Just then, his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and muttered, "Give me a second."
The voice on the other end said something, and Damian’s face changed. He hung up quickly. “I need to leave. Something urgent came up.”
“That’s fine,” she said right away. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll look around a bit and head home.”
He nodded, gave her a quick smile, and hurried off. “Looking forward to working with you.”
Then he was gone.
Krystal walked out of his office and roamed through the corridors for a while, taking in the hospital facilities. After some time, she turned back toward the entrance to leave, but a voice behind her froze her in place.
"Stay right there."
She turned and saw Esther standing with her arms folded tightly across her chest, glaring down at her.
"What?" Krystal asked dryly.
“I need to talk to you. Alone,” Esther said stiffly, already turning and walking away.
Krystal didn’t want to get into any drama, but curiosity tugged at her.
She followed Esther, who led her down the stairs and toward the hospital’s small open-air café. They took seats across from each other. Esther didn’t stop glaring—not for a second—as she crossed her arms again.
“You’re here to see Lorenzo, aren’t you?” Esther asked in a calm voice that barely masked her rage.
Krystal folded her arms and leaned back in the chair, cool and composed, meeting Esther’s glare head-on without blinking.
That only made Esther seethe harder. Her voice snapped with anger as she leaned forward. “Didn’t you two already divorce? Why are you still clinging to him? Shameless!”
Krystal’s voice remained calm. “We haven’t divorced yet. I’m still his wife.” Her eyes swept over Esther in a cold, degrading once-over. “Maybe take a look at yourself before throwing shade.”
Esther’s jaw tightened. “So what? Lorenzo and I knew each other before you married him! If I hadn’t been sick, I’d already be his wife.”
Krystal cocked her head, a ghost of a smirk playing on her lips. “Really? Since when did you ‘know’ him?”
“Way before you ever met him!” Esther blurted, her voice rising. “Two years ago I saw him in a car at Blue Orchid—”
She stopped mid-sentence, lips slamming shut, eyes flickering in panic. Her head turned away as if she could physically rewind her words.
Krystal caught it. Her smirk deepened, a slow breath escaping her lungs. ‘So she was at Blue Orchid around the same time I slept with him? I knew she was connected to what happened two years ago.’
“What were you doing at Blue Orchid back then?” Krystal asked, raising a brow.
“That’s between him and me,” Esther snapped, trying to recover, straightening in her seat and tossing Krystal an annoyed look. “Lorenzo said the moment he divorces you, he’s marrying me.”
Krystal laughed softly under her breath. “Alright then. I’ll wait for that day.”
Esther’s smug smile faltered.
“As long as I don’t divorce him,” Krystal added calmly, rising to her feet and grabbing her bag, “you’ll always be the side chick.”
She turned to leave.
Esther, who’d been riding high on confidence just moments ago, completely snapped.
“You arrogant bitch!” she hissed, slamming her hands on the table. “How dare you talk to me like that?!”
Just then, her eyes spotted Lorenzo walking past the restaurant, heading toward the hospital wing. He was supposed to meet Esther later that evening.