What Doesn't Kill My Marriage Makes the Surgeon Cut Deeper

In the seventh year of my marriage, my mom went into surgery, and a doctor's careless mistake left her in a coma.

They held me at the hospital while I kept hammering Jericho Fowler’s number like a madwoman. He didn’t pick up at all.

It wasn’t until Verona MacGill—my mom’s surgeon—sneered at me that the truth landed like a punch in the gut.

“My god, Venice, have you still not figured out your place? When you were nearly assaulted, when you were in that car crash, every time you called Jericho, he didn’t pick up. Do you know why?”

She didn’t even bother hiding that sarcasm and arrogance on her face.

“Because every time something happened to you, he was… inside me. In fact, even today, I made sure he satisfied me before I came here. Your mom in a coma? Hah, that’s what you get for being shameless! If you don’t leave, who knows what will happen to the rest of your family…”

I thought I had picked the right man, but I ended up with a husband who was nowhere to be found when I needed him most.

In the first year of marriage, I was assaulted and almost raped. I fought for my dear life and called him.

Ninety-nine emergency calls, and he never answered!

By the third year, my car was smashed by an oncoming truck that nearly killed me.

The hospital blew up his goddamn phone, and still, he did not answer!

In the end, I mustered whatever strength I had left and signed the consent form myself.

Finally, it hit me—he was the very reason all of that happened to me.

He and that doctor he was cheating with had been playing with me all this time! As if that wasn’t enough, they had even laid a hand on my family!

Screw them! They wouldn’t get away with it!

When my call went to voicemail once more, something in me snapped cold.

[Ten days from now, at the shareholders’ meeting, I’m going to sell all my shares to Jericho’s rival. I’ll make sure that piece of shit loses every damn thing in his name!]

1

Venice’s POV

After I sent the message, I collapsed to the floor in utter exhaustion.

Verona had already finished her business and left. Even though I was terrified for my mom, I had no way of knowing how she was now.

I expected to be stuck there for a long time, but half an hour later, Jericho appeared, dust on his shoulders and an impossible calm on his face.

When he saw my disheveled state, he barely frowned. Something about that made my heart lurch in my chest.

Before I could steady myself, he crouched down in front of me, pulled an agreement from his coat, grabbed my hand, and tried to press it into my palm.

“Jericho! What are you doing?!” I panicked, yanking my hand away with all my strength.

In his other hand was a release—a letter of understanding.

Half-squatting in a suit and polished shoes, he looked like a businessman closing a deal, not a husband faced with his wife’s crisis.

“Sign it, Venice. Come on, don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

His voice sounded steady; the lines on his brow softened as if nothing catastrophic had happened.

“Verona didn’t do it on purpose. Your mom ending up in a coma? That was her fate. It’s nobody’s fault.”

Cold swept through me; my blood felt like it was running backward.

“Jericho, do you remember you’re my husband?” I asked.

He reached out, pinched my chin between two fingers, his face unreadable.

“I know,” he said in a low voice, “But Verona saved my life once. I have to protect her. Besides, she didn’t mean for this to happen. Don’t be childish, Venice. Just sign this letter. It’s better for both of us.”

He set the paper down in front of me again.

Seeing that same expression he’d worn since the day we married, I snapped. I grabbed and tore the damn paper to pieces and screamed, collapsing into grief.

“Jericho! All these years, every time I needed you, you were never there! Now, you’re threatening me for Verona’s sake? My mom nearly fucking died because of that doctor!”

But my shouting didn’t stir him. His face didn’t even flinch; he was nothing but a ghost—cold and indifferent to my pain.

I swallowed the sob that wanted to break out and forced each word out like a vow.

“Listen—I’m not letting her get away with this. I’ll bring every piece of evidence I have and drag her into court. I’ll make Verona rot in prison for the rest of her life.”

Finally, I would leave this asshole forever!