Chapter 7

The private clinic on the Upper East Side didn't smell like a hospital. It smelled like expensive lavender and money.

Joy sat in the leather examination chair. Her fingers gripped the padded armrests so tightly her knuckles were stark white.

Dr. Aris, an older Swiss man with sharp eyes, adjusted the massive, high-tech scanner positioned over Joy's right ear. The machine hummed, projecting a highly detailed 3D rendering of her inner ear onto a large flat-screen monitor on the wall.

Angel stood in the corner of the room. His arms were crossed over his chest. His eyes were locked onto the screen like a predator watching its prey.

Joy's heart beat so fast she felt dizzy. The machine whirred. Every second felt like an hour. She waited for the doctor to turn around and call her a liar.

Ten agonizing minutes passed.

The machine beeped and powered down. Dr. Aris rolled his stool back and looked at the screen. He clicked his mouse, printing out a thick stack of glossy reports.

Angel immediately stepped forward. "Well?" His voice was tight. "Can you fix it?"

Dr. Aris pushed his glasses up his nose. He looked at the report, then at Angel.

"Mr. Wilcox," Dr. Aris said slowly. "The physical structures of the ear-the tympanic membrane, the ossicles-they are completely healed. There is no organic damage left."

Joy stopped breathing. The blood drained from her face. Her stomach plummeted into a bottomless pit.

Angel's posture changed instantly. His shoulders dropped. A look of profound relief washed over his face. He looked at Joy, his eyes hardening with vindication.

"But," Dr. Aris continued, raising a finger.

Angel froze. "But what?"

"From a physical standpoint, the structures are healed," Dr. Aris explained, tapping the side of his own head. "But the auditory nerve pathways can suffer micro-traumas. If the patient reports severe pain and hearing loss, it is possible she is suffering from chronic neuropathic pain. Although the scan cannot definitively prove it, we could attempt a nerve block to isolate the issue. It is a notoriously difficult trauma to cure."

Joy's lungs expanded. She sucked in a quiet breath. As she shifted her weight, a sudden, deep cramp twisted in her lower abdomen. A wave of unnatural heat washed over her skin, followed instantly by a freezing chill. She bit the inside of her cheek, forcing herself to ignore the gnawing ache.

She immediately turned her head, presenting her right ear to the doctor. She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a small, pained hiss.

"It feels like... like a hot needle," Joy whispered, her voice trembling perfectly. "It constantly rings. I can't hear anything over the ringing."

Dr. Aris looked at her with deep sympathy. "I'm very sorry, Mrs. Wilcox. This type of trauma is notoriously difficult to cure. We can only manage it with pain medication."

Angel's hands slowly curled into fists at his sides.

The relief was gone. The guilt was back, heavier and darker than before. But this time, it was mixed with something else. Suspicion.

Ten minutes later, they walked out of the clinic.

The hallway was empty. The thick carpet absorbed the sound of their footsteps.

Angel stopped walking.

Joy took two more steps before she realized he wasn't beside her. She turned around.

Angel was staring at her. His eyes were black. The muscles in his jaw were jumping. He looked like he wanted to wrap his hands around her throat.

"Your acting has gotten much better," Angel said. The words dripped with venom.

Joy's heart skipped a beat. "What are you talking about?"

Angel closed the distance between them in two strides. He backed her up against the wall. He didn't touch her, but his physical presence was suffocating.

"You're good," Angel hissed, leaning down so his mouth was inches from her ear. "You play the victim just like those high-end call girls play innocent. You know exactly how to twist the knife to get what you want."

Joy felt like she had been punched in the stomach. The air rushed out of her lungs.

She stared at the man she had secretly loved for three years. The man she had bled for.

"Take the million dollars and walk away, Joy," Angel said cruelly. "Stop pretending you belong in my world. You're just a leech."

Tears burned the back of Joy's eyes. Her throat constricted. But she refused to let them fall.

She lifted her chin. She looked straight into his hateful eyes.

"My ear is broken, Angel," Joy said, her voice shaking with a mix of fear and absolute defiance. "And it's your fault. I am your wife. And I am never leaving."

Angel let out a harsh, mocking laugh.

"Don't get too comfortable," he warned.

He turned on his heel and walked down the hallway, leaving her pressed against the wall, trembling and alone.