I Called the Don My Future Brother-in-Law. He Called Me His Chapter 04

I Called the Don My Future Brother-in-Law. He Called Me His Chapter 04

As if his reassurance had come true, my mother made it to the hospital in time, and the doctor said there was nothing seriously wrong.

It was only when I stood in front of the billing desk that I belatedly realized I had nothing on me. I had no idea where my phone had fallen, and my purse had been left behind in the private dining room.

For a moment, I felt lost.

Just then, Rafe walked up behind me and handed a black card to the nurse.

The edge of the card was stamped with the crest of the Vittori Family.

The moment the nurse saw it, her attitude became much more respectful, and even her movements grew brisker.

I looked back at Rafe, pressed down the complicated emotions in my chest, and thanked him quietly.

“I’ll pay you back later.”

“And today… thank you. It was thanks to you. The doctor said my mother is fine now, so you should go.”

Rafe stood in front of me against the light.

When he heard that, he went still for a moment. Then he gave a laugh that sounded almost self-mocking.

But when he spoke again, his voice was frighteningly cold.

“Sera, when you need me, you use me. When you don’t, you kick me away.”

“It was like that six years ago.”

“And it’s still like that now.”

He lowered his head and stared at me, the emotion in his eyes so deep it was frightening.

Then he licked his lips and bent closer to me.

“Do you think I’ll let you run away so easily this time?”

The hot afternoon sun poured in through the window at the end of the hallway.

Rafe’s tall figure cast a heavy shadow across the floor, almost swallowing me whole.

I did not know how to answer when a crisp female voice suddenly broke the oppressive silence.

“Rafe.”

The sound of high heels striking the floor drew closer and closer.

Rafe lifted his eyes and looked behind me.

I did not even need to turn around. Just hearing that voice was enough to make every hair on my body stand on end.

It was Celeste Arden.

She was my former nightmare.

She was the underworld princess.

She had always seen herself as Rafe’s future Donna.

“I heard you were here, so I came to take a look.”

She stopped about three feet behind me, her gaze sweeping over me from head to toe. There was a trace of uncertainty in her voice.

“Sera?”

Damn it.

She still remembered me.

I turned and glanced at her.

After several years apart, she was even more dazzling than before. The Arden family had always been deeply tied to the Vittori medical network, and now, as she stood in the hallway of St. Aurelia, she looked almost as if she were standing on her own territory.

Most people naturally felt drawn to beautiful women.

But toward Celeste, I felt only disgust.

It was the kind of disgust that made me feel as if one more glance would dirty my eyes.

“I’ll pay you back later. I’m leaving.”

After saying that to Rafe, I turned to go, not wanting to stay there for even one more second.

My contemptuous attitude clearly annoyed Celeste.

She called after me from behind.

“Sera, you still dare to show your face in Manhattan?”

I was no longer the timid little girl who feared everything.

I turned back with a cold laugh.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because Manhattan has a demon like you in it?”

“Celeste, you’re grown now. Can you stop acting so childish?”

Of course, Celeste was no longer the madwoman who exploded at the slightest spark.

It seemed everyone had changed.

Only Rafe was still stubbornly trapped in the past.

I gave him an uneasy glance, then forced myself to quicken my pace and leave.

Soon, I heard Celeste questioning Rafe behind me.

“Rafe, why are you still tangled up with her?”

“Have you forgotten what she did to you back then?”

“You almost died because of her, and what did she do? Did she ever look back at you once?”

My steps stopped abruptly.

Back then… had something happened that I did not know about?

But the past was still the past.

I had finally clawed my way out of those days, and I did not dare look back.

I kept walking.

Only after I turned the corner did I hear Rafe’s voice behind me, cold as a blade.

“Shut up.”