At some point, she must have fallen asleep. The soft mumbling of people in the room woke her up. She opened her eyes slowly, pissed someone had taken the liberty to draw the curtains. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed Jayden talking to the doctor.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty," Jayden brightly said as he noticed me. He came closer to her side.

"I heard you're being discharged today." He added with a smile.

"yessss, I am." She immediately felt livelier. She didn't care about what was waiting for her out there anymore. She knew she was capable of handling whatever would be thrown at her.

"great." He ruffled her hair playfully. "I won't be able to come back with you, unfortunately…" he trailed off and glanced at the doctor. The doctor took this as a cue and excused himself.

"My parents want to retire early. They want to enjoy the 'fruits of their labor' in their words. That's why I was so hell-bent on this whole taking over the thing."

She looked at him like she really looked at him. He looked much better compared to the past few days she'd been seeing him. He seemed brighter like a heavy load had been lifted from his shoulders. His injuries were also healing very fast.

"You look great, by the way. Have you come out to your parents?"

"Naah, I don't have to cross that bridge now." He said smiling. "Papa wants the transition to be smooth. He's not yet giving me full control—just bit by bit. I've just realized I don't have to do anything at once. So, for obvious reasons, I'll have to stay here."

"Once everything's good for me…. I'll come back and visit, of course," She told him cheerfully.

"No parties without me, honey." He told her sternly. She smiled mischievously.

"We'll see." She cheekily replied.

"I'm serious, Jiaye. The last thing I want to see is headlines of a girl found in the gutters-"

"Get the f.u.c.k out of here!" She shouted 'offended' as she chucked a pillow at him. He ducked laughing just as the door opened. It landed square on Maddie's face. Jayden couldn't help it. He full-on burst out laughing and went out of the room. He was leaving her to deal with the aftermath.

His assistant had just briefed Maddie, and there was some unfinished business he needed to send back home. Some very urgent meetings that needed his presence, and he'd been postponing them for too long.

He drove fast to the hospital. He was intending on clearing the bills and getting Jiaye out of there and into his bed asap-whoa. Where did that come from? He shook his head, trying to rid himself of those thoughts, but he just found himself thinking of the previous night. If the nurse hadn't come in, would it have stopped at just an innocent kiss? He could feel his pants tightening as his thoughts became clearer.

He ran his hands roughly through his hair as he quickly parked and began heading for the nurse's station.

"Excuse me," he muttered brusquely, bringing their attention to him. He was aware of the effect he had on women, so it pleased him when they immediately came to his aid. One short, plump redhead quickly rushed to my service.

"Yes, sir?"

"My wife is to be discharged today." He said without offering much else and went to pick a phone call. He gave curt replies to whoever was on the other end of the call as he signed the papers presented to him, gave his card, and went to see his wife.

Already in a foul mood from the call and his s.e.x.u.a.l frustration, being welcomed by a pillow straight in his face did nothing to lift the dark cloud. He reigned in his anger and stepped in, bypassing the pillow on the floor. His wife's so-called friend was almost tipping him over the edge with his annoying laughter. But once he looked at Jiaye's face, he immediately calmed down. She looked like a deer caught in headlights, and he just warmed at sight.

"I'm so sorry!" She rushed to apologize before he could blow up on her. "That pillow was aimed at Jayden's stupid face I didn't think-"

"It's okay, Jiaye."

Something about the way he said my name made butterflies rush into her tummy, and suddenly all she could think of was last night. Their almost kiss… she felt like a f.u.c.k.i.n.g teenager again. She quickly looked away, feeling the color rise in her cheeks.

"We'll be going back home today. Once you're discharged."

She managed to meet his gaze. "Home?"

"Yes, Beijing, the city that never sleeps. You might recover some of your memory, from our matrimonial home."

The last part sounded a bit strangled, forced- if it was an appropriate word to use. This just made all her fear begin creeping up on her. Was it really that bad? Or was she just reading too much into nonexistent things? Yea, let's go with the second one.

The doctor came in and nodded in acknowledgment of Maddie's presence.

"She's okay to be discharged today if any problem arises you could come back for a check-up- or to your nearest medical facility," he added as an afterthought. "Your legs are doing well, and we've noticed a major improvement. I'd advise exercising them often. But not too strenuous." He gave them a look- the look.

Oh God, as if she could take any more mortification, Maddie swiftly replied, "We can't promise anything."

They both chuckled as if it was some sort of bro joke.

The doctor left, and a nurse got in shortly after, gave Maddie his card and gave him some forms to sign, came over to her, removed the iv drips, and gave her a sweet smile.

"You are now free to leave." She announced cheerfully.

Well, ain't God good.

"Thanks."

Did she leave with a slight bow? She started pulling back the covers still in yesterday's clothes and slipping on her crocs.

"Are you sure you can walk?" Maddie asked, concerned immediately by her side.

"Yes. When you weren't here, I was practicing." She told him proudly, standing and striking a pose. This seemed to amuse him, and she was once again blushing. What was with her today? She mentally facepalmed and turned to leave the room.

He followed her close behind. She guessed she didn't have anything here. Apart from the bag, she saw Jayden slipping away.

"What time are we leaving?"

Maddie quickly checked his watch, "In an hour. We need to head over to the airport."

She looked at him, shocked, "An hour??"

He just looked at her without saying a thing.

"I haven't even packed my bags! Or prepared myself-"

"Which bags?" he cut her off swiftly. She opened her mouth with a quick response, but he had a point which bags?

"Surely I can't have come all the way to France without anything. Lemme find Jayden." She noticed his jaw tick. Maybe he wasn't very fond of Jayden. Meh, whatever.

She quickly pulled out her phone and dialed Jayden's number.

"Hey, where are you?"

"Behind you."

She turned and saw him waving at her from the vending machine.

"Babe," She fake sobbed, dropping herself in his arms dramatically, "We're leaving today. I'll miss you so much!" She told him truthfully, pulling back from him.

"I'm not surprised you're leaving today. And if looks could kill, I'd be ten feet under by the look your darling husband is giving me." She quickly pulled away from him. For a moment, she'd forgotten she was married. He was probably mega pissed at her.

Jayden pulled her back in for a tight hug and whispered something in her ear.

"We're leaving now, Jaiye."