Fractured Faith Rekindled Affection Novel by Peppermint Cat
Chapter 8

I thought Jordan and I were done for good.

But just a few days later, I got another call from Dr. Green. I was about to block him when he practically begged, “Caroline, don’t ang up! Please, you’ve got to come see Jordan. He’s not eating or drinking. It’s really bad.”

“He’s sick. He’s got doctors. Why are you calling me?”

“But he was in a car accident on his way to see you,” Dr. Green said, accusingly. “You have to take some responsibility for this.” That’s when I found out what had happened. Jordan had been urgently called back for surgery, but it was raining, and the roads vere slick. He lost control of the car and crashed. Because no one found him right away, and he was unconscious, by the time they did, :was too late to save his leg.

He’d had to have it amputated, and now, he was stuck in a wheelchair. After he woke up, he refused to eat or drink and wasted away almost nothing.

Dr. Green, in his self-righteous way, blamed me for the whole thing.

After hearing all of that, I figured I should at least go see him.

When I got to the hospital, Jordan was asleep, with Qiana slumped in a chair beside him. She wasn’t pregnant anymore. clearly, he’d lost the baby.

When she noticed me, she practically hissed, “What are you doing here? Haven’t you done enough damage?”

Her shouting woke Jordan up. As soon as he saw her, he snapped, “I told you not to come here! Can’t you listen? If it wasn’t for ou, Caroline and I wouldn’t be divorced. Our baby would still be alive, and I wouldn’t have lost everything. Get out, Qiana!”

Qiana just stood there, stunned, and then turned to me. Her face flushed with embarrassment. “But you said you’d love me if she vas out of the picture.”

“Who would love a woman who plays mistress to an old man?” Jordan sneered. “You’ve got no self-respect.”

That’s how Jordan was. He always knew how to hit where it hurt.

Qiana was so shocked she couldn’t even cry.

But then, out of nowhere, she started laughing. “So what? Was I the one who made you refuse to pick up your wife in that nowstorm? You chose that. You said you were sick of her clinging to you. When she had a miscarriage and was lying unconscious, ‘ou didn’t even know! No wonder she left you! A man like you deserves to be alone.”

“Get out! Just get out!” Jordan was furious, grabbing a tray from beside his bed and throwing it at her.

Qiana didn’t see it coming, and it hit her right in the head, splitting her forehead open.

It was such a pathetic scene, and I couldn’t help but replace it almost comical.

Bleeding, Qiana snapped and lunged at Jordan, clawing at his face until someone finally hit the nurse’s call button.

When Dr. Green rushed in and saw me standing at the door, he glared at me, demanding, “How can you just stand there and watch while Jordan’s in such a state?”

As Dr. Green finished speaking, Jordan finally noticed me.

He looked at me, a bit sheepish. “Caroline, I’m not usually like this.”

“No, Jordan, this is exactly who you are,” I shot back. “Always blaming everyone else for your mistakes, full of arrogance with nothing to back it up.”

He gave me a look, almost pleading. “I won’t let anyone talk about you like that.”

“Jordan, every opinion Qiana has of me came from you. If you didn’t belittle me, she wouldn’t dare provoke me. If you hadn’t encouraged her, she wouldn’t have pushed things this far. So don’t act like this has nothing to do with you. That just makes you look even weaker.”

“And for the record, I didn’t come here out of concern for you. I just wanted to see what kind of karma the people who destroyed my life would face. Jordan, when you were wrapped up in Qiana, you had no idea how much I was counting on you that night in the snow, I called you so many times, and you hung up on me every time. If you’d just taken one call, my baby might still be here. So when Dr. Wang told me you’d crashed in the rain and passed out from blood loss, I thought, is this karma? In those same awful conditions, feeling a part of your body slip away. Did you feel the despair, too?”

“Caroline, please, stop, I’m begging you. I know I was wrong.” Jordan suddenly broke down, the weight of it all finally crashing down on him

“No, Jordan, this is exactly who you are,” I shot back. “Always blaming everyone else for your mistakes, full of arrogance with nothing to back it up.”

He gave me a look, almost pleading. “I won’t let anyone talk about you like that.”

“Jordan, every opinion Qiana has of me came from you. If you didn’t belittle me, she wouldn’t dare provoke me. If you hadn’t encouraged her, she wouldn’t have pushed things this far. So don’t act like this has nothing to do with you. That just makes you look even weaker.”

“And for the record, I didn’t come here out of concern for you. I just wanted to see what kind of karma the people who destroyed my life would face. Jordan, when you were wrapped up in Qiana, you had no idea how much I was counting on you that night in the snow. I called you so many times, and you hung up on me every time. If you’d just taken one call, my baby might still be here. So when Dr. Wang told me you’d crashed in the rain and passed out from blood loss, I thought, is this karma? In those same awful conditions, feeling a part of your body slip away. Did you feel the despair, too?”

“Caroline, please, stop, I’m begging you. I know I was wrong.” Jordan suddenly broke down, the weight of it all finally crashing down on him.

He looked genuinely shattered like he was drowning in pain, whether it was physical, emotional, or both.

The veins on his forehead were pulsing with agony, forcing Dr. Green to quickly give him a sedative.

Dr. Green turned to me, clearly upset. “I regret asking you to come back. You’re cruel.”

“Am I? Am I crueler than someone who pretends to be Jordan’s friend while pushing Qiana into his life?” I shot back, right in front of Jordan.

Dr. Green went pale, scrambling to defend himself. “Are you accusing me now?”

“You pretended to be Jordan’s friend while holding something over him. You wanted that professorship but couldn’t measure up, so you used Qiana. Jordan always seemed better than you, didn’t he?”

Dr. Green tried to deny it, but I simply pulled out the video of him and Qiana conspiring together.

“I’ve already handed over the evidence of you framing Jordan and making dirty money to the authorities. As for Qiana…”

I turned to her and said, “You fell in love with a monster.”

Yes, Qiana never truly loved Jordan. She was just using him.

Her real affection was for Dr. Green, but since he didn’t have money, she played the mistress, using her position to funnel cash to him.

Dr. Green wanted Jordan to be isolated and despised, so Qiana, pregnant and all, seduced him. But Dr. Green never showed Jordan any sympathy.

When I exposed their scheme, Dr. Green dared to say, “Qiana’s just a woman who will sleep with anyone willing. If she’s offering, I’m not going to turn her down. As for you, if it weren’t for you being a constant thorn in Jordan’s side, I’d have taken him out long ago. He laughed smugly, and that set Qiana off. She screamed, “I loved you so much, and this is how you treat me? You said I should be with you. I was so clean before…”

In her fury, she lunged at Dr. Green and, in a fit of desperation, pushed him down the stairs from the top floor.

The whole mess ended in a way that left everyone involved bitter and broken.

As I was heading out, Jordan asked, “Caroline, is there any chance for us in the future?”

I looked at him, worn and resolute, and said, “Let’s focus on moving forward. I don’t want to settle for less.”

At that moment, saw the light in Jordan’s eyes go out.