He owed this woman nothing. She was the wife of the man who had ruined his life. Yet he found himself immediately signing back, “No, we don’t have to tell them.”

Her mother teared up. But she nodded. “Okay, then I’ll go.”

She let out a watery laugh, “I had a feeling it was bad when they told me I might have liver cancer, and I went straight home to pour myself a drink.”

“If you’re scared of being alone, I can fly you to a place in Rhode Island,” he offered. “There are facilities like East Winds in every state.”

Her mother shook her head. “No, I was just scared before. Darrell will be back. He always comes back. And I want to be here when he does, no matter what I said the last time we—”

Her phone lit up on the bedside table, interrupting whatever she was about to say next.

Gyeong picked it up, and her eyes widened when she read the text. “He got my messages. And he’s coming now. He says he’ll be here in less than fifteen minutes!”

She raised her gaze back to Victor, her expression shrewd and careful. “If your marriage to my daughter is complicated, this might be the time to go to the house and get your things. My husband’s here now, so I won’t be all alone. And I won’t tell him anything. I promise.”

She grinned at Victor with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. “I like the idea of finally being the one with the secret.”

Victor did not return Gyeong’s wicked smile.

This was about revenge, he reminded himself. And Dawn’s father was here now. Not embedded deep undercover. Here was the chance to relight that dynamite and throw it at his unsuspecting enemy. Darrell would not be as accepting as his wife. Just the opposite. He’d be horrified when he found out his daughter was back with him. This was the perfect opportunity for Victor to reap what he’d come to Texas to sow.

So now the only question was, would he take it?

24

DAWN

Victor showed up just as I was stepping out of line in the hospital's cafeteria, with a tray filled with food for both of us.

"Let's go," was all he signed before grabbing me by the arm and leading me toward the exit.

"Wait, I just got food. And we haven't eaten since breakfast."

He took the tray from me and dumped it into the nearest trash can without an explanation.

"Hey!"

Without any apology whatsoever, he took me by the arm and all but dragged me out of the cafeteria.

I was alarmed, to say the least. Even more so, when he started walking me in the opposite direction of the elevator bank that would take me back upstairs to my mother.

I stopped, digging in my heels to demand, "What are you doing?"