Chapter 3

I woke up in a makeshift field hospital tent.

The anesthesia had worn off. Where my right leg had been was now empty, yet it transmitted bone-deep phantom pain.

A nurse was changing my bandages. When she saw I was awake, her eyes reddened.

"You're so strong. You didn't make a sound during the entire surgery."

I wanted to smile, but my facial muscles were too stiff.

It wasn't strength. My heart had died, so I couldn't feel the pain.

A man on the bed next to me sighed and handed me an orange.

"You're alive. That's what matters."

I took the orange, peeled it, and put a segment in my mouth.

It was so sour that tears streamed down my face.

I pulled out my phone. The signal was spotty.

Opening social media, I found it flooded with news about the earthquake.

The top trending topic read: [Lucas Sterling's Deep Love in Earthquake Ruins, Never Abandoning His Love Through Life and Death]

The accompanying image was a blurry photo.

Against a dim background, Lucas held Chloe protectively, his eyes anxious yet affectionate.

The comments section was full of praise:

[Oh my god, this is true love! You see real feelings in life-or-death moments!]

[I want a boyfriend like this too. He makes you feel so safe.]

[Adversity reveals true character. Their love is so moving.]

I also found one comment that didn't fit:

[Am I the only one who remembers that Lucas had a girlfriend for five years? Where is she?]

Someone immediately replied below:

[Oh, her? I heard she ran away to save herself. Nothing like our Chloe, who got injured because she stayed with Lucas.]

[That kind of woman deserves to be dumped. Good riddance.]

I closed my phone, my stomach churning.

Ran away to save myself?

Chloe's skill at twisting the truth must have been honed during those five years abroad.

It was Chloe who insisted on dragging Lucas to vacation in this area. When the earthquake hit, I was the one who pushed Lucas into the load-bearing wall's triangular safe zone, which is why I got crushed.

Now I'd become the heartless woman who abandoned her lover.

Impressive.

I looked at my empty pant leg. That last bit of sadness in my heart evaporated, replaced by a cold feeling.

Lucas Sterling. Chloe Bennett.

We'd settle this account slowly.

A month later, I transferred back to the city hospital.

Five million, plus my original savings, was enough to hire the best care and stay in the best private room.

The doctor said I was recovering well and could prepare to be fitted with a prosthetic leg.

Rehabilitation was a long process.

During the adjustment period, my residual limb was rubbed raw and bloody by the prosthetic. Every step felt like dancing on knife points.

But I didn't cry.

Compared to the despair of being buried alive in the rubble, this pain was nothing.

That day, I was practicing walking with crutches in the hospital garden.

A young man sat on a bench with his right arm in a cast, hanging in a sling around his neck.

He was furiously typing into his phone.

"I'm not going! My arm is broken, and he still wants me to go through with an arranged marriage?"

"Broken means broken! Even with a broken arm, I'm still handsome!"

"I don't care about the family business. I just want to race. I just want to have fun!"

He threw his phone onto the grass.

Huffing angrily, he looked up and met my eyes.

A ridiculously handsome, arrogant face crashed into my view.

Caught staring at him, he froze for a moment, then his ears turned a bit red.

"What are you looking at? Never seen a handsome guy lose his temper?"

His tone was aggressive, like an agitated husky.