After Divorce I Married a Tycoon-Chapter 1: He Cheated in the Ward Next Door

Claire Mercer was in a car accident.

When she woke up in the hospital room, it was already past midnight.

Having been unconscious all afternoon, she decided to get out of bed and stretch her legs.

She pushed open the door to her room and walked slowly down the hospital corridor.

Suddenly, she heard a sound from the next room that made her blush and her heart race.

The hospital bed creaked rhythmically with the couple’s movements.

Although Claire had no personal experience, she knew exactly what the man and woman in the room were doing.

Her face flushed, and she couldn’t help but complain inwardly:

’What kind of people are they...’

’Doing *that* in a hospital room?’

She was about to hurry away.

But then she heard the woman inside, in the heat of passion, gasp out the man’s name.

"Gavin... Oh, Gavin..."

Hearing that name, Claire couldn’t help but slow her steps.

Because her husband’s name was Gavin Sinclair, and many people called him Gavin.

’It must be a coincidence!’

’After all, her husband had been in a car accident two years ago and was still in a wheelchair.’

’His legs couldn’t possibly support him doing something like this.’

She felt a little ridiculous.

’How could she immediately think of her own husband just because she heard a woman say the name ’Gavin’?’

Besides, she had taken care of him with all her heart for the past two years of their marriage.

And he had always been gentle, considerate, and grateful toward her.

While they weren’t deeply in love, they were at least respectful to each other.

He was grateful that she had married him at his lowest point and had always treated her well.

From what she knew of him, he wasn’t the type to cheat on his wife.

With that thought, she decided to leave quickly and not disturb the couple’s private moment.

But then, she heard the man’s voice.

Claire froze as if struck by lightning, unable to move.

"Scarlett... Scarlett... You’re finally back..."

It was Gavin Sinclair...

That was the voice of her husband of two years, Gavin Sinclair.

A voice she had listened to for two whole years.

She couldn’t have misheard it.

And the "Scarlett" he mentioned... that had to be Scarlett Jewel, right?

His idealized past love, his ex-girlfriend.

The two passionately called out each other’s names, completely lost in one another.

The sounds they were making hammered against Claire’s skull, making her head feel like it was about to split open.

She stood there like a wooden statue, unable to process what was happening for a long, long time.

She didn’t know how much time had passed, but eventually, it seemed the people inside were finished.

She heard the woman’s charming, breathless voice again.

"Gavin, be honest with me. You’ve really never touched her?"

"When have I ever lied to you?" Gavin retorted.

"I’ve been saving myself for you, even pretending to be crippled in front of her."

"And you, you heartless little thing, still don’t believe me."

"But I heard you’re very good to her," the woman said, her tone tinged with playful jealousy.

Gavin said, "You little jealous thing."

"If I weren’t a little nice to her, what would other people think of me?"

"And how else would she be willing to keep taking such good care of me?"

"Besides, the kindness I show her is just a crumb I deign to offer."

"Just a little bit of charity. How could that possibly compare to you?"

Hearing Gavin’s words, Claire’s heart felt as if it were being viciously torn to shreds by a pair of hands.

’So...’

’So, the reason he hadn’t touched her for the past two years wasn’t because of his legs.’

’It was because he was saving himself for another woman.’

’He even went to the trouble of pretending to be disabled in front of me all this time.’

And like a fool, she had been massaging his legs every day and carefully preparing special meals for his recovery.

’But it turned out his ’kindness’...’

’...was just a show for others.’

’...was just a way to keep her around, a caregiver more devoted than any paid maid.’

’...was just a tiny scrap of charity he let fall through his fingers.’

Her heart...

was instantly torn to pieces by his words.

The pain was so intense that tears streamed down her face, unstoppable.

’How laughable.’

’She was just... so utterly laughable!’

Her past two years had been a complete joke.

A pathetic, tragic joke.

Suddenly, the woman’s satisfied voice once again reached her ears.

"But seriously, doing it next to her room... that was really thrilling."

Claire sneered inwardly.

’Oh, yes!’

’How could it not be thrilling?’

’Having an affair with a man in a hospital room.’

’While the man’s legal wife’s room is right next door.’

’Of course, it’s thrilling.’

Hearing the woman’s contented sigh, Gavin asked with a wicked smile:

"From the sound of it, you want to go again?"

"Hey..." the woman cooed.

"When did I say that? How did you get even naughtier than before?"

Claire didn’t know if they went for another round, nor did she want to know.

She painstakingly dragged her leaden legs back to her own room.

That night, she couldn’t sleep a wink.

She stared numbly at the ceiling, her eyes swollen from crying.

The past two years flashed before her eyes, frame by frame.

In her memories, he was smiling gently at her.

But looking back now, she saw that his eyes were filled with rich mockery.

Laughing at her, the fool. Laughing at her, the clown...

He had once saved her from a group of thugs.

That was why she had given her heart to him.

She had been willing to marry him even if it meant his legs might be disabled for life.

She thought they would be each other’s salvation. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

She thought he would be the beam of light that pierced the darkness of her life.

The light that would illuminate her future...

But it wasn’t until today that she realized how wrong she was.

So incredibly, absurdly wrong.

’Is he really the same young man she remembered?’

’Why does he seem like a complete stranger now?’

’He’s nothing like the person in her memories.’

’It’s like he’s two completely different people.’

A deep-seated sorrow filled Claire’s heart.

「The next day.」

Gavin Sinclair arrived, just as he always did, still in his wheelchair and carrying an exquisite breakfast.

If this had been before, she would have been deeply moved.

After all, he’d come to visit her despite his own legs being disabled.

But now, she only found it ironic.

’He really went to a lot of trouble, all to save himself for that Scarlett and avoid sleeping in the same bed as me.’

"Why are your eyes so swollen? Have you been crying?"

Both Gavin’s gaze and his words were filled with concern.

But Claire knew he was just acting.

Everything he did in front of her was a pretense.

’The Oscars really owe him a Best Actor award.’

"No. I just had a headache and couldn’t sleep,"

Claire said calmly, her voice betraying no hint of emotion.

"You look pale. Besides the headache, are you feeling unwell anywhere else?"

Gavin wheeled himself over to her bedside with some difficulty.

He raised a hand to touch her forehead, but Claire deftly dodged him and replied.

"I feel sick to my stomach."

’It’s truly disgusting...’

’Even now, he was still putting on this act of being gentle and considerate toward her.’

’But he was clearly the one tangled up with another woman next door just last night.’

’And now he wanted to touch her with those filthy hands?’

’Those hands probably explored every inch of the other woman’s skin last night, didn’t they?’

’The thought of it is just... so dirty.’

His hands, his body, and his entire heart...

...all of it was utterly filthy.