Love Beyond Return Chapter 2: The Surgery She Tried to Take From Me

I clenched my fists so tightly my nails broke skin.

I forced the tears back. "It's been five years. I'm about to age out of eligibility for a headquarters transfer."

I stared down at her. "Natalie, I can't wait any longer."

I couldn't wait for the cutoff to end, as it was my only chance to return. I also couldn't keep waiting for her to love me again.

For once, I had to fight for myself.

Natalie looked at me for a long moment, something unreadable flickering in her eyes.

When she spoke again, her voice softened. "I know these last five years have been hard on you, but this year isn't possible. Liam... trust me. Just wait a little longer."

She stepped behind me, wrapping her arms around me as though none of this had happened. Then, she reached up to wipe the tears from my face.

I stepped away before she could touch me.

A bitter laugh slipped from my lips as I stared right at her. "Why isn't it possible? Is it because you already assigned the spot to someone else? Or because of Noah?"

Whatever patience she had left disappeared.

Her face hardened. "So that's what this is really about? You're so desperate to come back because you think something is going on between Noah and me?"

She scoffed. "Fine. Let's do it your way. You still won't be transferred back this year, even if we do get a divorce. Do you still want me to sign?"

I didn't hesitate. "Yes."

Her jaw clenched.

She grabbed a pen and signed the papers with such force that it nearly tore through the documents before throwing the divorce agreement at me.

Her voice was as brittle as ice. "Don't come crying to me if no one else wants you after you fail to get back into headquarters."

During the mandatory 30-day waiting period, I worked myself into the ground. I didn't take any breaks for 15 days straight.

My hard work paid off, and I made the shortlist for the headquarters transfer.

Everything was going as planned, except for one issue. My old arm injury flared up—the same one I sustained three years ago while saving Natalie.

A surgery had gone wrong.

I stepped in front of Natalie to take the attack for her, resulting in permanent nerve damage.

My muscles now spasm constantly, and the war zone lacked the resources to treat them properly.

Last year, I found out that a specialist was available to perform surgery.

Meanwhile, Noah only got a minor cut on his hand. Natalie pulled the surgeon away to examine him instead.

I lost my best chance at treatment.

Now that I finally had a shot at coming home, I needed this surgery.

Not long after I scheduled it, Natalie showed up at the hospital. She had access to my medical files, so finding out wasn't difficult.

She glanced at my wrist and spoke coldly, "Noah knows about your surgery. He's worked hard for this transfer. If your arm gets fixed, you'll be competing with him."

I frowned.

She crossed her arms and continued, "Postpone the surgery. Once Noah is transferred back, I'll perform it myself."

The pain in my arm suddenly intensified.

A cold sensation rushed through me.

The day I was stabbed while defending her, Natalie had sobbed so uncontrollably that she could hardly breathe.

"Why would you do something so stupid? If anyone should've been hurt, it should've been me," she had sobbed and clung to me like I was her everything. "If anything happened to you, I'd die with you."

And now?

She was calmly taking away my chance to have a healthy body again, just because Noah needed the transfer.

Whatever warmth I harbored for her in the past died in that moment.

Something ugly twisted in my chest.

For once, I didn't want her to get what she wanted.

I looked at her coldly. "This is my body. Only I have a say in this. My surgery has nothing to do with you."

The air around her turned glacial.

She grabbed my wrist so hard it felt like my bones might crack. "Do you have any idea how devastated Noah will be if he doesn't get transferred back? I have plenty of ways to shut this surgery down."

She forced me to look at her.

My eyes burned with redness, and I laughed bitterly. "All Noah has to do is just one tear, and you collapse. So tell me, is he truly your junior colleague or your lover?"

Rage exploded in her eyes.

She lifted her hand.