The Billionaire's Dangerous Redemption (by Claire Winters) novel Chapter 77

77 Severing the Final Tie

The crash of medical equipment against the wall echoed through the hospital room Ivy’s tantrunt had escalated from screams to violence, her face contorted with rage as she hurled anything within reach at Alistair

“You promised!” she shrieked, grabbing a water pitcher. “You said you’d stay with me

forever

Alistam dodged the projectile with practiced ease. His expression remained eerily calm almost detached, as if he were observing a stranger’s meltdown rather than tus

wife’s

“I said I’d stay until the end.” he corrected, his voice devoid of emotion. “I never promised forever.”

Ivy’s chest heaved with exertion. “You can’t leave me now. I’m dying!

A cold smile crossed Alistair’s face. “Are you? The doctors seem to think otherwise.

I stood by the door, watching this final act unfold. The revelation that Ivy had been faking her terminal diagnosis had shattered whatever obligation Alistair felt toward her. Three months had passed since our wedding day, and her miraculous “remission had fooled no one

“You know what your problem is, Ivy?” Alistair continued, straightening his suit jacket

You never understood the difference between pity and love:

Ivy’s face crumpled, “Don’t you dare walk out that door!”

Alistair turned toward me, his eyes meeting mine briefly before addressing ivy one final time “Goodbye Ivy suggest you learn to stand on your own two feet won’t be there to catch you when you fall anymore?

He walked toward me, his steps measured and deliberate. Behind him. Ivy’s screains intensified

You’ll regret this! Both of you will!

We stepped into the ballway together closing the door on her hysteria. Through the wood; we could hear anya’s pans Red voice calling for a doctor as Ivy began retching

violently

“She s vomiting blood! Someone help!

Neither of us looked back

The hospital corridor stretched before us, sterile and quiet compared to the chaos we’d left behind. Alistair walked beside me, keeping a respectful distance

“I’m sorry” he said finally, breaking the silence “For everything.”

I kept my eyes forward, watching the floor numbers light up above the elevator ahead

“It doesn’t matter anymore.

“It matters to me, he insisted. “I should never have left you.

No, you shouldn’t have,” I agreed calmly. “But I’m glad you did.

This caught him off guard. “Glad?”

If you hadn’t betrayed me, I never would have discovered my own strength.” I pressed the elevator button: “I never would have known what I’m capable of”

Alistair studied my face. “You’ve changed:

“People tend to do that when their world collapses.”

The elevator doors slid open with a soft chime. Alistair held his arm out to stop them from closing

I still love you, Hazel His voice had taken on that familiar persuasive tone he’d used countless times before. I know I made an unforgivable mistake, but

“I don’t hate you anymore. Linterrupted.

His expression flickered between hope and confusion “You don’t?”

No: I met his gaze directly. “I feel nothing for you at all. That’s far worse than hatred,

The color dramed from his face. My indifference clearly hurt him more than any anger could have

We have Instory” he tried again. Six years together

And it’s exactly that I cut in “History Past tense Finished.

The elevator doors attempted to close again, and once more Alistair held them open desperation creeping into his eyes

“Can we at least talk? Maybe over coffee sometime?”

I shook my head “We’re strangers now. Alistair Strangers shouldn’t travel together”! stepped back from the elevator Tll wait for the next one

The finality in my voice left no room for argument. His hand slowly dropped from the door allowing it to lose between us. Through the narrowing gap, I watched his face crumple with the realization that he had truly lost me forever

As the elevator carried him away, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. Six years of memories, both sweet and bitter, no longer had power over me

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Grandmother’s name flashed on the screen

“Hello, Grandma. I answered, walking toward the hospital garden for privacy

Bazel, dear. How are you holding up?”

settled onto a bench beneath a flowering dogwood. “I’m fine. Just left Ivy’s room. It’s officially over

“Good riddance, she huffed. “That girl has been poison since the day she entered your life!

The breeze rustled the tree’s pink blossoms Grandma, there’s something I need to ask you

Whout your mother?

Her perception always surprised me. “Yes. Ivy said something about Dad having planned to marry Mom for her money even before they met

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