Chapter 4
On the drive home, I checked Instagram. Sage had posted twice:
First: [She’s nothing like me at all. But isn’t that trying a bit too hard to prove something?]
Second: [If these three years were meant to show me I was wrong to walk away… well, mission accomplished.]
Three years of genuine love suddenly felt like a cruel joke. I broke down sobbing.
All this time, I thought Matteo’s devotion came from love. Instead, I’d been a prop in their elaborate performance – his way of making her regret leaving.
Sloane, bless her heart, was never one for gentle consolation. She preferred direct solutions.
“Stop crying. Men are replaceable. Take your pick – my brother’s basically a young Brad Pitt, and my dad’s still making headlines as Manhattan’s most eligible silver fox!”
Despite everything, I had to laugh.
“God, Sloane, I feel so pathetic needing you to fight my battles.”
She reached over and squeezed my shoulder. “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re different people. I grew up in a house of men after Mom passed – three emotionally stunted individuals who couldn’t express love if their lives depended on it. I turned into this confrontational mess, rarely useful except in situations like these.”
“Meanwhile, you’re literally everyone’s guardian angel. The gentlest soul in New York. The only doctor at Mount Sinai who can make a needle feel like a feather. When I was hospitalized, your daily visits were the only thing that kept me sane.”
Her words helped rebuild my shattered self–esteem.
“Seriously though,” she pressed, “why not consider marrying into the Astor family?”
It was an old joke between us. We’d met during her hospital stay – I was supposed to be just assisting the chief of medicine, but Sloane had insisted on having me as her primary physician after experiencing my gentler approach.
She’d been lamenting the timing ever since. “If only I’d gotten sick a few months earlier! You were still single then – I could’ve set you up with Harrison!”
15:38
The Ice Prince’s Love Prescription: I’m Your Remedy to Forget Your Ex
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Chapter 4
The unwitting subject of her matchmaking – her brother Harrison, who’d specially flown back from his research fellowship in London – would visibly cringe at her persistent campaigning.
Thanks to Sloane’s relentless matchmaking attempts, my interactions with Harrison had been painfully awkward from the start. Whenever we crossed paths, I’d awkwardly stare at the floor while he’d look anywhere but at me, both of us pretending the other didn’t exist.
Recently, Harrison had returned and joined our hospital staff – in the office right next door to mine. The arrival of this brilliant, emotionally reserved, devastatingly handsome surgeon had sent the entire hospital into a frenzy. Female staff members found endless excuses to walk past his office, and sick day requests had mysteriously plummeted.
Meanwhile, I’d taken to avoiding bathroom breaks during my shifts, terrified that too many trips down the hallway might lead to yet another awkward encounter.
Noticing my silence, Sloane brightened. “Oh my god, you’re actually considering it! Well? Brother or
Daddy?”
I smirked. “If those are my only options, I’ll take your dad.”
“Perfect choice! He’s older – we’ll inherit sooner. Then we can fill the penthouse with male models! My brother’s no good – he’s too health–conscious and disciplined. I’m worried you’d be stuck with
him forever.”
I was left speechless.
