The Unwanted Wife and Her Secret Twins (Mia and Kyle) novel Chapter 319

Chapter 319 The idea of winning

Chapter 319 The idea of winning

Mia’s POV

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Mount Sinai Hospital looked the same as it had four years ago when I’d given birth to the twins. Same revolving doors that moved too slowly. Same antiseptic smell that caught in your throat. Same fluorescent lights that made everyone look same face.

I stood in the lobby for a moment, watching people move past me like water around a stone.

Nurses in scrubs. Families clutching visitor passes. The rhythm of a place where life and death happened.

The information desk was staffed by an elderly woman with kind eyes and the practiced patience of someone who’d answered the same questions a thousand times.

“I’m looking for information about my husband’s medical care,” I said. “Kyle Branson. He would have been treated here over the past few years.”

She typed his name into her computer. Frowned. Typed again.

“Are you listed as his emergency contact?”

“I should be. We were married when he was last admitted.”

More typing. The frown deepened.

“I’m showing some confidential flags on this account. Let me get my supervisor.”

Ten minutes later, I was sitting across from a hospital administrator who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else.

“Mrs. Branson, your husband’s medical records are sealed under a court order.”

“A court order?”

“For patient privacy. The order was requested by the patient himself.”

My stomach twisted. “What kind of medical situation requires a court order for privacy?”

“I can’t discuss specifics. But if you believe there’s been an error, you could petition the court that issued the order.”

She handed me a business card with the contact information for the legal department.

I stared at the card.

Outside the hospital, I sat in my car and called the number on the card.

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Chapter 319 The idea of winning

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“Medical Privacy Legal Services.”

“I need information about a sealed medical record. Kyle Branson.”

“Are you an attorney?”

“I’m his wife.”

“Estranged or current?”

“What difference does that make?”

“Legal standing. If you’re estranged, you’d need to petition through family court. If you’re current, we might be able to help you understand the process.”

“We’re… it’s complicated.”

“I’ll need a definitive answer.”

I closed my eyes. “Estranged.”

“Then you’ll need to file a petition claiming medical decision–making rights based on abandonment or incapacity. The process typically takes six to eight weeks.”

I drove home in a fog. The twins were napping when I arrived, sprawled across my mother’s lap on the couch while she read a book about Victorian gardens.

She studied my face. “You look exhausted, darling.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I said.

The doorbell rang. Through the window, I could see Thomas standing on my front steps, holding a bouquet of white roses.

“I’ll get it,” my mother said, carefully extracting herself from the sleeping twins.

I heard voices in the hallway. Thomas asking if he could speak to me.

Thomas appeared in the doorway. He looked terrible. Hair disheveled. Dark circles under his eyes. Like he hadn’t slept.

“Can we talk?” he asked quietly.

I looked at my sleeping children. Alexander had his thumb in his mouth, something he only did when he was deeply asleep. Ethan was snoring softly.

“Outside,” I said.

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Chapter 319 The idea of winning

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We sat on my front steps like teenagers. The afternoon sun was warm on my face, but I felt cold everywhere else.

“I brought you flowers,” Thomas said unnecessarily.

“I see that.”

He set them down between us. The white petals looked funeral–appropriate.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said. About lying to you.”

“Have you.”

“And you’re right. I have been lying. But not about the important things.”

I turned to look at him. “What are the important things, Thomas?”

“That I love you. That I love the boys. That I want to marry you and build a life together.”

“And the unimportant things?”

He was quiet for a long moment. “That I know where Kyle is. That I’ve known he’s been in New York. I…I’ve been protecting you.”

“From what?”

Thomas ran his hands through his hair. “From making a decision you might regret.”

I stared at him.

“I mean from getting hurt again.”

“By Kyle.”

“Yes.”

“But really, you mean by not choosing you.”

Thomas’s face crumpled. “Yes.”

The admission hung between us like smoke. At least it was honest.

I suddenly covered my face with both hands, feeling the tears start to leak through my fingers. “For God’s sake, Thomas.” My voice was muffled against my palms. “I hate that we’re having to say these things.”

I dropped my hands and looked at him directly. Really looked at him. Thomas’s face was a study in beautiful devastation. Those sharp cheekbones that usually gave him an aristocratic elegance now

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Chapter 319 The idea of winning

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looked carved from grief. His blue–green eyes were rimmed with red, and I could see the exact moment his composure cracked. His full mouth, usually so controlled, trembled slightly before he pressed his lips together hard.

He had the kind of face that belonged in old paintings. Classical features that should have been cold but weren’t, because there was something eternally boyish about him even now, even as he sat there looking like his world was ending. His honey–colored hair was disheveled from running his hands through it, falling across his forehead in a way that made him look younger than his thirty–two

years.

When he spoke again, his voice caught. “Because I know you would.”

I watched a single tear track down his cheek, following the sharp line of his jaw. Thomas Wallace crying was somehow more devastating than any argument we could have had.

“Thomas, do you love me? Or do you love the idea of winning?”

He wiped his face with the back of his hand, a gesture so uncharacteristically unguarded that it made my chest ache.

“I love you.” His voice was thick now, rough with unshed tears.

We sat in silence that felt heavy as storm clouds. A neighbor walked by with their golden retriever. The woman waved cheerfully. I lifted my hand automatically.

Thomas’s mouth opened slightly, then closed again. No words came. His hands trembled as he reached for one of the white roses scattered between us. Thomas turned the rose over in his long fingers.

“I was afraid,” he said, gripping the rose stem so tightly his knuckles went white, the words catching in his throat, “that if you knew Kyle was there, you’d come back to him.”

“That would have been my choice to make.”

The rose was wilting in his hands, white petals dropping one by one onto the concrete steps like tiny surrenders. His thumb was bleeding where the thorn had caught him, but he didn’t seem to notice.

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