Chapter 2

A gnawing stomach ache woke me up.

Opening my eyes, I saw a blood bag hanging above me, and the small nurse’s guilty explanation. “I’m sorry, Ms. Scarlett, Ms. Willow urgently needs a blood transfusion. There’s no matching blood type in the blood bank, so Mr. Asher ordered…”

Ordered them to draw my blood!

Heh.

I frowned, glancing at the needle in my arm, then nonchalantly closed my eyes.

Out of sight, out of mind!

Let them do whatever they wanted.

I swallowed a few stomach pills with cold water and drifted back to sleep.

When I woke again, I didn't know how much time had passed, only that the sky was a dull gray, even gloomier than my mood.

I struggled to get up, wanting to go to the bathroom, but despite all my effort, I couldn't straighten myself.

Finally, Martha, the cleaning lady, saw me and helped me. “Dear, you’re so weak. Why don’t you call your family to come and take care of you?”

Family?

The only person I could call family, my husband, had abandoned me. Where did I have family now?

The thought brought a fresh wave of sadness.

I had originally planned to tell him the happy news of my pregnancy when he returned from overseas, so our family could be happy and together forever. But instead, what awaited me was such devastating news.

*Scarlett, let’s get a divorce!*

“Why?” I couldn’t accept it.

“If there’s no love, we separate. You were the one who said it.” He slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, his tone indifferent.

My eyes welled up, but I forced a smile, maintaining my last shred of dignity. “Yes, I said it.”

“I’ll have someone send over the divorce papers. Remember to sign them.”

Then, he stood up and left.

I stared at his retreating back, my heart utterly broken.

In that moment, I despairingly believed that he truly didn’t love me anymore, which was why he was so cruel.

Later, I realized things were far more complicated than I had imagined.

And the mastermind behind all of it was lying in a hospital bed, playing the pitiful role of a damsel in distress saved by a hero.

Who would believe me if I said she framed me?

Even Grandpa, the only one who could prove my innocence, had become a vegetable, unable to speak a single word.

Everything was so coincidental, it was terrifying to think about.

Only Asher, however, believed it without a doubt.

He was convinced that I was the culprit who caused Grandpa to become a vegetable!

He hated me to the core!

But fortunately, he hadn't completely lost his humanity. These past few days, he would send a nurse to bring me food every day. Sometimes it was chicken soup, sometimes my favorite lotus seed porridge, or something else.

My heart swelled with a foolish hope, thinking he had uncovered the truth and changed his mind. But then I overheard him, telling the nurse, “Make sure you keep a close eye on her. Until Willow is out of danger, I need to ensure she’s alive.”

So that was it!

My existence, to him, was nothing more than a tool.

I lay in the hospital for twenty days straight. My body didn’t improve at all; instead, I grew weaker. It turned out Willow was experiencing severe rejection after the bone marrow transplant, so I was forced to become her personal blood bank.

In Asher’s words: fresh blood would be more beneficial for his precious Willow’s recovery.

Grandpa was a vegetable, and Willow was in the ICU. Asher’s temper was as volatile as it could get.

Before, when I rescued Grandpa from the fire, my hair had accidentally been burned off, damaging the follicles. Later, I finally found a specialist who patiently treated me until my hair grew back.

All because Asher said he liked me with long, flowing hair.

But now, my hair was falling out in handfuls, looking like dull, withered grass.

I was terribly thin, a shadow of my former self.

Finally, after one transfusion after another, the doctor couldn't help but warn him, “Mr. Asher, if this continues, Ms. Scarlett’s life will be in danger. Don’t you think…?”

But all I heard was Asher’s cold reply, “Her life doesn’t matter!”

All he cared about was Willow.

Tears silently slipped from the corners of my eyes. In the quiet hospital room, I buried my head in the blankets and sobbed silently.

When you are favored, you always act without fear.

I would fuss, and he would laugh.

But once the love died, he could turn away instantly, while I was trapped in memories, unable to move forward.

…A month later, Willow’s condition finally stabilized, and I got a temporary reprieve.

That afternoon, several severely injured car accident victims arrived at the hospital. The entire staff was swamped. I took advantage of the chaos, secretly changed into a cleaning lady’s uniform, and slipped out.

I stood on the street in late autumn, gazing up at the brilliant blue sky.

In my hazy memory, everything seemed unchanged, yet everything had changed.

I couldn’t stop the surge of grief.

Under the dim streetlights, I crouched in a deserted alley, weeping uncontrollably.

It was that day I saw an old classmate I hadn’t seen in ages – Caleb Sterling.

“You’re awake?” A deep, magnetic baritone.

I stared blankly at him, unable to speak for a long moment.

“What, don’t you recognize me?” He held a cup with a straw to my lips. After I took a few sips, he lowered the cup, smiling, and extended his hand. “Scarlett, long time no see!”

“Long time no see!” I tried to make my voice sound normal.

Five years ago, I chose Asher over Caleb. The day after Caleb heard the news, he processed his paperwork to go abroad and never returned.

I thought we would never see each other again.

I never expected that five years later, we would meet again in this way.

Suddenly, past memories flooded my mind, churning my insides with a sickening feeling.

After much thought, I simply managed a small smile. “Caleb, welcome back.”

Caleb smiled too. “I’m waiting for you to throw me a welcome party!”

“In my current state…”

“It’s okay, I’ll wait for you!”

He wore gold-rimmed glasses, and when he smiled, his perfectly white teeth added to his scholarly charm. He slowly merged with the image of the young man in my memory.

*Scarlett, I like you!*

*Three years or five years, I’ll wait for you.*

That afternoon, with dappled tree shadows, the wind blew my hair, brushing his face. The young man in white, looking at me, had eyes full of starlight.

I smiled brightly at him, yet spoke the cruelest words, “I’m sorry, Caleb, the person I like is Asher.”