Chapter 6

Scarlett POV

When I woke up, looking at the stark white ceiling, I briefly thought I had arrived in the afterlife.

Until Julian's joyful voice came from beside me. "Scarlett, you're awake?"

My consciousness slowly returned. I turned my head and found Julian sitting by the hospital bed.

"How are you feeling now? Is there anything that's especially uncomfortable?"

His tone was gentle, and he reached out to touch my forehead, but I instinctively turned my head, avoiding his touch.

His hand paused in mid-air, then slowly retracted.

"I'm sorry, Scarlett," he said. "The situation was so urgent then. Briar is timid, and I pulled her out first because I was afraid she'd panic too much in the elevator and do something dangerous, making the situation even more uncontrollable..."

I only felt a bitter irony.

Pain rippled through every inch of my body, yet it still couldn't compare to the distinct, twisting ache in my chest.

Seeing that I hadn't spoken, he continued to explain. "Besides, she was going to donate her kidney to your mother. She couldn't suffer any accidents, which is why I saved her first."

"Julian," I finally spoke, my voice hoarse. "Did you really save her just because she was going to donate her kidney to my mother?"

He froze.

After a brief silence, he said, "Of course. What else could it be?"

I didn't press further.

I closed my eyes, not wanting to speak anymore.

His voice was filled with remorse. "I'm sorry. I really didn't expect the elevator to start plummeting right after I got her out, causing you to get hurt... If I had known, I would have saved you first."

But even with those words, I felt no comfort.

Perhaps out of guilt, for the next few days, whenever he wasn't working, he stayed by my side in the hospital.

But he was always distracted.

His phone was practically glued to his hand, as he replied to messages one after another.

Each time he looked down at the screen, his voice would soften noticeably, even carrying an unconscious smile. He was so engrossed that he didn't even hear me when I said I was thirsty.

I didn't need to look to know he wasn't handling work.

He was chatting with Briar.

Because that expression, I knew it too well.

It was almost identical to when he was pursuing me.

A little over a week later, I was discharged from the hospital.

The day I was discharged happened to be the Sterling family's annual gathering.

Every year around this time, they would return to the Sterling family estate, and we were no exception.

Just as the car pulled up to the entrance, his phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the screen and answered. "What's wrong?"

"Mr. Sterling." Briar's tearful voice came from the other end. "It's thundering. I'm so scared. Can you... can you come stay with me?"

He looked up at the sky outside.

Dark clouds gathered, and thunder rumbled across the sky, as if a heavy storm could break out at any moment.

Then, he looked at me, hesitating for a moment, and said, "I'm sorry, Scarlett, something urgent came up at the company, and I need to go deal with it. You'll be alone..."

I lowered my eyes, not looking at him.

In the past, he never felt comfortable leaving me alone at these family gatherings.

Because he knew very well they didn't like me, and only with him present would I avoid being deliberately targeted.

But this time, I didn't expose his excuse. I just calmly said, "Go ahead."

He seemed relieved, reaching out to ruffle my hair. "I'll finish up quickly and come back. Wait for me."

I got out of the car and stood there, watching his car quickly disappear into the night.

At the gathering, apart from Victoria Sterling, who already knew about my impending divorce from Julian and no longer bothered me, everyone else still gave me the cold shoulder.

They despised my humble background. From beginning to end, they barely gave me a kind look, their words laced with sarcasm.

And that night, Julian never returned.

He only sent me a message mid-way: "Still busy, can't leave."

Looking at that message, I felt my heart completely turn to ice.

After the gathering, no one cared for me.

It was hard to get a cab in that area, so in the end, I walked for four whole hours alone before finally getting back to my place.

That night, having just been discharged, I developed a high fever again and completely passed out.

Julian called a doctor to the house, who gave me an IV drip to bring down the fever.

When I groggily woke up, the first words he said to me weren't an apology, but a reproach.

"Why didn't you have the staff arrange a car for you? Why didn't you wait for me to pick you up, instead of walking back in the rain and getting yourself like this?"

For a moment, I wondered if I had misheard him.

I looked at him, drained. "Are you saying I deliberately walked back in the rain and made myself sick?"

He knew they didn't like me.

And he hadn't shown up until after the gathering was over.

But now, he was blaming me.

"Fine, I was just worried about you," he sighed. "The company was genuinely busy that day. I couldn't get away in time to pick you up. I'm sorry."

All I felt was a wave of utter exhaustion.

In that moment, I finally understood what it meant for a heart to truly die.

Julian, I will never love you again.