Before she could say more, the door opened.
William rushed in.
James’s eyes locked onto him instantly. “Bring the car,” he ordered. “I want to see Mia. Right now.”
William hesitated, concern written all over his face as he took in James’s injuries. Then he spoke carefully.
“Mr. Sinclair, you asked me to find out who Ms. Bennet has married,” William continued. “I couldn’t get that information. But there is something else I found out just now.”
James straightened despite the pain. “What is it?” His eyes burned.
William glanced toward the doorway. A nurse was standing there. He motioned for her to come in.
The nurse hesitated briefly, then stepped inside.
William gestured toward her. “Mr. Sinclair, do you remember when Ms. Bennet’s dad had a heart attack five years ago? She was the nurse on duty during his stay at this hospital.”
James’s gaze snapped to the nurse. His brows furrowed as a strange unease settled in his chest.
The nurse clasped her hands together, visibly nervous as she looked between the three of them. After a brief hesitation, she finally spoke.
“After Mr. Bennett completed the emergency procedures, he was recovering at this hospital for a week,” she explained carefully. “His daughter… Mia… she started insisting on marrying the man who had saved her father’s life.”
James’s breath stalled.
“She kept saying he was a good man,” the nurse said, stealing an anxiously look at him. “That if a man could carry a complete stranger on his back and rush him to the hospital without hesitation, then that man must have a kind heart. She said someone like that would love his wife and parents just as deeply.”
Her fingers twisted together, knuckles whitening.
“I—I’m not saying this because I was spying,” she said quickly, a nervous, awkward laugh slipping out as if she was afraid of being misunderstood. “It’s just… when the man who saved Mr. Bennett carried him in on his back, the whole hospital was thrown into chaos. It was impossible not to know about it.”
She paused, then continued, her voice steadier now.
“I was going in and out of Mr. Bennett’s room that entire week—changing his IVs, giving him medication. Every time I passed by, I kept hearing that girl. She begged her parents again and again.”
The nurse’s expression softened, her tone dropping unconsciously. “She was so sincere… so stubborn in her own way. Some of the nurses even laughed at her innocence back then.” She exhaled quietly. “That’s why it stayed with me. I remember it so clearly.”
James’s chest tightened painfully.
He whispered, almost to himself, “I… can’t believe it,” he said hoarsely. “I completely misunderstood her.”
The nurse continued gently. “She told her parents that if she liked him first, and if she tried hard to be a good wife, there wouldn’t be any distance between them.”
James’s fingers curled tightly into the bedsheet.
“She said they would fall in love eventually,” the nurse continued. “That he was the kind of man she wanted to spend her whole life with. And if she had already found him so early… why wait?”
Her words landed one after another, relentless.
“She said getting married early only meant they would have more years together.”
James sat frozen.
The nurse’s voice faded, replaced by memories crashing violently into his mind.
“We’ve found a good match for you.” His mother’s voice echoed in his head. “I asked their family to let you date for a few years. I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t find someone better. If you did, we could’ve simply said it didn’t work out. But they refused.”
He remembered standing in his office, documents spread out before him.
