?Chapter 1087:

    Carrie waved it off quickly. “No need. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here. Ruby and I are grabbing dinner afterward anyway.”

    There was a beat of silence on the other end. “Alright,” Daxton said. “Take care. Don’t overdo it.” But the warmth in his voice was gone—reced with an unmistakable chill.

    Carrie didn’t notice. Her focus had shifted—she had just seen Kristopher rounding the corner ahead. “Got it,” she said quickly, then ended the call without hesitation.

    On the other end, Daxton nced at Carrie’s office building across the street, his presence cold and intimidating.

    He had given her a chance. Right there, on that call, she had two options—to admit the truth, or to head to the office. She did neither.

    At this moment, his assistant arrived. “Sir, ording to the surveince, Mrs. Garcia went to the hospital… and… and…”

    The assistant broke into a cold sweat, unable to continue.

    Daxton narrowed his eyes, voicing the suspicion he least wanted to acknowledge. “Kristopher is there too, isn’t he?”

    “Right, sir,” the assistant replied respectfully. “But they didn’t arrive together—it might just be coincidence.”

    Daxton let out a coldugh. Coincidence? He didn’t believe in coincidences.

    Not when it came to Carrie. And definitely not when it involved Kristopher. She had once been Kristopher’s wife. He could tolerate a lingering attachment. But this—this was something else.

    And now, she was his girlfriend, even considered by many as his fiancée.

    She and Kristopher were meeting in secret, and she was lying about it.

    Her betrayal wasn’t just personal. It was public.

    His gentleness had made her bold. Reckless.

    ???ЯE ??P?ΛTΞ? IИ GΛ?И?VΞ??.???

    It was time to remind her who held the leash. This kitten had forgotten who she belonged to. And now, it was time to teach her obedience.

    At the hospital, Carrie had just ended the call when Kristopher walked in, the doctor trailing close behind.

    She pushed thoughts of Daxton to the back of her mind and quickly rose to her feet, her voice tight with anxiety. “Doctor, is there something wrong with the medication?”

    Deep down, she was hoping the answer would be no. If the medication wasn’t the problem, then Kristopher’s health might still be safe—and whatever suspicions she held about Aliza could still be dismissed as a terrible misunderstanding.

    But the doctor’s slow shake of the head dimmed that fragile hope. With a weary sigh, he lowered himself into the chair behind the desk. “There is a problem,” he said atst. “It aligns with what Ms. Campbell mentioned earlier. This medication impedes memory recovery, and prolonged use may cause irreversible brain damage.”

    Carrie felt herst shred of hope crack apart. She leaned forward, her wordsing out in a rush. “What kind of damage are we talking about?”

    Adjusting his sses, the doctor replied, “We won’t know the extent until we review the scans. Only then can we assess the severity.”

    Kristopher’s eyes flicked toward Carrie, watching her closely—how she leaned in, how her brows pinched with concern, how she spoke to the doctor. She looked every bit the devoted wife beside her husband in a consultation room.

    .

    .

    .