Page 17 of Medical Malpractice

Gabriella’s lips trembled as her gaze remained averted, away from me. “You may not like who I become after this is done, Leo. I won’t blame you if you want to create distance.”

A dark chuckle escaped me as I squeezed her hand. It was our only form of contact, but it held the strength of an entire army.

“Unfortunately, I’m not as altruistic as you’d like to believe, Ella. Nico may have destroyed your world, but he stole mine. He will receive justice. In whatever way that looks like for you and me. Together.”

She gave me her eyes for the first time since I had entered the apartment, their green depths blazing with determination.

That’s when I gave her my request—one I had been contemplating for a month straight, which had now solidified in the wake of those revelations. “Come home with me, Ella. Move across the country, away from him.”

I wasn’t implying anything romantic. I just needed her to be safe and out of reach of that psychopath. Nico had always had an impulsive nature, but I didn’t think he was capable of all those unhinged actions that the private investigator had laid out before us. I didn’t recognise that version of him.

Current events forced me to reassess and sift through the last twenty years of shared memories. To separate my beliefs from the person I knew, and the detached individual he had proven himself to be.

The evidence was irrefutable. And the agonising truth was revealed. I never knew Nico at all.

Air caught in my lungs as I awaited Gabriella’s answer.

She eventually blinked and gave a slow nod. “I will come with you, Leo.”

Chapter 9

GABRIELLA

I sat alone in the bustling café, staring out the front window, awaiting my guest.

The past few months had been a whirlwind.

I moved across the country, started a new job and ramped up divorce proceedings. Nico tried to fight me on everything, though our case had grown a lot more complicated. I wasn’t playing nice anymore.

I made multiple claims against my soon-to-be-ex-husband, including fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of fiduciary duty. And I didn’t stop there, choosing to go after One Care Fertility Clinic for medical malpractice.

My world had been irrevocably blown to pieces, so it was only fair that the aftermath be far-reaching and just as devastating. No one was safe.

I had made it to the anger stage of the grief cycle—although that word didn’t fully encapsulate the acuity of rage continuously writhing inside me. It was a living, breathing entity, a starved beast that was desperate for the downfall of anyone who had played a part in my pain, no matter how minuscule.

Sometimes, those dark thoughts scared me. Hate didn’t come naturally, but Nico had turned me into a person I did not recognise.

There were only a select few I could now rely on and confide in. And one of them just happened to enter the café.

Daisy beelined for me, her green eyes holding an underlying hurt that reflected my own. I stood upright at her approach, and we enveloped each other in a tight hug. It was the first time we’d ever met in person, yet she was the sole entity on Earth who knew what I was going through in that exact moment.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I repeated like a mantra, guilt a constant companion ever since I had sent the incriminating evidence to her inbox.

“Don’t ever be sorry. I was wilfully blind, but no more. No more, Gabriella.”

Her words gave a modicum of relief before we both broke down in tears in the middle of a crowded café. Yet we didn’t care, the release cathartic and long overdue.

Through my private investigator, Nico wasn’t the only husband found implicated in all manner of nefarious acts. His new bestie and enabler—Lucus Miller, the international pilot—was frequently seen by his side, with all evidence leading to foul play.

I had met my husband’s new friend only once, and thought him charming. He was charismatic and devoted, even showing off pictures of his beautiful wife with shining auburn hair—the woman who sat across from me.

Initially, I’d been thankful for their connection, as Lucus and Daisy had chosen a child-free lifestyle. He openly shared his views, which seemed to ease Nico’s burden about our not being able to conceive. Now I knew how absurd that truly was.

The only positive that came out of their friendship was the unlikely one I found with Daisy, forged through joint betrayal caused by those who claimed to love us the most. They had unwittingly brought us together, and I was thankful to have her support.

We settled in our seats, mugs in hand, as we relayed the latest from our depressing lives.

“Have you filed for divorce yet?” I asked.