Time-Limited Love: A Contract Expired, Not Renewed novel Chapter 143

He couldn’t remember how long it had been.

Zinnia had always treated him this way.

No matter what he did, he never managed to stir up even the slightest ripple of emotion in her. It was as if, to her, he simply didn’t matter—nothing he did could make a difference.

But thinking back to last night, when he told Zinnia to leave that man, he recalled the flicker of emotion in her eyes. The memory was enough to reignite the frustration simmering in Landon’s chest.

He shot Zinnia a cold look, then turned to Zephyr and said, “Zephyr, whatever the case, Xander’s incident happened under Zinnia’s care. It’s natural for his family to want a different doctor.”

“You—” Zephyr bristled, ready to snap at Landon, but Zinnia calmly stopped him.

“Professor,” she said, glancing briefly at Landon before turning to Zephyr. “Since the investigation hasn’t concluded, I should recuse myself to avoid any conflict of interest. Once a new doctor is assigned, I’ll hand over all of Xander’s medical records.”

Zephyr looked at Zinnia’s composed face and, after a moment, let out a long sigh. “All right. You were on call the entire night and haven’t rested since dawn. Head home and get some sleep. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Thank you, Professor.” She nodded, polite but distant.

An entire night without sleep, coupled with the stress of the morning, left her head pounding. After saying a few quick goodbyes to the other visiting cardiac specialists and the medical team leads, she left the hospital.

She had barely stepped out of the building when Landon’s voice called after her. “Zinnia, where are you going?”

She turned to find Landon already following her, his jaw set and his eyes dark with agitation.

“Do you still need something?” she asked coolly.

His jaw tightened further—a sure sign he was upset.

Except for last night—when he’d told her to leave that man—nothing he said or did ever seemed to touch her. Did she really not care about him at all?

Landon’s face grew darker as he stared at Zinnia, her expression as placid as ever.

Zinnia spoke, her voice level and almost nonchalant. “I’ve been targeted online myself. I just thought I’d try handling it the same way. Can’t she take it?”

Landon stared at her, her casual indifference only fueling his anger. He let out a sharp, bitter laugh.

“What, are you hoping to copy Noelle and get depression too?”

Even as the words left his mouth, Landon froze, his brow creasing with regret.

And as Zinnia watched the mocking, resentful look on his face, she was suddenly reminded of that day—when she’d been buried beneath the snow, and the only thing Landon had sent her was a curt WhatsApp message.