I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 158

When he threw that punch, he was thinking of her. While he lay in bed recovering from thirty lashes, he wondered if she would soften toward him because of his sacrifice. And the result? Absolute silence.

He really shouldn't have taken those insults for her that night.

Seraphina recovered from the surprise much faster than he did. A gentle, polite smile immediately blossomed on her face. "Felix, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you and Nora be at the Institute running experiments right now?"

Felix had been waiting for exactly that opening. He glanced at Seraphina, deliberately drawing out his words. "Nora was injured. She's been hospitalized here for a week. I'm taking her home today."

Finnegan's brows slammed together. Almost by reflex, he blurted out, "Nora is injured? When did this happen? Is it serious?"

Only after the questions tumbled out did he realize the dead silence that followed. Both Seraphina and Felix were staring right at him.

Seraphina's complexion visibly drained. The fingers gripping Finnegan's arm involuntarily tightened. Her features twisted for a brief second before she forcefully plastered on a flawless, understanding smile.

Finnegan's Adam's apple bobbed. Realizing his reaction was far too intense, he scrambled to cover his tracks. "Finnegan asked us to look out for Nora, but we failed to help. We didn't even know she was injured. That was my oversight."

He looked at Felix, his gaze unconsciously darting toward the elevators. "Which room is she in? Since I know now, I should go see her."

Felix scoffed inwardly. *This man really knows how to put on a show.* He was clearly burning with anxiety, yet he still dragged his dead brother's name out as a shield.

Felix smiled, his tone impeccably polite yet freezing cold. "Don't trouble yourself. We're just here to take her home. She's all packed and we're leaving immediately."

With that, he walked right past Finnegan toward the pharmacy window without looking back.

He didn't want to think about it, but he couldn't stop. That spot by her side was supposed to be his. Now someone else had taken it. Even if she didn't want him, no one else had the right to step in.

It was as if Nora had been permanently branded as his. She could never remarry, and she could never leave the Fletcher family. The thought of another man coveting her felt exactly like someone trying to steal what rightfully belonged to him.

He marched straight toward the nurse's station. "Excuse me, is there a patient named Nora Newman admitted here? Which room is she in?"

Seraphina practically sprinted after him, biting her lip so hard she could no longer maintain her facade.

He was obsessing over Nora right in front of her, treating her like thin air. And this wasn't the first time.

She grabbed his arm, yanking him with enough force to make him turn. Her voice trembled with suppressed desperation. "Finn, have you forgotten you're injured too? You're standing here demanding her room number... In what capacity are you visiting her? As Fred, or something else?"