As for the imported medicine Atlas had ordered for Ember, Spencer had secretly taken it out of the hospital to sell for profit. He didn’t use a single dose on her.
Ember looked at him, yet the words she had wanted to say caught in her throat. She simply swallowed them back silently.
At this point, it didn’t matter what she said—Atlas wouldn’t believe her.
Atlas was still fuming outside the hospital room. It had to be his fault for spoiling Ember over the years. He’d allowed her to develop such an unbearable personality.
Yet, despite his anger, he couldn’t stop himself from worrying about her. She was defying him, but wasn’t she also hurting herself in the process?
Kaylee, who was carefully watching his expression, seized the moment to suggest, “Ember is too stubborn and too unwilling to change. If we want her to fix her bad habits, why don’t you… cancel the wedding for now?”
“No.” Atlas rejected the idea without hesitation.
He only wanted Ember to be more obedient—he had never considered letting her leave him.
Every time he saw the engagement ring on her hand, which matched his, he couldn’t help but soften no matter how furious he was—especially when he thought about those horrifying wounds he’d just seen.
A pang of guilt stirred in his heart.
Ember had already endured so much; he couldn’t bring himself to push her further.
“But if you let her continue like this…” Kaylee’s eyes briefly flashed with resentment, though she quickly hid it as Atlas glanced at her. “She’s not just hurting herself. It pains you too, Atlas.”
Atlas pondered for a moment before shaking his head.
“The engagement was arranged by our elders. It can’t be canceled lightly. This decision is final.”
A flicker of malice passed through Kaylee’s eyes, but she quickly masked it. She then weakly swayed slightly as she spoke, “I’ll do whatever you say. I just…”
“What’s wrong? Is your hand hurting again?”
Atlas immediately held her in concern, scooping her up and rushing toward the duty room in a panic. “Help!”
