Chapter 152

Chapter 152
Even as he said it, she could hear the reluctance beneath his voice. He wasn’t truly satisfied with her decision, but he was choosing to respect it.

Olivia realized she was still holding onto his arm and gently let go. “Thank you,” she whispered.

He turned to leave, but paused when he remembered something.

“What time should I pick you up? We can go home together.”

She let out a quiet sigh and sat down in the chair in front of Dr. Wilson’s table, where she would review the patient files while waiting for him.

Without looking up, she replied, “I have my own car. Besides, the party might take longer than expected, and it would only be an inconvenience for you to drive all the way here.”

“Always refusing my offer…” he grumbled under his breath.

Olivia looked at him with knitted brows. “Did you say something?”

“No,” Clayton answered. “See you at home tonight,” he added.

He turned his back, opened the door, and stepped out.

The door closed behind him, and just like that, he was gone—just as quickly as he had arrived.

—

Twenty minutes after Clayton left, the office door swung open. Olivia tore her eyes away from the patient’s file and set it down on the desk before looking up, only to find herself staring directly at Dr. Wilson.

The moment their eyes met, she caught the storm brewing behind his eyes.

Dr. Wilson was usually the picture of calm, even under pressure. More than once, Olivia had found herself wishing she possessed even half of his incredible restraint.

But not now.

For the first time since she had known him, Dr. Wilson looked like a man capable of murder.

“I can’t believe he tried to kill my niece.” He stalked across the room, his jaw clenched so tightly it looked painful. “I trusted that man. I stood in front of the altar and placed her hand in his. I gave him my blessing. How could he do this to her?”

“I want to murder that fucking son of a bitch.”

Olivia had never heard him curse, even in the most difficult situations. And somehow, she couldn’t blame him now.

“Please calm down, Dr. Wilson.”

She rose from her seat, then gently guided him toward his swivel chair before his overwhelming rage gave him a heart attack.

Once he was seated, she handed him a glass of water, hoping it would help steady his nerves.

He obediently took the glass and drank deeply until it was half empty. Setting it carefully on the table, he let out a deep breath. When he finally spoke again, his voice was calmer than it had been moments ago, though the hurt beneath it remained unmistakable.

“They’ve been together for so long. Eight years, to be exact. And yet, he was able to replace her with a woman he had only known for a few months.”

Dr. Wilson drained the rest of the water in one final gulp before heaving a weary sigh.

“I treated him like a son. Helped him through his financial difficulties without ever expecting anything in return. And this…” His voice cracked a bit. “This is how he repays me.”

Olivia felt his pain as though it were her own.

Betrayal never came from strangers.

It came from the people you trusted most, the ones you welcomed into your life, the ones you gave pieces of your heart to without hesitation.

And that kind of pain was shattering, the kind that left wounds far deeper than words could ever describe.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Wilson.”

It was the only thing Olivia could offer, even though she knew the words were useless against a kind of hurt this deep.

He leaned back in his chair, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I shouldn’t be unloading all of this on you. You already have a lot on your plate.”

Olivia shook her head.

“You’ve always lent me an ear when I needed it most, sir. So I’m here for you too. I won’t ever grow tired of listening. I’m all ears whenever you need someone to talk to.”

His eyes flickered with emotion. “How I truly wish you were my daughter, Olivia.”

“I am your daughter,” Olivia told him with quiet conviction. “A daughter can choose to walk away from the father who raised her. A mother can leave behind the children she once carried. Blood alone doesn’t make a family.”

She swallowed the lump in her throat, then continued, “What we have is different. It’s something we chose. Maybe in another universe, I really was your daughter.”

He lifted a hand, brushing away the telltale wetness at the corner of his eyes. “You know, you really remind me of someone. He said the same exact thing to me after he saved my life.”

“He must be a good friend,” Olivia remarked, noticing the warmth that crept into his expression.

“He is.”

“Now I kind of want to meet him.”

“You’d like him,” Dr. Wilson said with complete confidence. “If he were here, I think the two of you would get along a little too well. You’re like two peas in a pod.”

A faint note of disappointment crept into his voice afterward.

“Though meeting him won’t be easy,” he admitted. “He hates public life, much like his mother, who was once our queen.”

Olivia blinked, uncertain if she had heard him correctly.

“His mother was the former queen… and you’re close to her son?” she asked, needing to hear it again to believe it.

A faint, knowing smile tugged at Dr. Wilson’s lips. “‘Close’ is an understatement. He’s like a brother to me.”

Olivia sank back into the chair, momentarily at a loss for words.

“He wasn’t such a big name when I first met him.” Dr. Wilson shared. “Although he now holds a high-ranking position in the military, when he was starting out, he had nothing to his name, no connections, not even a decent background. He was dirt poor.”

The story sounded familiar.

Too familiar, Olivia thought, frowning slightly as she tried to place where she had heard it before.