crossed Donovan’s face. The idea of being indebted to that man was clearly a source of shame for him.
“Who is he?” Jarrod’s voice was ice. A low, controlled question that held more menace than a shout.
“It’s complicated, Jarrod,” Caroline said, finally turning to face him. “We can talk about it later. Not here.”
She needed to change the subject, to deflect. She turned back to her father. “Who told you, Dad? Was it a nurse named Melanie Corbett?”
Donovan nodded, his eyes distant as he recounted the story. How Corbett had come in, all fake smiles and sympathy, and had “accidentally” dropped the report where he could see it. The casual cruelty of it made Caroline’s stomach clench.
A cold, hard rage began to burn through her grief and fear. This was Corbett’s fault. All of it.
“You need to rest, Dad,” Caroline said, her voice suddenly devoid of emotion. It was flat, cold, and dangerous. “I have to go take care of something.”
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