Love at First Sight? Mr. Harrison Has Been Scheming All Along-Chapter 155: "Let’s start sleeping separately tonight. I’ll sleep in the guest room.
Nadia Willow’s words were a thorn in Rory Linden’s side.
Even though she felt Nadia was just speaking off the cuff, the other woman’s certainty made her uneasy.
As Rory Linden saw it, the biggest trump card Nadia held was everything Sean Harrison had done in the past.
She was trying to use these things to shake her resolve.
Nadia’s tactics against Sean would probably always end up hurting herself more than him.
Even though she had the video from that incident and had saved a sample of her stomach contents.
If her ultimate goal was to marry Sean Harrison, then she probably...
...wouldn’t actually send him to prison, would she...?
"I won’t."
His answer was direct.
No strings attached.
Ever since they got together, he had never once considered breaking up with her.
Sean Harrison brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. "You gave me such a wonderful gift. What would you like in return?"
"In return?"
"How would you like to have your own hospital?"
Sean Harrison casually suggested a gift.
He figured she wouldn’t care much for a car or a house...
"You don’t have to!"
Rory Linden was so shocked by his words that she shot up in bed.
She was wearing a silk nightgown, which hung loosely from her shoulders.
Her sudden movement caused a strap to slide down, resulting in a wardrobe malfunction.
As she adjusted her nightgown, she said, "I just want to be a regular doctor, perform surgeries, and save lives. As for all that hospital management business... I don’t want any part of it."
Rory Linden had seen her fair share of hospital politics.
It was the same in both public and private hospitals.
The directors and vice-directors had long since stopped setting foot in an operating room. Their days were filled with dealing with various issues and endless social obligations.
Sean Harrison gently caressed the back of her hand. "You could hire people to manage all that. It’s just like running a company. You wouldn’t have to learn management yourself; you could hire executive managers."
"I still don’t want to," Rory Linden said. "I’m not that ambitious. I just want to perform my surgeries well."
She knew that opening a private hospital would certainly be more profitable than just being a doctor.
But she didn’t want that.
She had studied medicine for all these years to hone her skills and become an outstanding cardiac surgeon.
She wanted to help more patients regain their health.
As for making money...
Her financial expectations were much lower than those of people in Sean Harrison’s social class.
Sean Harrison didn’t press the issue.
The two of them took a shower together before going to sleep.
In the middle of the night.
A sudden pain in her arm jolted Rory Linden awake!
As her senses returned, she realized the man beside her was gripping her arm tightly.
She was very thin, with a small frame.
His hand, with its prominent knuckles, had her upper arm in a vice-like grip...
Rory Linden sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.
When she looked at him, she saw that he was still asleep. His eyes were closed, but his brow was tightly furrowed.
"Sean, Sean..."
Rory Linden called his name twice, tentatively.
He barely stirred, his fingers only tightening their grip.
Through the thin fabric of her nightgown, she could feel his nails digging into her flesh as his grip intensified...
’It hurts... a lot...’
’It hurts...’
It felt as if he was trying to snap her arm in two!
But this time, Rory didn’t want to wake Sean like she had before.
They had already agreed to get married.
’Maybe these nightmares are unavoidable for him. Since I’m going to marry him, this is a problem we’ll have to solve together.’
She decided to see if he would let go on his own if she didn’t wake him.
Thankfully, his nightmare didn’t seem to last long, and he released her arm.
Rory Linden waited a while longer before gradually falling asleep.
-
When Rory Linden woke up the next morning, her left arm felt distinctly sore as she lifted it.
She frowned, glanced at the man still sleeping soundly beside her, and carefully got out of bed, flexing her arm as she walked to the bathroom.
Once inside, she carefully pulled down the sleeve of her nightgown to inspect her left arm.
It was just as she expected. There was a large bruise on her left arm, and in a few places where his nails had dug in, there were even signs of minor subcutaneous bleeding...
"What’s wrong?"
The man walked in just as Rory was examining her arm.
"It’s nothing."
Rory Linden hurriedly pulled her sleeve back up.
But he had already moved closer.
The vanity in the master bathroom was large, equipped with two sinks and two mirrors.
When they used it together, they each had their own sink, so there was no need to stand this close.
Sean Harrison stood to her right, his gaze fixed on her face. "You should find some time to practice your lying in front of a mirror."
Rory Linden...
When she lied, she might as well have had the words "I’m lying" written all over her face.
"..."
Rory Linden looked at herself in the mirror.
Then, through the mirror, she looked at the man beside her.
His gaze was fixed on her, as if waiting for her to give him an explanation.
Rory Linden couldn’t hold out any longer and had no choice but to pull down the left sleeve of her nightgown again.
As the fabric slid down, Sean Harrison’s brow furrowed.
Rory Linden’s skin was fair. The left arm that had been perfectly fine last night was now covered in a large, dark bruise, with two smaller patches that were turning purple.
What’s more...
...several crescent-shaped red marks were clearly visible.
They were clearly marks left by fingernails digging into flesh.
Even though the nails hadn’t broken the skin, they had left traces of bleeding beneath it.
Sean Harrison moved to her left side, wanting to get a closer look...
Rory Linden quickly pulled her nightgown up. "It’s nothing. I was asleep, so I didn’t feel anything. I only noticed when I woke up this morning."
As always, she was a terrible liar.
She couldn’t even meet his eyes as she said it.
Sean Harrison raised his hand, intending to examine her arm more closely, but he paused mid-air before letting it fall back to his side.
"I’m sorry." He paused, then asked, "Will this affect your ability to perform surgery?"
This was what he cared about most.
"It’s fine. Besides, I have clinic duty today. I don’t have any surgeries scheduled for this afternoon."
Rory Linden looked at him in the mirror with a smile. "Besides, none of the patients at our hospital feel comfortable with me performing their surgery anyway, so I’m mostly just a first assistant. It’s not a big deal."
She was smiling, but his face remained devoid of any humor.
Trying to lighten the mood, Rory added, "You always say I’m a bad liar. I’ll have to practice so I can actually fool you one of these days."
As she said it, she never imagined a day like that would actually come.
Sean Harrison didn’t take the bait. He just said, "Let’s start sleeping in separate rooms tonight. I’ll take the guest bedroom."
"There’s no need. This was an accident."
"...Regardless, let’s just sleep separately for now."
Sean Harrison didn’t remember dreaming last night.
And yet, he had still hurt Rory.
If this problem wasn’t resolved completely, he might never be able to sleep peacefully while holding her again.
After breakfast, Sean Harrison drove Rory Linden to the hospital.
He sat in the car, watching her walk into the inpatient building.
He took out his phone and dialed Ethan Dixon’s number. "Cancel my flight for this afternoon. And book an appointment with a psychiatrist for me. I need to see one today."
