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Fruit scattered everywhere. An orange rolled directly to Winona's feet.

She bent down to pick it up. In all the years she had known Zachary Shaw, she had never seen him look so helpless. She instinctively looked away to save his pride. "Logan had to fly to the coast to meet with some corporate partners, so he asked me to bring your clothes."

As she spoke, she gathered the spilled fruit basket and placed the items back one by one.

The nurse on duty heard the commotion and rushed in. Seeing Zachary perched on the edge of the bed, she gasped in horror. "Mr. Shaw, your legs cannot handle any weight or movement right now! You have to follow the doctor's orders!"

Just sitting up had caused Zachary to break out in a cold sweat. For a man with his terrifying level of self-control to look this strained, the pain had to be agonizing.

He gave a low grunt of acknowledgment, but didn't move.

Winona knew exactly what was happening. Getting back under the covers required him to physically lift his paralyzed legs with his hands, and a man who refused to show weakness wouldn't do that with an audience.

So he stayed perfectly still, pretending nothing was wrong.

After scolding him, the nurse turned to Winona. "Patients occasionally need help using the restroom. As his family, you need to keep a close eye on him. Don't let him try to do these things alone again."

Winona murmured an agreement. She waited until the nurse left the room before asking, "Zachary, do you need to use the restroom?"

"No."

A suffocating silence descended on the room.

Winona had no choice but to turn around. "The clothes are right here. I'll get going."

She walked to the door, making sure to close it gently behind her.

Maybe Zachary was repulsed by the sight of her. After all, a man as proud as him wouldn't want anyone witnessing his absolute lowest moment.

As she reached the hospital entrance, she ran into Quentin Seymour coming in for a visit. He was one of Zachary's closest friends, and the one who hated Winona the most.

Quentin dramatically rubbed his eyes, pretending he was hallucinating, before letting out a sneer. "Well, look who it is. The fake heiress herself. What brings you crawling back right now? Did you hear Zachary was planning to propose to Sienna and finally panic?"

In Zachary's social circle, all his friends heavily favored Sienna. From their perspective, Sienna was just a fragile, innocent girl who fainted at the drop of a hat. Because she seemed so harmless, they naturally assumed Winona was the vicious liar bullying her.

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