Chapter 213
Irene stood by her bedroom window, watching clouds roll in. Despite the gloomy sky, she couldn’t help smiling. Last night with Adam had left her feeling lighter than she had in years.
Her gaze drifted to his house across the garden. For the first time since coming back to Silver City, she could actually see a way forward without family baggage weighing her down.
“Time to move on,” she murmured. The Sterling drama had taken up enough headspace. Today, she’d finish it–her way.
After a quick breakfast, she drove straight to the hospital while storm clouds loomed. As she strode through the corridors, nurses huddled together, their whispers dying as she passed.
“Good morning, Dr. Joy,” one brave soul ventured..
Irene nodded back. The secret was out, but strangely, that felt like freedom rather than exposure.
A resident whispered to his colleague as she passed, “After seeing what that woman did to her kids? I’d have walked away too.“,
She kept walking, face neutral. Matthew’s office door stood ajar, and she found him completely absorbed in a medical journal, his face hidden behind the pages while his tea cooled untouched.
She tugged the journal down. “Earth to Matthew. Anyone home?”
He blinked rapidly, surfacing from his academic trance. “Irene! What brings you by? Thought you weren’t on today.”
“Rose,” she said simply, dropping into the chair across from him.
His friendly expression cooled instantly. “After that media circus? You don’t owe her a damn thing.”
“I’m not operating,” Irene clarified, leaning forward. “But I’ll guide you through it. Katherine’s flying in to help.”
Matthew’s eyebrows shot up. “Why bother?”
“This isn’t about being nice,” she said, holding his gaze. “It’s about closing the book. Once I do this, we’re even.”
She tapped her fingers against his desk. “I’m still a doctor, and I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with what–ifs. You save her life, and I finally get to move on.”
“You’re something else,” Matthew said, shaking his head. “Anyone else would just walk away.”
“Call it self–care,” Irene said with a half–smile. “One last favor, then m out.”
They spent the afternoon hammering out a treatment plan. Matthew would lead with Katherine assisting, while Irene provided her specialized recovery approach that would significantly improve Rose’s chances after the heart transplant.
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This bumps her from thirty to sixty percent,” Matthew said, flipping through their notes. “Not as good as if you did it, but still pretty damn impressive.”
“It’s enough,” Irene lied. “More than enough.”
As evening crept in, Irene grabbed her things to leave. She’d brought an umbrella, but the rain had held off. Near the exit, a group of staff watched her, their earlier judgment replaced with something that looked uncomfortably like admiration.
“That’s Dr. Joy,” someone whispered. “Can you believe she’s still helping after everything that went down?”
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Chapter 213
Irene walked past without breaking stride. Their opinions hardly registered anymore.
Later that night, after dinner, he joined Joseph and Adam in the backyard gazebo. The triplets fore across the lawn, shrieking with laughter as they chased each of er in some game with constantly evelving rules, Irene prepared tea with practiced movements, the familiar ritual calming her thoughts.
As she handed Adam his cup, their fingers brushed. Their eyes locked for a heartbeat too long before both looked away.
“I made a decision today,” she announced, settling beside Joseph. “I helping Matthew with Rose’s surgery.”
Joseph’s weathered hand covered hers. “You’re too good for them.”
“It’s not about being good,” she replied, stirring her tea. It’s about being free. I need to slam this door shut before i can open any
new ones.”
Her eyes drifted toward Adam as she mentioned “new ones“-a glance that didn’t go unnoticed.
Adam had been quiet, watching her with those intense eyes that seemed to cut straight through her defenses, Setting boundaries isn’t heartless,” he finally said. “It’s knowing when to let go and when to stand firm.”
Something in his tone made Irene wonder if he was talking about his own experiences. The ruthless businessman who dominated boardrooms was showing unexpected depths.
“I always thought not forgiving was how I protected myself,” he continued, voice barely carrying over the evening air. “But maybe the real power move is just walking away.”
Their eyes met, something unspoken passing between them–a mutual understanding born from similar wounds and matching defenses.
Lily’s excited shriek as she tackled Lucas broke the moment, but the connection lingered between them like an invisible thread.
The following morning, Matthew stood in Rose’s hospital room, his typically gentle demeanor gone. In its place was clinical detachment as he addressed the Sterling family.
“The procedure originally had a thirty percent success rate,” he stated. “We’ve developed a specialized approach that bumps you to
sixty.”
John and Nathan exchanged shocked glances, hope flickering across their faces.
“That’s incredible,” Nathan breathed. “How’d you pull that off?”
Rose clutched at the bedsheet. “Is it real? Is it possible?”
Matthew nodded curtly. “It is. But let’s get something straight.” His voice dropped, taking on an edge that startled everyone. “If you weren’t rene’s mother, I’d have recommended transferring you elsewhere, because I personally couldn’t care less about saving someone like you.”
John’s face darkened. “Watch yourself, doctor.”
“Truth hurts, doesn’t it?” Matthew shot back without flinching. “This protocol exists because of Irene. Your improved odds? Because of Irene. Your second chance? All Irene.”
He locked eyes with Rose, making sure his words landed. “She won’t operate, but she created the treatment plan that might save your life. This is her way of cutting ties clean, After this, she’s done with all of you. For good.”
He turned and walked out, leaving stunned silence behind him.
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Chapter 213
“Irene? Rose whispered, the tame strange on her lips after years of pite. She’s helping me?”
Her mind flashed to the day Irene first returned to the Sterling home with her children–how she’d rejected her, refused to acknowledge her as family, dened her any warmth.
Now that rejected daughter had become extraordinary–someone whe, despite everything, was extending one final hand.
Something hollow opened up in Rose’s chest. She’d thrown away something irreplaceable through her own blindness and pride–a daughter who could have loved her, who she could have loved in return.
Nathan stood frozen beside the bed, his thoughts churning. The contrast couldn’t be more stark: Anna, the fraud they’d embraced, versus Irene, the daughter they’d discarded who showed plore integrity than all of them combined.
“What have we done to her?” he whispered, the weight of their collective choices finally sinking in.
