Ariel was right. Jayson didn’t say any of that.

She didn’t spare Colton another glance as she pushed open he door to the ward.

She understood exactly what Colton meant. Even though she was once Jayson’s wife, she had to make way for Nancy, like some secret lover sneaking around to avoid being seen.

When Ariel stepped inside, Jayson looked up briefly from his laptop. Seeing her, he didn’t look surprised at all.

It was just past 9:00 am.

Ariel walked over and placed the breakfast she had bought on the table next to him. “I picked these up downstairs. Have you eaten?”

Jayson glanced at the bag.

The truth was, he had never touched these cheap, prepackaged breakfasts from convenience stores. And Ariel knew his habits well. He usually ate around 7:30 am. She wasn’t here to actually feed him. This was just a courtesy.

Jayson’s eyes lingered on her face for a moment, then flicked back to the food on the table. He said calmly, “You didn’t have to.”

Ariel acted like she didn’t hear the sarcasm tucked beneath his words. Instead, she looked at his injury. The bandages were too tight for her to see what was underneath, but it looked like he couldn’t move his right arm at all.

The abrasions on his right hand, however, were clear and brutal.

In all these years, it was the first time Ariel had seen Jayson lying in a hospital bed. And it was because of her.

She wasn’t heartless. Of course she felt something. Everything was just so different now.

“What did the doctor say?” she asked.

“A week in the hospital, then observation,” Jayson replied calmly. His deep voice was unhurried and steady.

It was as if nothing had happened yesterday. As if that near–death moment wasn’t even worth bringing up.

Both of them were almost unnervingly composed.

Ariel knew his injuries weren’t minor. If it had been her in his place, she would probably have ended up in critical condition. So she said softly, “Thank you.”

Jayson might not have meant to save her, but he had. And she wasn’t the kind of person to act like that didn’t

matter.

Jayson closed his laptop. The emotion in his eyes was unreadable. “They said you’re fine. So you’re not injured?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” He nodded slowly.

The air between them was calm on the surface, yet there was an unmistakable tension slowly thickening.

Ariel finally looked up and met his gaze. “So, should we set a time?”

This was, after all, the real reason she had come today.

She was grateful to Jayson for shielding her from the disaster. But at the end of the day, he was the one who set sonte disasters in motion. That couldn’t just be brushed aside.

Only then did Jayson look at her, his gaze deep and unreadable. “Does it have to be this week?”

Ariel held his eyes, gave him a quick once–over, and said plainly, “It’s just your arm that’s hurt. Your legs work fine. Shouldn’t stop us from handling paperwork.”

This time, Jayson gave a short, humorless laugh. “You’re quite cold.”

Ariel didn’t flinch. “The sooner we get this over with, the better for both of us. You’ll be single again.”

She could be pretty stubborn at times.

Especially now, caught in a fight for her own survival, she didn’t have the energy to wrestle with emotions. All she could do was focus on pulling herself out of the fire first.

Jayson just stared at her silently.

The tension between them hung in the air.

Just then, Nancy’s soft voice came from the doorway. “Jayson, I spoke with the doctor about your follow–up treatments. There’s an option to reduce scarring-”

She stopped mid–sentence.

The moment her eyes landed on Ariel sitting beside the bed, her expression iced over. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about Ariel’s arrival. It felt intrusive.

Ariel didn’t turn to look.

But at that exact moment, as Nancy entered, Jayson looked at Ariel and said calmly, “Okay.”

Ariel understood immediately. It was the sight of Nancy that pushed him to make the decision.

Ariel stood up. “Let’s meet at 10:00 am tomorrow. See you there.”