Chapter 216 An Attitude That Keeps People at a Distance
After Cordelia got Deborah settled, she returned to her own room.
She had barely settled into bed after washing up when her phone chimed on the nightstand.
She picked up her phone and glanced at it - it was a message from Alaric.
"Made it to the hotel?"
Cordelia looked at the message and fingers poised to reply. but couldn't help thinking about the bruise of lipstick she had spotted on Janet's neck.. Her fingertips paused, and after a long silence, she put down her phone.
On Alaric's end, he clearly saw "typing..." displayed in the chat window, but after waiting several minutes, no message came through.
After a while, the "typing..." disappeared, and Cordelia didn't reply to him.
Alaric's eyes darkened. He scrolled to Cordelia's number and called without a moment's hesitation.
The phone rang. Cordelia frowned, picked it up, and glanced at the screen. It was Alaric calling.
She swiped to answer and put the phone to her ear.
Alaric's deep voice came through.
"Back at the hotel?"
Cordelia murmured in acknowledgment, keeping her words to a minimum.
Alaric heard the weariness in her voice and said, “I heard this patient’s condition is quite tricky.”
"Must have been exhausting today, right?"
Cordelia frowned. Hearing the concern in his voice, she felt a sudden, inexplicable irritation. When they were still married, she thought, Alaric had probably shown the same concern for Janet.
She took a deep breath, her tone gradually turning colder.
"Mr. Hughes, do you have something important?"
Alaric was silent for a few seconds before answering, "No."
Cordelia’s eyes turned cold. “If not, then please don’t disturb my rest.”
Alaric’s grip on the phone tightened slightly. “Cordelia, I just wanted to talk to you.”
Cordelia's expression became indifferent. "What do you want to talk about?"
Alaric didn’t speak for a long moment. Just as Cordelia was about to hang up, his voice came through, low and heavy.
"I want to ask you about some things from the past. I want to know if you studied medicine because of my mother?"
"Was it at that time,"
"That you fell in love with me?"
Hearing these questions, Cordelia immediately realized that Alaric asking Deborah to go downstairs for breakfast first this morning was indeed planned.
Someone as sharp as Alaric - how could he not figure things out?
They were already divorced. Cordelia didn't want all those past events dug up.
She didn't want to lose too badly in this relationship.
A sudden, unfamiliar fear of having her privacy exposed swept through her entire body.
Almost instinctively, she immediately denied it.
"No. At that time, I didn't even know you."
"The path of medicine is so difficult. If I had chosen it because of someone else, I wouldn't have been able to stick with it at all. I chose medicine because I liked it myself, because I had ambitions, that's why I chose to study medicine."
After saying all this, Cordelia realized she had said far too much.
The more she tried to explain, the more convinced Alaric would become.
She bit her lip, then laughed softly and said.
"Mr. Hughes, are you misunderstanding something?"
Alaric fell silent.
Cordelia sighed lightly and said, “Mr. Hughes, we’re already divorced. I don’t want you imagining things that aren’t real or feeling too guilty toward me.”
"Mr. Hughes, I'm not Janet. I don't need your pity."
“I don’t pity you, I—” Alaric’s expression shifted slightly, and just as he was about to speak, Cordelia had already hung up.
He took the phone away from his ear and opened the chat window to type a message.
[Cordelia, I don't pity you. I just want to confirm some things.]
After typing the message, Alaric’s slender fingers hovered. He didn’t hit send, just stared at it, lost in thought.
So what if he confirmed those things?
Was he really supposed to tell Cordelia that he had mistaken her for someone else back then?
If he sent this message, how would Cordelia see him?
The fact that he had dated Janet was undeniable.
Alaric sighed and re-edited the message before sending it.
"I don't pity you."
Cordelia quickly replied.
"I don't want to discuss anything with Mr. Hughes except your medical condition."
Alaric stared at this cold message for a long time.
[But I want to discuss things with you.]
[Cordelia, I regret it.]
He typed out two more messages but didn’t send either. Afterward, he deleted them word by word.
He stared at the phone screen, unable to compose another message for a long time.
It hurt!
An unprecedented pain.
With Cordelia, he couldn't even see a glimmer of hope.
Cordelia glanced at the “typing…” indicator on the screen, then switched off her phone and tossed it aside, burying her head under the covers.
Without any surprise, she couldn't sleep.
Early the next morning, Cordelia got up, dark circles under her eyes. While brushing her teeth, she checked the treatment team’s group chat for work messages.
A message from Donald popped up at that moment.
It was a voice message.
Cordelia played the voice message and heard Amber’s soft, sweet voice.
"Mommy, good morning. Amber loves you. Do you love Amber?"
Cordelia couldn’t help but smile. Then she sent two voice messages in reply.
"Of course I love you."
"I love you the most."
After sending the messages, she waited a moment. When Amber didn’t reply, Cordelia quickly got ready and left.
She walked to Deborah’s door and was just about to knock when it opened from the inside.
The two smiled at each other and walked together to the elevator.
Deborah talked with Cordelia about Molly's test results from early this morning.
Cordelia listened attentively.
When the elevator doors opened, Cordelia was about to step in, but then she saw Janet standing beside Alaric.
Seeing them, Janet smiled and took the initiative to greet them, seeming to be in a good mood.
"Deborah, Dr. Stone, are you heading to the hospital?"
Deborah nodded. "Yes."
"Ms. Martin moved over so early?"
Janet’s expression was subtle. She glanced at Alaric with a hint of shyness before speaking softly.
"Because there's a photo shoot early this morning, I came over early."
As they talked, Janet moved closer to Alaric, making space for Cordelia and Deborah to stand.
Alaric’s gaze stayed fixed on Cordelia from the moment she entered the elevator.
Cordelia remained composed, standing quietly beside Deborah, unfazed by Janet and Alaric’s presence.
When the elevator reached the first floor, Cordelia and Deborah were the first to exit.
Janet pressed her lips together and took the initiative to say.
“Deborah, Dr. Stone, let’s have breakfast together at the restaurant. I’ve heard the breakfast at the Grand Vista Hotel is excellent.”
Deborah had long ago noticed the subtle tension between Cordelia and Janet.
With a polite smile on her face, she declined, “The breakfast here is indeed good, but unfortunately, Dr. Stone and I have already arranged to have breakfast with other doctors from the treatment team today.”
Hearing this, Janet smiled slightly, showing understanding.
Deborah and Cordelia then took their leave first.
Janet turned her gaze to Alaric, about to invite him to breakfast, but he simply walked past her, not giving her a chance to speak.