Chapter 268

“Grandpa, you have to wake up,” Lucie whispered, her palm pressed against the cold glass of the hospital room. “You’re all I have left. Please don’t leave me p>

Her phone buzzed, shattering the quiet. “Hello, Ruby p>

Ruby’s voice was serious. “Ms. Anderson, I just sent over the draft for the divorce announcement. Can you check if there’s anything you want to change p>

“If you’re good with it, I’ll have legal put it out p>

Lucie opened the message.

Statement:

Lucie Anderson and Steven Heath finalized their divorce at the end of October. The split was amicable, and they remain friends. We kindly ask everyone to avoid speculation and spreading rumors. Thank you for your concern.

Short and clear. Nothing needed changing.

“It’s fine. Go ahead and release it p>

“Should I run it by Mr. Heath one more time? Or send him a copy?” Ruby asked.

Lucie’s brow furrowed. “Just post it p>

“Understood, Ms. Anderson p>

She ended the call. When they first split, Steven had wanted to wait until after the holidays to make it public. But she couldn’t keep dragging it out. If she did, people would really start believing she was the one who cheated.

“Madison, Rose, please keep an eye on Grandpa,” Lucie told the two nurses. “I need to run to the studio and catch up on some work before the upcoming event. If anything changes, call me right away p>

“Of course, miss p>

After a few more instructions, Lucie left the hospital. Lately, everything had been chaos. She’d lost so much time, her restoration projects were behind, and the big convention was just around the corner. It was already December seventh and her to-do list was endless.

The elevator doors slid open to the parking garage. Lucie headed for her car-only to spot Steven and Bria coming her way at the exact same moment.

They all stopped, startled to run into each other.

Steven’s chest tightened with a mix of anger and bitterness. He still couldn’t get last night out of his head. After he fell down the stairs, Lucie just walked away with her new boyfriend, barely even glancing at him. He’d been sprawled at

bottom of the stairs, knocked out for ten minutes, and when he finally woke up, a three-hundred-pound nurse was giving him

mouth-to-mouth. Just thinking about it made him gag.

He couldn’t let it go.

“Bria, get in the car,” Steven said, opening the door for her.

Bria slipped inside, giving him an understanding look. “Steven, do you want to say goodbye to Ms. Anderson p>

Steven looked away, jaw clenched.

Bria gave him a sweet smile. “I’ll head to the airport with my assistant. You can take the car behind us p>

“Fine. I just need to talk to her about the divorce announcement p>

Bria nodded, still smiling. She rolled up the window and waved for the driver to go.

As soon as the car pulled away, Bria’s expression turned cold, her eyes dark with anger.

“So you’re really this caught up in her, Steven. If I don’t step in, you’re only going to fall deeper. Lucie, Steven is mine. And that means you can’t stick around p>

With Bria gone, Steven dropped all pretense. He stormed over to Lucie’s car, his face tight with frustration.

Lucie had just climbed in when he

slammed his hand down on the

hood, staring at her through the

windshield Steven was usually good

at keeping his cool, but lately he was

always on edge-like he could

explode at any second.

“Steven, what are you doing?” Lucie asked, not bothering to hide her annoyance.

“Get out of the car. We need to talk p>

“I have nothing to say to you. Move p>

Steven’s patience snapped. He

forced Crooked, bitter smile. “What did you and Elio do last night? You really had the nerve to kiss him right in front of me. Tell me, have you already slept with him p>

The words were sharp and ugly, jealousy pouring out of him without any filter. Even

Steven was shocked at how petty he sounded.

Lucie glared at him, her hand tight on the door handle. “You’re out of your mind. This

has nothing to do with you. Move, or I’ll drive p>

She’d brought plenty of bodyguards, but they were all waiting at the hospital

entrance to avoid causing a scene. Right now, she was on her own.