Chapter 13

Isabella's POV

Watching Sophie's expression shift from shock to sympathy, I waved my hand dismissively. "Come on, don't look at me like that, Sophie."

I held up my hand, deliberately waving the ring on my finger in front of her eyes. "Since Julian can lose control of that thing of his in a moment of impulse, I can impulsively go get married too. As for the groom, well, it just happens to be the young uncle from the Hawthorne family. Btw, he's not some old man—he's only five years older than me."

Sophie gasped, then her eyes exploded with delighted surprise as she grabbed my hand. "It's amazing! I can hardly believe you'd be so bold! What kind of guy is he? Is he good to you? Do you like him? Oh, I suppose even if he were a jerk, he couldn't be worse than Julian. I trust your judgment and your luck, Isabella. Congratulations!"

Sophie's unconditional support and trust moved me deeply. "So you absolutely must make time next month—I need you there as my witness!"

"Can I be your bridesmaid!" Sophie nearly jumped with excitement.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry, to save on budget, we're not planning a wedding ceremony, so there won't be any bridesmaids."

"So if I show up on witness day wearing a pink suit with a corsage and stand beside you, you wouldn't object, would you?"

Sophie's eyes sparkled with sincerity and anticipation.

"Haha! That is so you!" I burst out laughing.

Just then, a commotion came from the end of the hallway. Clara emerged tearfully clutching a cardboard box, with Julian following behind her.

"You get over here, Isabella!"

Julian approached me and grabbed my arm through gritted teeth, dragging me away.

He pulled me to the front of a storage room at the end of the corridor, where no one was passing by for the moment.

"Isabella, what exactly are you trying to do? Why are you targeting Clara like this? You know what this job means to her!"

"Am I the one targeting her, Julian?"

I was almost speechless with anger. "As the attending physician, if you'd just been willing to look at the duty roster for three seconds longer instead of staring dead at Clara's chest, you would have noticed I've been on night shifts for a week straight! Who exactly is targeting whom?"

"Putting you on night shifts was for what, Isabella? You know every first-year intern has to go through this trial. Having you gain more clinical experience—is that somehow bad for you?"

Julian argued sophistically.

"Oh really? Then I should really thank you for being so considerate of me."

I raised an eyebrow and mercilessly exposed him. "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have thought it was to make your evening dates more convenient."

"Enough, Isabella." Julian's expression instantly turned extremely ugly. "You've already used such despicable tactics to post that video of our argument online yesterday, causing me to be cursed at so badly. Isn't that enough? It must have been that shameless Adrian who taught you this, right!"

Video? I didn't quite understand what he was talking about.

"What video?"

"Stop playing innocent, Isabella. You and that fake fiancé of yours are already in cahoots—what's the point of pretending to be decent and innocent? Now I'm giving you one last chance. Go cancel that marriage application with him immediately. I can let all of this go!"

Looking at his self-righteous face, I felt nothing but disgust.

"Thank you for your advice, but I think Adrian is a good person. In the short forty-eight hours I've been with him, I've felt an unprecedented sense of security every single moment."

"Security?" Julian acted as if he'd heard the joke of the century. "Didn't you two get married for that credit fund? What kind of decent security can that shameless guy give you! Don't tell me you've started dating like normal people!"

I looked at Julian with deep irony. "No, I don't think what we had before counted as normal dating."

"Don't dismiss my warning." Julian advised, "You don't understand Adrian. He's just a beast in a gentleman's skin!"

"That's none of your business anymore, Julian." I interrupted his incessant mockery. "My own choice, I'll bear the consequences myself. Also, stop making trouble in front of my parents. Compared to your shamelessness, their ignorance gives me an even bigger headache."

With that, I didn't spare him another glance and turned to walk toward the nurses' station.

The entire morning passed in dizzy busyness, and I finally caught my breath during lunch break.

My phone vibrated—it was a message from Adrian.

He said he had to go out of town temporarily for something and reminded me to take good care of myself.

Looking at the brief but warm text on the screen, an indescribable sense of security welled up in my heart.

[Don't worry, I'm doing fine.]

[I have to tell you—that Clara got fired! This is such uplifting news.]

[And my good friend Sophie agreed to be my witness. Oh, and what's this about a video? Did you film it?]

Along with that sense of security came an overwhelming desire to share.

I'm clearly not a very talkative person, and Adrian seems the same way.

But in this moment, it was as if some magic had opened my heart, and I suddenly wanted to tell him everything.

[The video? If you mean the one where your ex-boyfriend brazenly admits to cheating, I saw it on the trending section of a video platform this morning. Fortunately, it didn't capture your face. I imagine it was probably some neighbor with a sense of justice using a drone.]

I couldn't help but laugh softly at the screen and replied with a teasing emoji.

Then lunch break ended, and I threw myself back into busy work.

There was an emergency surgery in the afternoon. Before locking my phone, I glanced at the screen.

Mother had sent another message, urging me to cancel the marriage notice immediately.

[Isabella, you will regret this. Your father and I absolutely will not allow you to marry that man from the Hawthorne family! Do you hear me clearly!]

I swiped away the unread message without acknowledging it.

The next two days passed unusually peacefully.

Although Adrian wasn't by my side, he sent warm greetings and well-wishes every day.

And since Clara left, my shift schedule had become much more humane. Life finally seemed to be letting in a sliver of light.

However, on the afternoon of the third day, a letter from the marriage registry office shattered this tranquility.

Sophie leaned over, curiously asking what was in the envelope.

"Probably reminding us about important matters regarding the marriage registration and ceremony?"

I had no experience with marriage either, naturally.

But when I opened the letter and saw its contents, I froze completely—

This was a rejection letter for our marriage application!

The reason was clearly stated: someone had filed an objection and submitted evidence.

Claiming that Adrian Hawthorne had previously registered a marriage in the United States with a fifty-six-year-old Mexican woman!