Gem In Disguise: The Abandoned Wife's Priceless Brilliance

"Ma'am, is your emergency contact coming? Your condition is critical, and you need surgery right away."

Hailey Holden checked her phone, which was about to die, but her husband, Samuel Ford, still hadn't answered.

Twenty minutes earlier, a car accident had sent her straight to the trauma bay. At that point, she needed emergency surgery.

No matter how many times she called Samuel, none of her calls went through.

The nurse kept urging her with a worried look. After forcing down her pride, she called Samuel's executive assistant, Jason Carter.

The call rang for a long time before he finally answered. As usual, Jason spoke with open contempt. "Ms. Holden? What do you want now?"

"Do you know where Samuel is?" Hailey struggled to speak because her voice had grown weak. "I have to talk to him."

"I'm sorry, but Mr. Ford can't speak right now," Jason replied in a cold and dismissive voice.

Hailey pressed her teeth hard against her lip. "Please, I only need a minute. Let me speak to him."

Before Jason had a chance to respond, a woman's voice came through the phone. "Samuel... I don't feel well..."

A sudden chill ran through Hailey's whole body when she recognized that voice.

The woman was Valerie Marshall, Samuel's ex-girlfriend. She had cruelly ended their relationship and escaped overseas after an accident left him in a vegetative state.

Hailey ended the call without another thought. Her eyes had turned red, and her voice began to break as she faced the nurse. "My husband... he won't be coming. Don't wait for my emergency contact. Please proceed with the surgery."

For a long moment, the nurse looked at her with pity before letting out a sigh. "All right."

The light faded from Hailey's eyes while a dull pain slowly grew in her heart.

When she settled back against the bed, every trace of color drained from her face.

After two days, Hailey's health started to improve, yet her phone remained quiet. Samuel hadn't even called once to ask how she was doing.

Just as she prepared to leave the bed and get some air, she heard the nurse beside the next bed speaking excitedly to a coworker. "Hey, can you guess who I just saw? It was Mr. Ford from Apex Global!"

Hailey immediately stopped moving when she heard those words, and a spark of happiness crossed her face.

However, her happiness vanished as soon as the nurse continued, "He was carrying a woman into the private infusion suite. I heard she only has a minor cold, but Mr. Ford completely panicked because he was so worried about her."

"Seriously? I heard he's already married. Do you think that woman was his wife?"

Bit by bit, all the color left Hailey's face.

Was Samuel really there with another woman?

If everyone believed that woman was his wife, then what the hell did that make her?

Without wasting another second, she limped toward the private infusion suite.

When Hailey peered through the suite's window, she saw Samuel inside.

Samuel sat next to a strikingly beautiful woman. She obviously couldn't stand needles. Her head rested against his shoulder while she kept her eyes tightly closed, and her face showed how much she hated the needle.

Samuel lifted his hand and covered her eyes before warning the nurse, "Try not to hurt her."

A moment later, he looked at the woman again, and his face immediately softened. "There's no reason to be afraid. I'm staying right here with you."

What Hailey saw hurt far worse than any injury she had suffered.

Each wound across her body ached with quiet pain.

Not a single tear had fallen when the car struck her.

Even after discovering that Samuel was with Valerie, Hailey hadn't cried.

She had also kept herself from crying when she chose to undergo surgery alone and lay on the operating table by herself.

However, the moment she witnessed the scene in front of her, everything she had struggled to hold inside finally broke free. Heavy tears poured from her eyes and streamed down her face.

It turned out that her husband truly knew how to treat someone with tenderness.

He had simply never shown any of it to her.

Once the nurse walked out, only Samuel and the people who had come with him remained inside the spacious private suite.

Derek Brooks was among Samuel's closest friends, and he finally spoke. "Samuel, how much longer are you going to stay with that fat cow before divorcing her? You and Valerie were forced apart three years ago, so you both deserve the happy ending you lost. If it hadn't been for that psychic, Elias Vance, who claimed that a wife for you would somehow make a difference to your condition and that the fat cow was your best match, Hailey wouldn't have had any chance of becoming your wife."

After hearing Derek's words, Valerie looked toward Samuel. Expectation shone in her eyes, but she made herself sound understanding. "Even so, Samuel's wife has stayed beside him for three entire years..."

Derek let out a mocking laugh. "Samuel only kept her around because she looked after him for more than a year. Otherwise, he would've ended their marriage ages ago."

After a short pause, he faced Valerie. "Don't worry about it, Valerie. Samuel has never paid any real attention to that woman. You're the only one he's ever cared about."

Beyond the suite's door, Hailey curled both hands into tight fists.

"Is that true? Samuel... have you honestly never felt anything for your wife?" Valerie asked softly from inside the room.

Hailey's heart suddenly rose into her throat.

With desperation in her eyes, she kept watching Samuel while a small trace of hope fought against her crushing fear.

Not a hint of emotion appeared on his painfully handsome face, almost as though they were talking about a person who meant nothing at all.

Samuel moved his lips just enough to answer. "Not once."