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Dr. Fenton frowns, pauses his examination, and looks up. “Everything okay? Is the pain tolerable?”

I grunt.

He chuckles and shakes his head as he affixes fresh bandages over my wounds. “Looking good. No signs of infection.”

“I could’ve told you that.” Throwing the blankets off me, I swing my legs off the bed.

I have no time for this—to be coddled over a few stitches, or to be near someone I clearly don’t like, judging by my impulse to tell him to fuck off.

As I approach the door, he says, “You know, that was brave. What you did—covering Dr. Lin with your body when the asshole shot at her.”

I freeze, my pulse kicking up a notch.

“I can’t help but wonder if there’s something going on between the two of you. Not that it’s any of my business, but everyone knows you’re her patient and the rules are strict—”

“Well, it’s a good thing it’snone of your business then,huh?” Spinning around, I face him, finding his shrewd eyes narrowed, lips pursed.

The charming doctor is gone, and in his place is a suspicious man who’s clearly jealous and is marking his territory.

She’ll never be yours.

I gnash my teeth. “Dr. Lin is my physician and a family friend. I won’t have anyone question her reputation by implying any wrongdoing.”

There can’t be any wrongdoing. Not by me or anyone else.

Chapter Nineteen

“I’m sorry. There areno leads yet, Dr. Lin. But rest assured, the local chief of police is coordinating the search,” Laura, the personal concierge assigned to me, says apologetically through the phone. I called to her after my last patient appointment—a patron who had an anxiety attack on board—ended early.

A lump forms in my throat. The Leica is irreplaceable. I had plans for the pictures I took with the camera, plans I would carry out at Las Fallas. And now, those photos, along with my memento from Mia, are gone.

I’ve failed her and lost another piece of myself.

“Thanks for looking into it. Please keep me posted.”

Laura murmurs more apologies before hanging up.

It’s only a camera, Olivia. You could’ve lost your life.

When I was in elementary and middle school, my parents enrolled us in a Saturday Chinese school. Boy, did we complain. Other kids got to sleep in, watch TV and have fun, but we needed to be up at eight and go to class. We’d practice a language I didn’t use except with my parents, and do homework.

Tons of homework.

But now, as an adult, I’m appreciative. There are things I’ve learned—the culture, the idioms. One of which isqian cai nai shen wai zhi wu, which roughly translates to “money and possessions are things outside of oneself.” Possessions and wealth can come and go, butthey don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Because what’s most important is ourselves and our loved ones.

But what if those loved ones are gone? What if you’re alone in the world?

You aren’t alone, Olivia.I remind myself of my girls.

Lana called me right after the attack, worried about me. Taylor and Grace video chatted with me. Taylor waved her fists in the air, promising wrath and fury at whoever did this to us. Belle and Alexis called from the Anderson Estate, with Belle showing me Silas the husky, saying dogs make everything better.

I talk back to my negative thoughts, knowing I should be grateful I survived the attack when someone knocks on the door.

My head snaps up and I glance at my phone. Two thirty-five.

Of course he’s late.

“Come in.”