Chapter 401 [ 486 words ] Chapter 401: Caroline lay there, her heart pounding a frantic, confused rhythm against her ribs. What had she done? What had she said? It was a reasonable request. Wasn’t it? She propped herself up on an elbow, her mind racing. She reached out a

Chapter 400 [ 516 words ] Chapter 400: Startled by the sudden movement, she looked up. Her words died in her throat. His eyes were no longer playful or wounded. They were burning with a dark, consuming fire. “Wait, I haven’t sprayed the…” she started, still clutching the can of

Chapter 399 [ 553 words ] Chapter 399: She walked into the tiny, adjoining bathroom to get an ice pack from the small freezer. The logic was simple: provide practical help, end the interaction, get him out. But the moment she stepped inside, he was right behind her, a large

Chapter 398 [ 498 words ] Chapter 398: The words were so simple, so raw. A hysterical sound that was half-sob, half-laugh escaped her lips, and tears she hadn’t realized were there began to stream down her face. “Get up,” she choked out, grabbing his good shoulder to help him.

Chapter 397 [ 524 words ] Chapter 397: He stared at the closed door, the physical barrier a perfect metaphor for the one she had just slammed down between their hearts. The throbbing, searing pain in his hand was nothing. It was a dull, distant echo compared to the sharp,

Chapter 396 [ 512 words ] Chapter 396: Caroline reached the dorm room door, fumbled with her key card, and swiped it. The lock beeped green. She slipped inside, immediately trying to pull the heavy door shut behind her. She was so tired. Bone-tired. She didn’t have the strength for

Chapter 395 [ 500 words ] Chapter 395: She held up a hand, stopping him. “The supplemental funds are from… my birth father. It’s complicated, and he’s… he’s the one currently funding the specific neuro-oncology protocol.” Just as he was about to press for the name, her phone buzzed in

Chapter 394 [ 507 words ] Chapter 394: It was too much. Caroline felt a pang of something uncomfortable. This level of retribution felt… wrong. It was a sledgehammer to kill a fly. Melanie deserved to be punished, but this was utter destruction. She gently tugged on the sleeve of

Chapter 393 [ 495 words ] Chapter 393: He glanced down at her and gave her a small, reassuring smile that didn’t reach his eyes. The look was clear: I’ve got this. The name, spoken aloud by a man in power, made it real. It was a shield. It was

Chapter 392 [ 512 words ] Chapter 392: He reached out and took her hand, the one not holding a saline wipe. His thumb stroked the back of her knuckles. “The mission is over,” he said, his voice a low, reassuring rumble. “I have leave before my next deployment. I’m

Chapter 391 [ 467 words ] Chapter 391: “No!” she snapped, her voice a choked, angry sob. She slapped his left hand away. “Don’t you dare hide it.” She looked up at him, her eyes blazing with a retroactive terror. “You flew across the world with this?” she demanded, her

Chapter 390 [ 517 words ] Chapter 390: Caroline released his arm, a faint blush rising on her cheeks as she saw the slight indentation her teeth had left on his skin. Her resolve, however, did not waver. She softened her approach, her voice dropping to a near whisper. “Please,

Chapter 389 [ 500 words ] Chapter 389: “Don’t lie to me,” she said, her voice quiet but firm. The pieces were clicking into place. K.C. Bell, in the car. He was injured a while back. Took some shrapnel. She hadn’t pressed for details then, too overwhelmed by everything else.

Chapter 388 [ 489 words ] Chapter 388: Jarrod leaned in and captured a tear with his lips, a kiss as soft and reverent as the first had been brutal. He looked down at her, a ghost of a smile touching his lips for the first time. “Besides,” he said,

Chapter 387 [ 506 words ] Chapter 387: His self-blame was a declaration of love more powerful than any poem. It wasn’t about her actions; it was about his inability to have prevented them. “I did it to protect you, too,” she confessed, her voice barely audible. “I didn’t want

Chapter 386 [ 490 words ] Chapter 386: “No,” he breathed, shaking his head in automatic denial. “That’s not possible. I saw… I heard…” “You saw what I wanted you to see,” she explained calmly, her voice taking on the dispassionate tone of a mission debriefing. “Melanie threatened to drag

Chapter 385 [ 546 words ] Chapter 385: As he and Brenna left the room, Julian paused at the door. He looked from the silent, imposing figure of Jarrod at the window to the pale, quiet woman on the bed. He felt like an outsider who had just stumbled into

Chapter 384 [ 445 words ] Chapter 384: “I can stitch it myself,” she murmured, her voice weak against his chest. “I’m a nurse…” “Be quiet,” he cut her off, his voice tight with a barely suppressed rage that was directed not at her, but at his own failure to

Chapter 383 [ 514 words ] Chapter 383: Melanie’s eyes rolled back in her head. Her body went limp, and she collapsed to the floor in a boneless heap, unconscious before she even hit the ground. Jarrod didn’t spare her a second glance. He was already on his knees beside

Chapter 382 [ 516 words ] Chapter 382: In the corner, on a small metal trolley, sat a used instrument tray a nurse had forgotten to return to sterile processing. Among the discarded gauze and plastic wrappers lay a disposable scalpel, its small plastic handle and gleaming steel blade catching