After Losing My Memory Don Begins A Good Husband. Chapter 02
The next morning, I opened the door.
Ricardo was sitting at the dining table drinking coffee.
When he saw me, he waved me over as if nothing had happened.
“Hurry up and wash your face—breakfast is ready. Isn’t today your hospital registration appointment?”
I looked at his perfectly composed face.
“You actually remember I’m registering today?”
He set down his coffee cup with a mildly exasperated tone.
“Of course I remember. I pulled strings to get the appointment—a specialist slot at Santa Maria Private Hospital.”
“After breakfast I’ll have the driver take you. I have an important meeting this morning.”
I nodded. I didn’t call him out on last night’s phone call.
“Fine. Go handle your business.”
After breakfast, the driver took me to Santa Maria Private Hospital.
The specialist clinic was on the sixteenth floor.
The moment I stepped out of the elevator, I heard a familiar laugh.
In the VIP lounge at the end of the corridor.
Ricardo was bent over, peeling an apple for a woman.
It was Valentina.
Giada and Ricardo’s buddy Massimo were there too.
Massimo was ribbing him loudly.
“Ricardo, you’re something else. I couldn’t get this specialist slot if my life depended on it, and you made one phone call.”
“Valentina can relax and get a proper full checkup now.”
Valentina accepted the apple, her cheeks slightly flushed.
“It’s my fault, really. It’s an old condition—I shouldn’t have troubled Ricardo.”
“Doesn’t your wife have a prenatal appointment today? Ricardo, you’re here with me—she’s going to be upset.”
Ricardo pulled a tissue and wiped his hands.
“Her registration slot isn’t that hard to get. I can go with her another day—no difference.”
Giada jumped in.
“Exactly. Her belly’s tough as nails—what could possibly go wrong?”
“You’re different, Valentina. You’ve had heart surgery. You need the best doctor.”
I stood frozen in place, ice spreading through my limbs.
Giada jumped in.
“Exactly. Her belly’s tough as nails—what could possibly go wrong?”
“You’re different, Valentina. You’ve had heart surgery. You need the best doctor.”
I stood frozen in place, ice spreading through my limbs.
So Ricardo’s “important meeting” was accompanying Valentina to her checkup.
So the “specialist slot he’d pulled strings for” had been booked for Valentina.
I walked toward them slowly.
“Ricardo.”
All four of them turned at once.
The moment he saw me, Ricardo’s apple-peeling knife went still.
“Elina? What are you doing on the sixteenth floor? Isn’t your appointment on the third?”
I looked at him, my voice steady.
“The appointment you said you booked for me—that was the general clinic on the third floor?”
Ricardo stood up, reaching for my hand.
“Honey, let me explain.”
“Valentina’s heart has been bothering her lately. The specialist slot was impossible to get, so I gave her yours first.”
“Your registration isn’t urgent—it doesn’t have to be today. I’ll definitely go with you next week.”
I pulled away from his hand.
“Why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”
Massimo let out a cold snort from the side.
“Come on, sis. If Ricardo had told you in advance, would you have agreed?”
“You’re just too petty. Always making a fuss over everything.”
“Valentina’s dealing with a life-threatening condition. Your little registration—what’s the big deal?”
I turned to Massimo.
“This is between me and my husband. What business is it of yours, an outsider?”
Massimo’s face darkened.
“You—”
Valentina’s eyes reddened, and she quickly stood up.
“Elina, please don’t blame Ricardo. It’s all my fault.”
“I had no idea today was your registration day. If I’d known, I never would have taken the slot.”
“Please don’t fight with Ricardo because of me. I’ll leave right now.”
She moved as if to walk away.
Ricardo grabbed her arm, his brow furrowed deeply as he turned to me.
“Elina, are you done?”
“Valentina is a patient. Do you really have to make a scene in a hospital?”
“When did you become so unreasonable?”
Unreasonable.
I was carrying his child. I’d come to the hospital alone.
I’d discovered he’d given my appointment to his ex-wife.
And somehow I was the unreasonable one.
Giada stepped forward to steady Valentina, glaring at me.
“Seriously, have some self-respect. Stop embarrassing the Moretti family.”
I looked at them, united against me.
“Fine. I won’t make a scene.”
“Ricardo, let’s get a divorce.”