Chapter 6

Maya's POV

From that day on, Ethan showed up at my hospital room every single day.

Before seven in the morning, he would arrive with breakfast—fresh pastries and gourmet coffee prepared by his private chef.

While my IV dripped, he sat beside the bed peeling apples, keeping the peel in one continuous spiral before slicing the fruit into neat bites, offering them to my lips on a small fork.

The nurses changing my bandages would whisper to each other out in the hall:

"Have you seen her boyfriend? He's so handsome and attentive, comes by every single day."

"She's so lucky to have someone who dotes on her like that."

I never touched a single slice of apple he offered. When I needed to use the restroom, I ignored his outstretched arm and leaned against the cold wall, dragging myself forward step by step.

Ethan never lost his temper. He simply kept showing up day after day, as if waiting for me to throw my little tantrum until I finally got over it.

Breakfast from his private chef, apples peeled to perfection—all of it delivered only after my career was ruined, my baby was gone, and twelve stitches were sewn into my scalp.

When he actually should have stood up for me, he was nowhere to be found. Now he was acting like the picture of devotion over a sliced apple.

I heard every word of envy the nurses whispered, but I never once bothered to correct them.

Every day, dozens of unfamiliar calls flooded my phone. The second I picked up, vitriol and vile curses blasted through the receiver.

When I finally checked online, I discovered a viral thread that had been pinned at the top of the trending charts for an entire day.

*Prominent Female Journalist Caught as Homewrecker; Concrete Proof Revealed.*

*The Real Fiancee Was the High School Sweetheart; Side Piece Clung On for Years.*

The post claimed that as an investigative reporter, I had used an interview with Mrs. Vance as a pretext to sink my claws into Ethan, harassing him relentlessly for years. It said his true love had finally returned, and that I had been fired from the newsroom for fabricating stories because of my rotten character.

Former colleagues shared the thread one after another. Some left snide, passive-aggressive remarks; others openly hurled insults in the comments.

The Vance family never issued a single word to set the record straight.

As the scandal blew up, someone doxxed my personal details and plastered my home address across the web.

The front door of my apartment was vandalized with red spray paint: Homewrecker, get out of this city.

Building management called to inform me that the neighbors were complaining and urged me to vacate the premises as soon as possible.

None of that mattered to me anymore.

My reputation was in the gutter and my career was over, but I still had my father and my younger sister.

My dad still ran his small diner in the old quarter, and my little sister, Lily, was still in high school.

My plan was to take every drop of this dirty water onto my own shoulders so the two of them could keep running the diner and going to school, blissfully unaware of the monster I had been painted as in this city.

I flipped my phone facedown onto the blanket.

Moments later, it buzzed again.

It was Lily. The moment the call connected, her terrified sobs broke through the line. "Maya, Dad had a heart attack! They're rushing him into emergency surgery right now..."

"What happened? Why would he suddenly have an attack?"

"He... he saw all those horrible posts online bashing you! He was reading them and suddenly grabbed his chest and collapsed! Maya, please come quick, I'm so scared..."

I yanked the IV needle straight out of the back of my hand. Blood welled up instantly, dripping down my fingertips.

Grabbing my coat, I bolted toward the door, ignoring the nurses shouting behind me.

The dirty water I tried so hard to shield them from had splashed right in front of my father's eyes.

I hailed a cab toward the hospital where my father had been taken. On the way, I pulled up Ethan's number, dialed it, and hung up before it could ring.

I didn't know what I could possibly expect from him anymore.

The cab pulled up to the hospital entrance. The moment I stepped out, I saw Chloe standing on the concrete steps, holding a pristine fruit basket.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Oh my, discharged so soon, Miss Harper? Is your head all healed up already?"

"You did this, didn't you?" I glared at her. "The posts online, my dad ending up in the hospital—you orchestrated the whole thing!"

"And what if I did?" Chloe took a step closer, tilting her chin up at me. "Who told you to be so shameless and cling to Ethan? I just let everyone see what kind of person you really are."

I raised my hand to slap the smug look off her face.

Before my palm could strike, Ethan materialized out of nowhere, stepping firmly between us and shielding Chloe behind his back.

"Maya Harper, haven't you caused enough scenes?" Ethan barked. "Chloe came all the way here out of the goodness of her heart to check on your father, and this is how you treat her?"

"Goodness of her heart?" I stared at him in disbelief. "She drove my father into the ICU, and you're calling it good intentions? Ethan Vance, are you blind?"

"Apologize to her," Ethan demanded, his eyes boring into mine. "Right now. Apologize to Chloe."

"Me? Apologize?"

"You refuse, is that it?" Ethan pulled out his phone. "Your father's medical bills and all his future treatments—if you don't apologize right now, I'm cutting off every cent. Take a good look at yourself. How do you expect to pay for his care in the state you're in?"

"You bastard."

Ethan's expression darkened. Right in front of my face, he placed a call and spoke a single cold line: "Have the landlord terminate the lease on the Harper family's diner today."

He hung up and met my gaze. "When you've come to your senses, come find me."

With that, he wrapped an arm around Chloe's shoulders and turned to leave.

Chloe leaned against his chest, glanced back over her shoulder, and flashed me a triumphant smirk.

I stood frozen on the pavement, unable to lift my feet.

Only then did I finally see the cards he held in his hands.

He didn't bother arguing with me. He was simply tallying up every single thing I had left to lose.

My father's life, my father's diner—he laid them out on the chopping block one by one, waiting for me to bend the knee.

It took a long time before I managed to drag myself toward the inpatient wing.

My father had already been moved out of the operating room. He was asleep, his face pale as paper, an oxygen tube hooked under his nose.

Lily sat by the bedside, her eyes swollen red from crying. Seeing me walk in, fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.

I stroked her hair, wanting to say something comforting, but the lump in my throat choked back every word.

I stepped out into the quiet corridor when my phone buzzed.

It was the landlord of my dad's diner, his tone fraught with guilt. "Maya, about your dad's place... I can't rent it to you folks anymore. The kitchen equipment and tables have already been cleared out to the curb. Come pick them up when you can."

"Why?" I gasped, stunned. "Doesn't the lease still have six months left?"

"My hands are tied," the landlord sighed heavily. "Someone powerful reached out. They told me if I keep renting to your family, they'll ruin my business. Maya, I'm truly sorry. I'll wire you the penalty fee for breaking the lease."

The line went dead. I swayed on my feet in the empty hallway.

That diner was our family's entire livelihood.

A single phone call from him at noon, and by afternoon, the diner was gone.

Refusing to give up, I pulled up my contact list and called every property owner my father knew.

I called through the entire list. Some claimed their spaces were already taken, others made vague excuses, but not a single person dared to offer us a lease.

In this entire sprawling city, there wasn't a single storefront left for my father.

I leaned heavily against the wall, slowly sliding down to the floor until I was curled up with my knees against my chest, burying my face into the crook of my arm.

I had thought the absolute worst-case scenario was losing everything I owned.

Now I knew he wouldn't stop until he destroyed my family, too.