AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He frowns. “Ellis…”
“I’ll tell you what I know,” I say to him. “I know that I’m a Northup. At least, that’s what the DNA test result said.”
Rainier’s eyes grow wide. “It’s out?”
I nod.
“I see.”
“And you know what that means.”
He shrugs. “That you’re an heiress. That you now think they have no choice but to love you.”
I take the ring off my finger and press it against his palm.
“That you can’t marry me. After all, you’d rather die than marry a Northup, right?” I exhale as I step back. “Aren’t you glad our engagement is fake?”
Rainier looks at the ring, then at me. “Ellis…”
“And there’s no reason for us to keep up the act,” I tell him. “I’m going to tell my family the truth.”
He closes his fingers around the ring. “You don’t need me anymore, huh?”
“No.” I shake my head. “You can leave.”
Rainier nods. “I see.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “You only stayed to protect me, right? Well, you don’t have to keep protecting me anymore. In fact, you don’t have to do anything for me anymore. And I don’t want you to.”
I head to the door. Vivian told me I’ll be getting a different room now, my own room closer to hers and Samuel’s, which is good. I can’t go back to this room after Rainier leaves or I’ll just remember him. I can’t do that. I have to forget all about him now that I’m a Northup.
I square my shoulders before throwing one last glance over one of them.
“Goodbye, Dr. Knight.”
Then I step out and close the door.
Chapter 24 ~ Second and Third Opinions
Rainier
I close the door to my office behind me and head to my desk. The piles of paperwork are the first thing I see.
I frown. Well, that’s what happens when you take so many days off work.
I sit down and pick up the document on top of the pile. I’ve barely read the first few lines, though, when my mind starts to wander far away.
Miles away, to where Ellis Smithson is.
Nope. Not Ellis Smithson. Ellis Northup.
I wish I could be happy for her. Really, I do. She deserves to have a fortune and to have as big a family as she wants. But how can I be happy when I still believe her life is in danger?
I still do believe that. And I still can’t believe Ellis thinks I made it up. What? Just because she’s a Northup now, she’ll believe everything that family says? Just because they’re her real family, she thinks they’re perfect? I thought she was smarter than that, but I guess I was wrong. Or maybe those Northups are just that good at fooling people.
Well, I was also wrong about thinking I’d be able to keep her. I thought she was in love with me. I thought if I kept her by my side long enough, she’d think she actually belonged there and never think of leaving.
I snort. Maybe I’m the one who’s not as smart as I thought.
A knock on the door breaks into my thoughts. A moment later, it opens and Tom peeks in.
“So you’re back, huh?” He opens the door wider but remains in the doorway. “I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to see you until after the New Year.”
I turn my gaze to the sheet of paper in my hand. “I thought about it.”
He closes the door and approaches my desk. “So, where’s Ellis?”
“I had a feeling you would ask that.”
“Rain?”
I put down the sheet of paper. “She’s gone.”
Tom’s eyebrows arch. “Gone?”
“She’s not coming back to the hospital.”
“Ever?”
I shrug. “She might come back next year. Or she might not.”
Tom sits down. “Rainier, this is the hospital’s best intern we’re talking about. I need better than that.”
“Fine.” I sit back. “You want the truth? She found out she’s adopted, so she set off to find her real family, and she found them. Now she wants to spend time with them, especially with her grandfather, who happens to be dying.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, and he also happens to be a multi-billionaire. I think you know him. Samuel Northup.”
Tom’s eyes grow wide. “You’re saying Ellis, Ellis Smithson, is the granddaughter of Samuel Northup?”
“Yup.”
Tom’s jaw drops. “Holy shit.”
“Mind-boggling, right? Anyway, like I said, Samuel is dying so she’s staying at Northup Manor to take care of him. Also, she’s rich enough now that she can very well open her own hospital and do her internship there once she’s ready.”
Tom frowns. “And you just left her? You didn’t try to convince her to come back here?”
“Well, I was going to, but she decided to stop listening to my opinion.”
Tom sighs. “The two of you had a fight, didn’t you?”
I don’t answer.
“What did you do to her this time?”
“Me?” I throw him the puzzled look. “Look, I know you think I’m always the bad guy, but I didn’t do anything this time, okay?”
