Chapter 5

"Izzy, is the food not to your taste?"

I shook my head.

"It's delicious, but I usually don't eat much."

Liam drove me home. He didn't ask any more questions, only said:

"There are plenty of good men in the world. Sometimes, there's no need to cling to one person, even if that person is Alex Thorne."

He showed none of the deference he had displayed when we met Alex at the restaurant earlier.

I looked up at him, my eyes wide.

"You… you know?"

Liam chuckled softly.

"Not just me, everyone in the Thorne family knows. It's just that Alex never mentioned it, so they pretended not to know."

I fell silent.

When we arrived home, as I was about to get out of the car, Liam leaned closer.

The pleasant scent of cedarwood filled the air.

I froze, but Liam merely removed a fallen leaf from my shoulder.

"Izzy, I'm really looking forward to our time in Germany."

I didn't understand what he meant and hastily tried to get out of the car.

Liam calmly got out and opened the car door for me.

"Thank you for driving me home. I'll go now."

I didn't know what I was thinking; I just inexplicably wanted to escape.

But Liam grabbed my hand.

"Izzy, sleep well."

Then, he released my hand.

I scampered upstairs.

Liam chuckled softly, got back in his car, and drove away.

Perhaps it was because too many things had happened; I was still lost in thought before I fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, I came down with a high fever.

My head throbbed incessantly, and my throat was as dry as if it were smoking.

I forced myself up to get some water, but I felt dizzy and lightheaded and collapsed on the floor.

With great difficulty, I picked up my phone and called Alex, my first contact.

He didn't answer the first time, nor the second.

On the third call, Alex's voice came through, laced with irritation.

"Why do you keep calling? I'm busy."

I could hear a girl crying in the background; I vaguely heard what sounded like Serena's voice.

"She's clearly your ex-girlfriend. If my friend hadn't told me, how long were you planning to hide it from me?"

My throat was parched, but I managed to squeeze out a few words.

"I'm sick…"

Before I could finish, Alex interrupted.

"If you're sick, find a doctor. I'm still busy."

With that, he hung up.

I couldn't hold on any longer and passed out.

In my daze, I thought I saw someone pick me up.

"Izzy, I'll take you to the hospital."

What happened after that, I don't know.

Until I opened my eyes.

The smell of disinfectant filled my nostrils, and the sunlight was a bit blinding.

There was no one else in the hospital room but me.

There wasn't even a single message on my phone.

A wave of loneliness washed over me. I pulled the blanket tighter around me, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The door quietly opened.

Liam came in, carrying breakfast, and smiled at me.

"Izzy, it's those soup dumplings you love!"

For some reason, I felt like crying.

If I were to go abroad with Liam, perhaps it wouldn't be so lonely after all.

Anyway, nothing could be worse than how things were now.