Chapter 4

Lily POV

I froze for a moment, then began to tremble with laughter.

So that was it.

The car involved in the accident that day belonged to Scarlett?

No wonder Scarlett was also on the Coast Highway that day, no wonder she only had minor scrapes.

Ethan was afraid I'd sue Scarlett, so he came to silence me.

"Not divorce?" I asked, as if I'd heard the funniest joke. "What makes him think I still care about being his wife?"

Mark looked a little awkward: "Mr. Reed said you shouldn't be stubborn. Without the Reed family, you won't even be able to afford your medical bills."

"Tell him," I pulled the already signed divorce agreement from under my pillow and flung it at Mark, "I've already signed it. I can afford these medical bills even if I have to sell my blood! Tell him to take his first love and disappear as far away as possible!"

Mark scurried away in a hurry.

I pulled out the IV needle in my hand. Blood welled up, but I felt no pain.

I couldn't die in this hospital.

If I died here, that lunatic Ethan would surely discard my ashes anywhere, or force me to make room for Scarlett.

I wanted to find a clean place to go quietly.

That evening, I seized the opportunity during the nurses' shift change and secretly slipped out of the hospital.

The wind on the Coast Highway was strong, carrying the salty scent of the ocean.

This was where Ethan and I first met, and also where I had my car accident and miscarriage.

Round and round, the end had returned to the beginning.

Just then, a black luxury car screeched to a halt beside me.

The door opened, and Ethan, his face contorted with fury, rushed out and grabbed my arm.

"Lily! You think you're so smart? Daring to escape from the hospital?"

Ethan must have just received the call from the hospital about a missing patient. He probably drove here inexplicably, never expecting to actually find me.

In the car's headlights, he saw me.

Thin. Too thin.

Like a fragile sheet of paper, ready to crumble in the wind.

I looked up, my pale face beneath the brim of my hat devoid of any expression.

"Ethan, let go."

"Come back with me!" Ethan seemed panicked. "As long as you're obedient, I won't pursue what happened before..."

"Not pursue?" I laughed, tears streaming down my face, then a sudden gush of blood sprayed from my mouth, staining Ethan's white shirt.

Ethan's pupils seemed to constrict, and he froze.

"Lily?!"

My body softly collapsed, like a kite whose string had been cut.

This time, I wasn't acting.

Ethan caught my falling body, his palm touching something wet and warm.

It was blood.

An incessant flow of blood, gushing from my nose and the corners of my mouth, unstoppable.

"Ethan..." In his arms, my eyes unfocused as I gazed at the night sky. "If there's a next life... I never want to meet you again..."