The Doctor Who Has No Ambition (Soulless Book 9) - Victoria Quinn Page 0,5

your head out of your ass. Maybe I’ll still be around by then.”

Two weeks passed.

No texts. No calls. Nothing.

My phone was always in my hand, always waiting and hoping to see the screen light up with her name.

But that never happened.

It was hard to resist reaching out to her, not because I was stubborn, but because I wanted her to come back and apologize to me on her own, to fight for this marriage because our time apart made her realize how much she loved me.

But that didn’t happen either.

I didn’t tell my family what was going on. I didn’t want them to hate Catherine if she came back and we worked on our problems. My parents were kind and forgiving, but I knew it would change their opinion of her forever.

I still wanted to make this marriage work because I loved her.

I really loved her.

Home alone, I turned weak and texted her. I miss you.

The dots didn’t show up. A response didn’t come through.

Baby, come home. Please.

The next day I was in my office, my phone still quiet because I hadn’t gotten a response from her. We hadn’t spoken once since she’d walked out with her bags in hand. Were her nights just as sleepless as mine?

My assistant opened the door. “Dr. Hamilton, there’s a lawyer here to see you. Says he needs to give you something.”

My heart dropped into my stomach because I knew exactly what it was. I was being served.

I’d been served for medical malpractice, but it was always frivolous, and just to be an ass, I countersued to protect my reputation—and always won. I hoped that was what this was now, another stupid lawsuit because someone knew how deep my pockets were.

I left my desk and walked into the lobby, eager to get that paperwork in my hands to make sure Catherine’s name was nowhere on it—that she wasn’t the one filing for divorce.

The suit looked at me. “Are you Dr.—”

I snatched the manila envelope out of his hand and ripped it open to get the paperwork inside.

I almost fell to my knees the way Catherine had when she’d learned of her father’s passing. My hands were always steady, but now they shook with unexpected tremors, the paperwork shaking in front of my eyes.

Because my wife had asked for a divorce.

Derek opened the door in just his sweatpants, probably watching TV on the couch while his kids were asleep in their bedrooms. He took one look at me and knew my life had just turned to shit. “What is it?”

“What is it?” I held up the envelope before I shoved it in his face. “You lied to me. That’s what’s fucking wrong.” I pushed past him and stepped into his penthouse when I hadn’t been invited. I’d spent the day blowing up Catherine’s phone and then marching to her mother’s place because I knew that was where she was staying. They wouldn’t open the door. They wouldn’t even give me that courtesy. They treated me like a fucking monster, when all I’d tried to do was save Allen’s life. “You told me I would fall in love with the right woman, and we should spend the rest of our lives together. Well, look at me now.” I turned around and faced him. “My wife left me, and she’s taking half of everything I fucking worked for.”

Derek pulled out the papers and examined them, his eyebrows furrowed, his look slightly angry.

Emerson came down the hallway and joined us, probably because she’d heard me yelling. “Is everything okay?”

“Is everything okay?” I asked incredulously as I turned to look at her, seeing her in her loungewear too, her hair in a bun. “Does it sound like everything is okay? My wife left me, without a word, like I’m some kind of asshole.”

Emerson flinched at my anger because she’d never seen me like this before. She inched toward Derek, keeping a few feet of distance between us.

Derek looked up from the papers. “Dex—”

“I fucking told you this would happen. And if you think it’s not going to happen to you too, then you’re fucking stupid. Watch, Emerson is gonna walk out on you just the way Catherine did to me, and you’ll see.”

Emerson stood beside her husband and continued to stare at me.

Derek lowered his gaze and didn’t say anything.

I was furious at the world, at everyone, even people who didn’t deserve it. “I tried to save her father’s life…and now she doesn’t love me anymore. One day, you’ll