Chapter 7

Maverick stormed in, slammed the tray down, and snatched up the photos. One glance was enough to make the veins in his temple throb. He spun toward Nicole, his voice urgent and edged with panic as he rushed to explain. "Nicky! Listen to me! Chloe was drugged that night. It was an emergency. I had no choice but to use that method to save her. You're the only one I love!" No sooner had the words left his mouth than he snapped his head toward Chloe, his eyes icy and terrifying. "Chloe! Didn't I warn you never to bring this up to Nicky?" Chloe recoiled from his shout, her eyes welling up instantly. "Why can't I bring it up?" she said bitterly. "I'm your wife. Sleeping together is what married couples do. Why do I have to hide it? Tell me, Maverick, what am I to you?" "You—!" Maverick's face turned livid with rage. Nicole watched the husband and wife argue before her, feeling nothing but irony and exhaustion. She didn't want to hear another word. Pulling back the covers, she rose quietly, slipped past them, and walked toward the adjoining balcony to get some air. Behind her, the shouting didn't stop. Instead, it grew more heated. Suddenly, Chloe let out a shrill, desperate scream. "Fine! I'm the one hurting your precious love. If I'm such an eyesore to both of you, then I'll just end it right now!" Nicole's heart jolted. Before she could even turn around, a violent force slammed into her from behind. It was Chloe. Shouting that she was going to jump, Chloe charged straight for the balcony. Nicole, standing by the railing, was knocked off balance by the impact. With a startled cry, she and Chloe toppled together off the second-floor balcony. "Nicky! Chloe!" As gravity took hold, Nicole saw with despairing clarity that Maverick rushed to the railing and, without the slightest hesitation, reached out for Chloe. When his eyes met Nicole's, they were filled with panic, but he didn't reach for her. Not first. With a sickening thud, Nicole hit the lawn below. Pain tore through her body as a pool of crimson spread beneath her, and darkness quickly swallowed her consciousness. … She woke up in the hospital once more. Maverick was sitting at her bedside. The moment he saw her eyes open, he scrambled to explain himself. "Nicky, listen to me. Everything happened so fast. I meant to save you, I really did, but… I don't know what went wrong. In the chaos, I grabbed the wrong person. I grabbed Chloe instead. I'm so sorry. I swear it wasn't on purpose!" Grabbed the wrong person? The words felt like a cold hand tightening around Nicole's heart, squeezing until she could barely breathe. How could he stand there and tell such a blatant, smooth lie? In a life-or-death moment, instinct ruled. How could anyone possibly "grab the wrong person"? Pain twisted through her chest in waves, and she no longer had the strength to argue. She looked at him quietly and asked, her voice raspy yet eerily calm, "Maverick, tell me the truth. Do you have feelings for Chloe?" Maverick was caught off guard by the bluntness of the question. He quickly recovered and answered firmly, "No. Of course not. You're the only one I love." As Nicole watched him deny it without a second's hesitation, she suddenly laughed. Her laugh was hollow, broken, and heavy with desolation. "You know me," she said, staring into him, each word clear and deliberate. "I never accept lies. If you lie to me today, then even if you kill yourself at my feet someday, I will never look back." Maverick's heart skipped a beat. A sudden wave of guilt and panic washed over him, but he quickly forced it down. He reached out, gripping her hand tightly. "I swear, Nicky! You're the love of my life. I would never lie to you." Over the next few days, Maverick cleared his schedule entirely and stayed by Nicole's side in the hospital, tending to her every need, desperate to please her and earn her forgiveness. One afternoon, while Maverick went out to buy her some food, Nicole headed down to the hospital's artificial lake to get some fresh air. She hadn't been sitting on the bench for long when Chloe appeared. She walked up to Nicole. The unhinged look from the other day was gone, but her underlying message was the same—she wanted Nicole out of the picture. Nicole turned to look at her, suddenly struck by how pathetic the woman was. She tugged at the corner of her mouth, her tone different. "Fine. I wish the two of you a lifetime of happiness. May you stay shackled together forever." "You—!" Chloe's expression shifted at her words. Taking it as mockery, she flew into a rage and grabbed Nicole's wrist. "What do you mean? You think he'll love you forever? Let me tell you something. One day, I will have Maverick completely, heart and soul!" Nicole didn't want to get entangled with her. She yanked her hand free and turned to leave. But the very moment Nicole flung her hand away, Chloe cried out and threw herself backward. With a loud splash, she fell straight into the icy lake. "Help! Help me!" Chloe thrashed in the water, screaming at the top of her lungs. Almost instantly, Maverick rushed over from nowhere. The moment he saw Chloe in the water, his face drained of color. He immediately jumped in and hauled her back to the shore. "Chloe! Are you hurt?" He wrapped his arms around her trembling, soaked body, anxiously checking her over. Chloe nestled against his chest, sobbing pitifully as she pointed a trembling finger at Nicole. "Maverick, don't blame Ms. Watson. She's probably just… still upset that you saved me instead of her the other day. Maybe that's why she pushed me into the lake… Thank God you came in time, or I would have drowned." Hearing this, Maverick looked up at Nicole, his expression unreadable. "Nicky, is that what happened?"