I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 218

At the hospital, the doctor escorted Seraphina into the emergency treatment room to clean and dress the burn.

However, unlike every time before, Finnegan didn't hover anxiously by her side, pestering the doctor about whether it would leave a scar.

He slumped onto a plastic chair in the hallway, leaning his head back against the freezing wall. The harsh fluorescent lights washed the corridor in a sickening pale glow as he exhaled heavily and closed his eyes.

Back then, when the plane crashed and his brother died, he had stolen Frederick's identity to survive. That deception had undeniably struck a devastating blow to Nora.

She had been so thin at the time she looked like a sheet of paper, barely able to stand on her own at the funeral. For five years, she had raised Cassie single-handedly and never uttered a word about moving on—proof that she had never truly let him go.

If he finally discarded his alias and told Nora that the man who survived wasn't Frederick, but him—that he was alive and well—she would definitely weep with joy.

She would abandon any ridiculous notions of remarrying. They would settle back into their perfect lives, just like the old days.

He could figure out a way to placate Seraphina later. To the public, he could maintain the facade of Frederick's identity, allowing him to take care of both women without having to answer to Seraphina.

He pressed his lips together, his mind racing with possibilities.

The doctor stepped out of the emergency room, pulling off his gloves with a stern frown.

"You're adults. How do you manage a water burn like that? The surface area isn't huge, but the burn is quite deep. Keep it completely dry for the next few days. Apply the ointment twice a day. Honestly, a grown man who can't even take care of his own wife."

Still trapped in his own fantasies, Finnegan blurted out instinctively, "She isn't my wife."

The door to the treatment room was cracked open. Inside, Seraphina heard every single word with crystal clarity. Her entire body locked up.

He was so desperate to distance himself from her, caring more about a mere label than he did about her agonizing injury.

Instead, at the sound of those words, a terrifying spark lit up Finnegan's eyes.

His brow furrowed slightly. He hesitated for several long seconds before tentatively asking, "Seraphina... do you really mean that?"

The air in the room practically turned to ice. Seraphina snapped her head around, her red, swollen eyes wide with absolute disbelief.

She had only tested the waters, and he was actually seriously considering it?!

Seeing the horror etched across her face, Finnegan immediately realized how catastrophic his response had been.

He scrambled to grab her hand. "That's not what I meant, Seraphina. Please don't overthink it. I just don't want you to feel trapped. I never wanted to leave you."