Jaguar swept out of the office with storming strides after snatching his jacket from the chair and throwing it over his frame. Fati remained frozen, her eyes anchored to his broad back as he retreated and vanished past the open door. Her wounded heart was supposed to loathe him, to reject him, and to wish for his utter destruction... yet the betrayal of her own heart was more lethal than her pride. In that dark moment, she desperately wished he wouldn't walk away. Quite the opposite... she craved for him to turn back and lock her into his embrace, shield her from the world's biting cold.
With bitter clarity, she realized she was starving for love so profoundly desperate for sanctuary that she was searching for it in the territory of her enemy, the very man who had crushed her dignity. Panic seized her at her own vulnerability, so she lifted her trembling hand and slapped her own cheek with a sharp stroke. It was a blow meant to awaken her from this delirium, to purge this shameful sensation from her veins. But the slap was futile; the image of his bare, imposing chest and masculine frame had become like a tattoo etched into her memory, flatly refusing to fade from her imagination.
Dragging her frail body forward, she moved toward the seat behind her desk, her mind spinning into madness:
- I must expel him from my life immediately... I must incinerate his existence before I truly lose my mind
She needed to erase his features from her submissive heart and mind.
She sat down, grasping her pen like a lifeline, attempting to write any word, or to distract her burning mind by reviewing the medical files of her emergency patients. But she failed completely. Her fingers locked, and the pen began to violently tremble and shake in her hand over the pages, like a slaughtered bird. She sank into her chair, fully realizing the wretched truth: the psychological agony and inner fracturing she was enduring now left behind wrapped in his shirt and saturated by his scent was hundreds of times greater and harsher than anything she had suffered during all the barren years of his absence.
Fati could no longer bear the suffocating walls of her office. She stood up, gathering the remnants of her strength, and decided to go up to the old grandfather's room, hoping that visiting him might grant her raging soul a shred of the calm and serenity she so desperately lacked. However, the moment she reached the threshold of his room, the blood froze in her veins; Jaguar was there, standing and waiting for her as if he knew she would inevitably come.
He gazed at her with calm eyes, and as she drew near, he spoke in a tone carrying a strange solemnity,
- I must introduce you properly and fittingly to my grandfather.
He paused for a moment, then extended his hand to gently grasp her tender palm, placing it upon his strong forearm. Keeping his eyes anchored to hers, he continued,
- For I... have not formally introduced you to our grandfather until now.
Fati offered no resistance, nor did she reject his touch this time. Instead, she surrendered to the call of her heart and walked in beside him with quiet strides. A strange sense of peace washed over her troubled being the moment her hand rested between his, as if the storms of the office had temporarily evaporated.
The moment they stepped into the room together, the old grandfather's face lit up with a warm smile that illuminated his frail features once more. In a voice filled with deep longing, he murmured,
- Fati... my dear
The grandfather extended his trembling, aged hand toward her. Fati stepped forward and slipped her warm palm into his, but this time she didn't just offer a casual greeting; she pressed his hands tightly, like someone clutching their final lifeline. At that exact moment, charged with unshed tears, she heard Jaguar's deep voice rising from behind her, breaking the silence and unveiling the ultimate truth:
- This is Fati Jack Pike... my wife, and your long-lost granddaughter, Grandfather.
Jaguar fell silent for a moment, stepping back to grant her the space to approach and embrace the old grandfather. Fati stepped forward, but her strides were heavy, and her body felt somewhat cold and rigid. Under Jaguar's piercing gaze, which pursued her like a shadow, it became utterly impossible for her to display any raw emotion or act naturally.
Sensing the coldness and detachment in her embrace, the grandfather sighed sorrowfully, gazing at her pale face as he spoke in a pleading tone,
- Fati... my child, I want the exact same warm embrace you gave me six years ago when you saw me for the very first time... I want it to be deeply intimate and genuine, just like then. That hug carried such an overwhelming torrent of emotion that it melted the stubborn ice wrapped around my heart for a lifetime.
Fati swallowed the lump in her throat, looking into his frail features, and spoke in a calm yet lifeless tone,
- Grandfather... I will try to adapt soon and embrace you as you wish... but I will not promise you anything. Because simply... I am no longer the same Fati who once possessed emotions to give away.
The words struck the grandfather like a physical blow. He snapped his head toward Jaguar, piercing him with a sharp, raging glare, and demanded furiously,
- What did you do to her during these past years to make her lose her radiant spark like this?! Tell me, Jaguar
Before Jaguar could even part his lips to answer, Fati blindsided him with a cutting, bitterly sarcastic response. Looking at her grandfather, she said,
- Rather, ask what he didn't do, Grandfather! Believe me... he didn't do anything ordinary at all. The only thing this man truly excels at and knows how to do... is to stand by as a mere spectator while I burn... and then turn around and walk away
Jaguar froze in his tracks, tightening his fist so hard that his knuckles turned ghostly white. Her words lashed the deepest recesses of his soul, and a wave of shame and biting remorse tore through his chest. Deep down, he knew she was entirely right. He knew he had played absolutely no real or protective role in her life for six long years, leaving her to face the world's cruelty entirely alone.
Desperately trying to steer the conversation away from the noose tightening around his neck, Jaguar quickly interjected,
- Grandfather... Fati is a highly skilled doctor now. In fact, she was the one who performed your complex surgery and saved your life.
The grandfather knitted his brows in grim disapproval, glaring at Jaguar with sharp reproach,
- A doctor?! And why on earth is she working as a doctor?! Were you not financial supporting her and providing for her, Jaguar, that she felt the need to endure the hardships of a job?! My granddaughter does not need to work
The words felt deeply provocative to Fati. For a split second, she was on the verge of detonating a bomb in the grandfather's face telling him that during those six barren years, she had balanced three exhausting, temporary jobs simultaneously just to secure her daily bread, and that Jaguar had exiled and abandoned her long ago. Yet, she reined in her fury, merely drawing a cold, rigid smile on her lips as she stated with absolute certainty,
- If I hadn't been a doctor working day and night, Grandfather... you wouldn't have woken up to speak to us right now.
The grandfather cleared his throat, attempting to reassert his patriarchal authority, and said,
- No matter... all of that ends now. You can return to your home immediately, and I will personally take care of all your expenses and fulfill your every need from now on.
Fati lifted her head with towering pride, speaking in a decisive tone that brooked no argument,
- I will not do that, Grandfather... I am a professional doctor and an independent individual. I am not a woman who needs to sit at home waiting for an allowance.
Turning his face away helplessly, the grandfather muttered weakly,
- We will speak of this later... I am too exhausted to talk right now.
Jaguar watched the exchange in silence, thinking to himself that this was his grandfather's classic method; whenever he encountered something he disliked or that defied his pride, he would postpone it to escape confrontation, only to enforce a gradual, absolute rejection later.
But Fati did not grant the old man an escape route. Moving with instinctive professional swiftness toward the bed, she stood over him, interrogating him like a stern physician,
- Where exactly is the pain localized? Have you taken your medications regularly? Do you feel pressure or ache at the base of your neck, or is the pain centered in your forehead?
Jaguar answered softly, trying to ease her worry,
- Don't worry, Fati... he is fine, just exhausted.
She didn't even glance at Jaguar. Instead, she firmly pulled the medical chart hanging at the edge of the bed, reading the vital signs with expert eyes. Returning the file to its place, she said with a clinical coldness,
- Everything is stable and good... It seems you are just slightly fatigued from the remaining anesthesia. Go back to sleep now, and I will order the nurse to administer an IV fluid that will comfort your body.
She delivered her final instructions in a commanding tone that melted the tension in the air, then turned and swept out of the room with confident strides, leaving Jaguar and his grandfather behind in a state of sheer awe at her commanding presence.
Jaguar remained in the room with his grandfather after her sweeping departure. Silence hung heavily for a moment before the grandfather broke it, sighing grimly,
- What is wrong with Fati?! She is... she is no longer that gentle, tender child I used to know in the past!
Fixing his gaze, heavy with remorse, on the empty space, Jaguar uttered in a tone dripping with pure bitterness,
- Yes, Grandfather... because your vile revenge in the past... is exactly what slaughtered her fragile soul.
The grandfather's eyes widened in shock, and he asked cautiously,
- What?! What on earth do you mean by that?
Jaguar averted his eyes coldly and muttered,
- Nothing... just rest now and do not trouble your mind.
Clearing his throat in an attempt to reclaim his authoritative stature, the grandfather added imperiously,
- Inform the hospital management that I wish to be discharged and return to the mansion tomorrow... And since Fati is a doctor, she can easily tend to me there at home, and resign from her job in this place immediately.
Jaguar looked at him with a bitter, mocking smirk and warned tightly,
- Grandfather... do not even think about forcing her or trying to cage her freedom. She might just abandon you and walk away forever if you do that! The Fati of today is not that simple, naive girl who blindly obeys orders... she is a professional neurosurgeon with her own independent existence.
At that exact moment, the door pushed open and Fati stepped in with confident strides, stating with a clinical, detached coldness,
- I have ordered everything you need in terms of medications and fluids, Grandfather... they will be administering them through your IV line right now.
The grandfather locked his controlling gaze onto her and proposed,
- I was thinking of checking out of here tomorrow and returning home... and since you are a physician, what do you think about leaving your job and shifts at this hospital, and coming with me to the mansion to be solely responsible for my medical care?
Fati pierced him with sharp eyes that held absolutely no fear of his immense wealth or power. She countered with a steel like finality,
- No, Grandfather... I will never do that. Forgive me, but I must go check on another patient in critical condition before my shift ends and I leave the premises.
Before she could turn to leave, her eyes betrayed her for a split second. Her gaze flickered, lingering on Jaguar's jacket, where the open collar left a tantalizing glimpse of his imposing bare chest exposed before her... his scent and definition served as a burning reminder of her own suppressed emotional hunger. Yet, she instantly snapped out of it, firmly averting her gaze, and swept out of the room, leaving behind a storm of roaring silence.
Jaguar tracked the ghost of her footsteps in pure awe, disapproving that his shirt revealed the extent of her body. Turning toward his grandfather, a smile overflowing with satisfaction, dark amusement, and sheer defiance played on his lips. He whispered with a layer of hidden pride,
- I told you, Grandfather... you are no match for her