Once a Doormat Now Untouchable (Caleb and Sydney) novel Chapter 569

Medical staff moved through the corridor in steady streams. They sensed the tension between the two men, yet no one stepped in. Everyone slipped around them in silence. 

Caleb adjusted his watchband. Whatever gentleness he had carried drained from his face. His expression turned cold, edged with mockery. “I said I don’t know.” 

Then he added, tone cutting but steady, “Mr. Sterling, we have been friends for many years. Let me offer you a piece of advice.” 

He lifted the corner of his mouth and met Julian’s sharp gaze without a flicker of hesitation. “Until the very end, no one knows who will win.” 

He leaned in, his challenge clear. “Whether it’s my ex-wife or my child, I intend to claim both.” 

The moment the last word left his mouth, a heavy punch crashed into his cheekbone. 

Thrown off balance, he steadied himself to strike back. Julian seemed to anticipate it and moved first, seizing him and driving him against the wall with a sharp crack, one arm pinning him tight. 

Their difference in skill showed at once. Caleb could not break free. 

Julian looked at the man he had grown up beside and let out a soft, humorless laugh. “Tell me, how did I never realize you were such a petty, dirty-handed coward?” 

Caleb stopped struggling. 

“Sure.” Leaning back against the wall, he let out a dry laugh. “I’m a coward. And you’re not? You knew I hadn’t divorced her yet, but you still moved in across from her. What did you think you were doing?” 

Caleb had trusted Julian and even asked him to look after Sydney. He never imagined he had sent her straight 

into the lion’s den. 

“Cal.” A gentle voice carried from the far end of the hallway. 

Sydney stood there in a soft wool sweater, her tone quiet, warm, and steady. “If anyone must bear 

responsibility, it can be you or it can be me. It’s never his fault. From the start of our marriage, you knew exactly what you wanted. Things only went wrong because of an unexpected accident.” 

Her voice remained soft, yet it laid everything bare with clear precision. “And I wasn’t innocent either. I got 

what I wanted.” 

He had wanted a well-behaved wife who would not interfere in his private life. She had wanted freedom from the Sterling family. They had both achieved their aims. 

As the two walked away hand in hand, Caleb felt a sudden sting in his 

He wondered if he and Sydney had ever shared a moment like that. eyes. 

Memories tumbled through him in scattered pieces. For a long while, he found nothing. He realized he had never even held her hand, not once. 

He lowered his gaze in defeat. Her words echoed through his mind. 

She had defended Julian with such conviction. He had no way and no right to refute any of it. 

Behind them, the faint sound of the ward door closing drifted down the hall. Caleb straightened slowly and stepped into the elevator. He pressed the button for the ground floor. 

Outside, evening lights glowed. The season hadn’t turned to winter, yet the wind cut straight into Caleb’s bones. For the first time in his life, an absurd wish rose in him. If only time could go backward. He would treat her well. He would love her, only her, for the rest of his life. 

He reached his car. The moment he opened the door, his phone rang. 

Caleb slid into the driver’s seat and answered, his voice icy. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll hand this to the Hutton family? Where are you right now? Give me the antidote.”