Chapter 4

I looked up at Zachary, unable to believe what I was hearing. His brow was furrowed, but he said nothing. Silence was his answer.

"Zachary Reynolds!" His name tore out of my throat.

Still nothing.

My parents had been in a car accident a year ago. My father died instantly. My mother had been in a coma ever since.

I never imagined that the same man who once held my hand and swore, "I promise I'll make sure your mom wakes up," would stand here today and let his own mother use that against me.

Everything inside me snapped at once. My nails dug into my palms. I looked up at Tina, and the words just spilled out before I could stop them.

"No wonder you're so good at threatening people! You built your whole life the same way. You were the one who broke up someone else's marriage. Zachary was born from that affair. And now you're defending someone else trying to wreck my relationship too?"

Zachary's voice cracked with anger. "Katlyn! What is wrong with you? How dare you say that to Tina? Apologize. Now."

I shouted back, my voice raw. "Your mother is threatening my mother's life to force an apology out of me for something I didn't even do. I was just telling the truth!"

"And you, Zack! You've only been back with the Reynolds for a few years. Since when do you have the authority to kick a patient out of the hospital?"

Zachary pulled out his phone, his thumb already hovering over the call button."Whether I have that authority isn't up to you to decide. While I'm still asking nicely… apologize to my mother and to Hann. Right now, or I'll have your mother thrown out of that hospital myself."

"You wouldn't dare!" My heart was slamming against my chest. "If you do this, Trev won't let it go!"

"Trev? My brother?" Zachary let out a cold laugh. “Don’t act like you know him.”

I spat out. "Oh, I know him alright. He's the son of your father's first marriage and got named an heir before your father died. He's the one who actually runs Reynolds Medical Center!"

For a second, Zachary's expression froze. Tina's face went pale too.

But a moment later, Zachary just scoffed. "So what if he does? Even if that's true, who do you think you are, trying to hide behind Trevor’s name? Apologize. Now."

The crowd's phones were practically shoved in my face at this point.

Standing in front of me was the man I'd given three years of my life to. The man I'd once pictured walking down the aisle with. Now, one of his arms was wrapped protectively around another woman.

The other hand held a phone, ready to dial a number that could get my mother killed. My head spun. The pain and the unfairness of it all threatened to spill out of me completely. But I couldn't gamble with my mother's life.

Shaking, I slowly lowered myself down, my head bowed. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

Something flickered in Zachary's eyes when he saw me give in. Maybe a flash of guilt. But to keep backing Hannah up, he pushed further anyway. "Don't just stand there and say it. Get on your knees. Apologize to my mother too!"

My body felt like it was filled with lead as I forced my knees to bend.

Just as I was about to kneel, the screech of tires cut through the air. A car door opened, and a man stepped out. He was wearing the same matching outfit as me, a bouquet of roses in his hands.

He took one last look at me before his face darkened. "Kate. They hurt you. Didn't they."

The man standing in front of me was Trevor Reynolds.

Zachary and Tina's faces went stiff in an instant. However, since Hannah didn't recognize him, she laughed with mockery.

"And who are you supposed to be? Some actor she hired?"

Trevor didn't even glance at her. He walked straight up to me and helped me up off the ground. Then he handed me the roses.

He noticed my injured palm, the cut over it looked rough and painful. Then his eyes landed on the shattered phone on the ground, and his expression turned dark.

"Who did this?"

Zachary's face shifted through a dozen emotions. He clenched his fists, forcing the words out. "Trev, this is all a misunderstanding..."

"I asked who did this." Trevor cut him off, his gaze sweeping from Hannah to Tina.

Hannah took a step back under that stare, but she forced out a scoff anyway. "Oh, I get it now! You're the backup boyfriend! Wow, Katlyn, you really do get around, huh? Got a whole lineup."

"I'll ask one more time." Trevor lifted his eyes to her. "Who pushed her? Who broke her phone?"

Zachary gritted his teeth and stepped in front of Hannah. "Trev, I'll explain everything to you later, okay? Kate, just go."

Trevor let out a cold laugh. "Why would she go anywhere? Katlyn came here today to register her marriage. With me."

Zachary's face drained of color. "What did you just say?" He then looked at me. "Kate, what is going on between you and my brother? Is this some kind of joke?"

I lifted my head, and said firmly, "It's not a joke. I've told you. I was waiting for my partner to register our marriage."

Zachary's eyes went wide. "Kate, stop this nonsense!"

"It's not nonsense." Trevor took my hand. "Kate came to City Hall today to register her marriage with me. She's my girlfriend."