"Mommy~ Why have I never seen Daddy? Is he dead or something?"

Lyra Whitfield had been married for seven years. Her daughter was already five, yet Ethan Mercer had no idea the child even existed.

She smiled a little, tightened her grip on her phone, and answered the little voice on the other end, "Then just pretend he’s dead."

Lily Ashford said, "Okay then. Anyway, I already have Daddy Huo!"

After the call ended, Lyra stretched lazily.

Seven years into this marriage, she had thought more than once about whether she should find a chance to tell Ethan Mercer that he actually had a five-year-old daughter.

He could skip all the soul-crushing baby years and just level up straight into being a dad, easy mode.

But then she glanced at the date.

There were less than three months left before her marriage to Ethan Mercer expired.

A couple who signed a divorce agreement the moment they got married... they were probably the first, right?

Bang—

The duty room door was suddenly shoved open.

The young nurse rushed in and called out, "Dr. Whitfield, emergency! The patient had sex too aggressively in early pregnancy. It could be a ruptured corpus luteum!"

Lyra instantly locked her screen.

She followed the nurse out at a fast pace, frowning as she muttered, "That’s seriously reckless. How can you mess around like that in early pregnancy? Couldn’t they just hold it in for a while...?"

The nurse pulled back the curtain around the hospital bed. The moment Lyra saw the face on it, her voice cut off on the spot.

She froze for two seconds, then asked carefully, "Serena Holloway?"

No way. It was actually her husband’s... future cousin-in-law?

When Serena saw Lyra, her gaze shifted too, but she said nothing.

By pure instinct, Lyra gave her a quick once-over, checking her condition.

Serena Holloway was Ethan Mercer’s cousin’s fiancée.

But Ethan’s cousin had been locked up five months ago over company account issues and got sentenced to a year and a half.

Serena’s belly was still flat, nothing obvious at all. Even if she was pregnant, it couldn’t have been that far along.

So whose kid was this, with the timeline this off…

Still, Lyra Whitfield wasn’t the nosy type. She pulled on a pair of medical gloves in one smooth motion. "Lie down first. I’ll examine you."

But Serena suddenly sat up, and the second she saw Lyra clearly, her expression turned ugly. "No need. I’m switching hospitals."

The young nurse immediately looked at Lyra, caught in a total bind.

Keeping her tone calm, Lyra said, "If you don’t want anything to go wrong, lie back down now. I’ll do a basic check first."

Serena frowned, clearly hating the way Lyra looked so composed, so above it all.

Lyra didn’t waste words. A doctor couldn’t delay treatment over attitude. She bent slightly, reaching to lift Serena’s clothing for the exam.

Serena let out a cold little laugh and swung her hand at her.

A sharp smack cut through the room.

She did not hold back.

It hurt like hell.

Lyra lowered her eyes and glanced at the back of her hand. It had already gone red.

Before she could even process it—

she heard Serena suddenly soften her voice and call past her, "Ethan…"

That familiar name hit Lyra like a jolt. She forgot the sting in her hand and turned at once.

The man walked in fast but unhurried, his coat draped over one arm, his tall frame carrying that effortless, untouchable air of privilege.

As he strode over, his gaze shifted slightly—

and met Lyra’s.

In that split second, he didn’t even slow down. His gaze slid away, cold and detached.

He walked right past Lyra Whitfield like she was a total stranger and went straight to the hospital bed.

His voice was low, with a trace of concern. "How are you feeling?"

Lyra really hadn’t seen this coming.

The family member backing Serena Holloway up... was actually the husband she had been secretly married to for seven years.

The moment she saw Ethan Mercer put all his attention on Serena, one thought hit her hard.

Had Ethan even seen that slap Serena had just thrown at her face?

The second Serena noticed his concern, the corner of her eye drifted, intentional or not, toward Lyra, who was still frozen where she stood.

She lifted her face and looked at the worried man in front of her, her voice soft and clingy in that way only someone very close would use. "You know how bad it was. My stomach hurt so much I couldn’t take it anymore, so I came to the hospital."

The second those words landed, the medical staff around them instantly got the memo.

Wasn’t she basically making it obvious that the man involved in that so-called "intense activity" was this ridiculously handsome guy right here?

And Ethan said nothing. No denial. No explanation to anyone.

Lyra just stood there, staring at the scene in front of her.

Her mind went blank. She even forgot how to react.

With her own eyes, she watched her husband take such gentle, careful care of... his cousin’s fiancée, at least in name.

Ethan had never been the type to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but Lyra was still a woman. Her instincts weren’t fake. There was no way she couldn’t sense that something was seriously off.

Not to mention, Serena had come into emergency for something that private, and Ethan somehow knew all about it.

At that moment, a chill ran through Lyra’s whole body.

All this time, she had thought Ethan’s indifference toward her was just his personality, that maybe he was simply bad at showing love.

But now she finally got it.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to love.

His heart just belonged to someone else.

But with things the way they were now, and with that relationship between them, the whole scene was so ridiculous Lyra Whitfield almost wanted to laugh.

When she didn’t move for a long moment, Ethan Mercer’s gaze finally shifted to her, slow and cold.

That look hit like a needle.

Lyra snapped back to herself at once.

Her gloved hand had been lifted, ready to examine the patient, but now it trembled slightly out of control.

Serena Holloway caught the icy, stranger-like indifference in Ethan’s attitude toward Lyra. The corner of her lips curled up, and she spoke first, soft and sweet on purpose. "Ethan, I want to transfer to a better hospital. Come with me, okay?"

"Sure." Ethan agreed without even pausing, like no matter what Serena asked for, he would say yes.

The air between them was so close, so private, it felt like nobody else could squeeze into it.

Lyra had loved this man for years. How could she not notice?

Everything in front of her stabbed straight into her chest, the pain sharp and relentless, like a blunt blade dragging across raw flesh.

And Serena’s line about "a more professional hospital" was basically a slap to Lyra’s face, mocking her to her face, saying she wasn’t skilled enough, wasn’t qualified to treat her.

As for Ethan, he handled it fast and clean.

From beginning to end, he didn’t spare Lyra a single glance, let alone show even a shred of guilt...

What a joke.

The two of them just walked out like that, calm and unbothered, as if nothing was wrong.

Lyra stood where she was for a long time, completely spaced out, her thoughts a total mess.

The coworkers nearby, though, were having the time of their lives gossiping.

"Wow, kids these days really know how to stir up drama."

The young nurse looked starry-eyed. "But seriously, that guy was insanely hot. And that build? Girl, no way he’s not top-tier."

Lyra lowered her head, not listening at all, and slowly peeled off the medical gloves from her hands.

The nurse didn’t notice anything was off. Like she’d suddenly remembered something, she leaned in and asked in a hushed voice, "Hey, Lyra, haven’t you been married for ages? How come I’ve never heard you mention having kids?"

Lyra tossed the gloves into the trash can and answered without any expression, "My husband can’t do it."