Tristan Sterling’s face was livid, his good mood utterly ruined.

He had hoped to use this incident to get closer to her.

But she, on the other hand, had the gall to humiliate him with money.

’She used to be so gentle and obedient. How did she become so wild and defiant?’

"Isn’t it obvious?" Holly Sinclair scoffed, her eyes full of scorn.

"You have a death wish?"

Seeing her dare to provoke him further, the man’s eyes blazed with fury.

"I don’t want to die, but I’m not afraid to die, either!"

She spoke coolly, then, under his furious gaze, calmly picked up her clothes and went into the bathroom.

A moment later, she emerged, fully dressed.

Tristan Sterling was sitting on the sofa, watching her coldly.

She couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge him and walked straight to the door.

She pulled the door open, but just as she was about to step out, she looked back at him.

"Tristan Sterling, tell your precious love that secrets don’t stay buried forever. She’ll get her just deserts!"

Her voice was devoid of warmth, and the last five words were forced through gritted teeth.

Tristan Sterling heard the malice in her words, a clear curse.

His expression darkened instantly. "What did Vivian ever do to you?" he demanded, clearly displeased. "Why are you so hostile toward her?"

’Someone who would risk her life to save his couldn’t possibly have a malicious bone in her body.’

Holly Sinclair laughed.

Her eyes were filled with scorn and a deep, desolate sadness.

As if suddenly drained of energy, her shoulders slumped, and the sharp thorns of her anger seemed to vanish.

"Tristan Sterling..." she murmured, her eyelids drooping.

Seeing her attitude soften, he assumed she knew she was in the wrong.

The tension in his face eased. He stood up and said gently, "I’m here—"

"Go to hell!!"

She suddenly shrieked the curse.

At the same time, she grabbed a small wooden knickknack from the cabinet by the door and hurled it at him.

THUD!

"Hiss..."

Caught completely off guard, Tristan Sterling was hit square on the forehead, the pain forcing a sharp intake of breath.

’She had thrown that with deadly intent.’

A large welt was already swelling rapidly on his forehead.

"Holly Sinclair, have you lost your mind?!"

He clutched his forehead, his jaw twitching in fury.

But she didn’t even deign to give him a glance, simply turning and walking away.

SLAM!

She stormed out.

...

After leaving Azure Bay, Holly Sinclair hailed a taxi.

The moment she got in the car, her phone rang.

It was Ian Quincy.

"Miss Sinclair, please come to the hospital immediately."

Ian Quincy’s voice came through the line, cool and detached.

"What’s wrong with my brother?" Holly’s heart lurched, and the color drained from her face.

"You should come over first. We’ll talk then."

With that, Ian Quincy hung up.

Half an hour later, Holly Sinclair rushed frantically into her brother’s hospital room.

Ian Quincy was still examining Noah Sinclair.

He was checking his pupils, listening to his heartbeat, and periodically asking Noah Sinclair how he felt.

"Dr. Quincy, what’s wrong with my brother?"

Holly Sinclair asked anxiously as she rushed into the room, her face a mask of worry.

Ian Quincy had just finished his examination. He turned to look at her. "I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"The good news!" she answered without hesitation.

’Things have been so hard lately; I need a little bit of good news.’

"Your brother’s cognitive functions have recovered significantly," Ian Quincy said. "As long as we continue treatment, he’ll keep improving."

’Does that mean he can make a full recovery?’

"Really?!"

Holly Sinclair’s eyes widened in delight, and they quickly rimmed with red from emotion.

"Noah! Noah!"

She rushed over and threw her arms around her brother, crying with joy. "This is wonderful, Noah! You’re going to get better! Oh, Noah..." She trailed off, sobbing.

"Who are you?"

Just as Holly Sinclair was overwhelmed with happiness, her brother’s voice, detached and confused, sounded in her ear.

She froze.

"Noah?" She let go of her brother and called out instinctively, "It’s me! I’m Holly Sinclair, your sister."

"Sister?" Noah Sinclair looked at her, his expression blank with confusion.

Holly Sinclair whipped her head around to look at Ian Quincy.

"That’s the bad news," Ian Quincy said calmly. "Your brother has amnesia."

"What?!" Holly Sinclair cried, her face a mask of utter shock.

’My brother doesn’t remember me?’

Ian Quincy said, "For now, we can’t determine if Mr. Sinclair’s amnesia is temporary or permanent. We’ll have to observe him for a while."

Holly Sinclair looked at her brother, his expression still somewhat vacant, and for a moment, she didn’t know whether to be happy or sad.

Dr. Quincy suggested that she tell her brother stories from their past, as it might help restore his memory.

After Dr. Quincy left, Holly Sinclair sat by her brother’s bedside and told him many stories about their past.

She only stopped when Noah Sinclair complained of a headache.

「By the time Holly Sinclair left the hospital, night had fallen.」

As she was about to hail a taxi home, she suddenly remembered something very important.

She’d forgotten to take the emergency contraceptive pill!

She’d only realized after leaving Azure Bay that she and Tristan Sterling had been together for two days and two nights straight.

Even though she had been at the hospital for a day, she calculated that it hadn’t been 72 hours yet.

There should still be time to take the pill now.

Her divorce from Tristan Sterling was a sure thing, so she absolutely could not allow herself to get pregnant with his child.

When they first married, she had desperately wanted to have his children.

Because she loved him, she wanted to have a miniature version of him, a bond between them that could never be broken.

But he had never given her the chance.

Not only were the times they slept together few and far between, but even when they did, he was always meticulously careful with contraception.

And despite that, she had still been hopelessly in love with him.

’Thinking about it now, I was so incredibly stupid back then.’

’I’m also so glad we don’t have any children.’

’Otherwise, my resolve to divorce him might not be as strong as it is now.’

Holly Sinclair quickly found a nearby pharmacy.

It was a small pharmacy. She went inside and told the pharmacist what she needed.

The pharmacist was new and took a long time to find the box for the morning-after pill.

After paying, she went to the small convenience store next door and bought a bottle of water.

She popped a pill out of the packet, took a large gulp of water, and forced it down.

After taking the pill, she finally relaxed and walked to the curb to catch a ride home.

What she didn’t know, however, was that back in the pharmacy, the new employee was getting chewed out by the store manager...

...

Holly Sinclair had been waiting anxiously, day and night, for the mandatory cooling-off period to end.

She and Tristan Sterling could finally get their divorce certificate.

The thought of finally cutting all ties with him put her in a great mood.

She grabbed her documents early in the morning and drove to the registrar’s office.

But she waited from eight until ten, and Tristan Sterling never showed up.

’What is he playing at?’

Holly Sinclair immediately pulled out her phone to call him.

She couldn’t find his number after searching for a while, only to suddenly remember that she had blocked him everywhere.

Suppressing her fury, she unblocked his number.

Then she fired off a series of texts—

"Tristan Sterling, where are you?"

"If you’re a man at all, get to the registrar’s office. Now!"

"If you don’t show up today, I’m filing for divorce in court. And when I do, don’t blame me for telling the whole world about your sordid little affair with Vivian Linton!"

"I’m giving you one last chance. You have half an hour. If you’re not here by ten-thirty, I’m calling the media. You figure it out!"

"Tristan Sterling, answer me!!"

She sent a rapid-fire barrage of messages.

A complete bombardment.

Two minutes later, Tristan Sterling finally replied.

"On my way."