Chapter 4

Claire’s POV

My words left the family dinner ice-cold.

Ethan didn’t look at me once throughout the meal. Every scrap of his attention went to Olivia.

Peeling shrimp. Removing fish bones. Serving soup. All the little things he had never done for me in seven years, performed so smoothly it seemed he had rehearsed them in his mind a million times.

I ate the plain rice in my bowl as my stomach cramped.

I forced myself not to look or listen, silently counting down the time until I could leave this city.

After dinner, Olivia said she wanted to meet some friends who had also just returned from abroad at a downtown restaurant.

“It’s pouring. I’ll drive you.” Ethan picked up his keys, then turned to me by the entrance. His voice was cold, the order absolute. “You’re coming, too.”

I was about to refuse when he added, quietly enough that only I could hear, “Do you want your family’s project shut down right now?”

I clenched my teeth and followed without a word.

We got into his black Maybach. Ethan naturally opened the front passenger door for Olivia and shielded her head with his hand, unwilling to let even a drop of rain touch her. I opened the rear door myself and settled into the dark corner.

The heater was turned up, but it couldn’t chase away my chill. Olivia chattered about amusing things that had happened overseas. Ethan answered in a voice so tender it almost hurt to hear.

“Ethan, remember how you used to drive me home in the rain back in high school?” Olivia turned toward him with a smile.

“Of course. You always insisted on getting tiramisu from that place on the south side.” He chuckled, his gaze soft.

I leaned against the window, watching the rain blur everything outside.

So he could remember someone’s preferences perfectly. He wasn’t cold by nature. His warmth had simply never been meant for me.

The rain grew heavier, reducing visibility to almost nothing. We were on a winding hillside road, the wet pavement shining beneath the headlights.

As we rounded a sharp bend, an out-of-control truck suddenly barreled out of the opposite lane. Its blinding headlights cut through the downpour, bearing straight down on us!

“Watch out!”

Olivia screamed. Brakes shrieked through the night.

Everything happened in an instant.

Just before the collision, driven by raw instinct, Ethan wrenched the steering wheel hard to the right, swinging the driver’s side and the rear seat directly into the impact.

At the same time, he threw his body over Olivia in the passenger seat, shielding her beneath him without a moment’s hesitation.

Bang!

The deafening crash filled the car. Airbags exploded.

The windows shattered under the impact, spraying the cabin with countless razor-sharp shards.

The force hurled me against the door. A piercing pain tore through my left arm and forehead.

Glass drove into my skin like rain. Blood instantly blurred my vision.

The cabin filled with the stench of gasoline and blood.

“Olivia! Olivia, are you hurt?”

Ethan’s panicked voice reached me, carrying a fear I had never heard from him before.

I was trapped in the crushed seat, in too much pain to breathe.

I struggled to open my blood-covered eyes. Through a gap in the wrecked seats, I saw Ethan holding Olivia’s face, frantically checking her for injuries.

“I… I’m okay, Ethan. I’m so scared…” She trembled in his arms. She wasn’t hurt at all, only frightened.

He let out a breath, kicked open the damaged door, and carried her into the pouring rain.

Not once did he turn to look at me in the back seat.

“E… Ethan…” I barely managed his name. My throat tasted of blood. My voice was too weak, swallowed instantly by the rain.

Ten minutes later, an ambulance siren drew closer.

The medical team rushed out and assessed the scene. A nurse ran to Ethan. “Sir, who’s injured?”

Still holding the sobbing Olivia tightly, he shouted, “She is! She’s in shock. There could be internal injuries. Get her into the ambulance and check her!”

The nurse glanced at Olivia, then swept her flashlight over the wreck. She gasped. “Oh my God, there’s someone in the back! She’s trapped and bleeding heavily. She could go into shock! Doctor, over here!”

Several responders rushed toward the back seat with hydraulic rescue tools.

Ethan froze, as if he had only just remembered I was there. He turned and saw me through the curtain of rain, half my body soaked in blood.

For a moment, I saw his pupils contract.

“Hurry! The rear passenger is critical. We only have one stretcher in this ambulance. She goes first!” the doctor shouted.

“No!” Olivia clutched Ethan’s sleeve, crying pitifully. “Ethan, my chest hurts. I can’t breathe. Am I going to die…? I’m so scared. Please don’t leave me…”

He looked at me, covered in blood, then back at the fragile woman in his arms.

“Take her first!” He pointed at Olivia and roared at the doctor, his eyes red. “She has a history of heart problems. She can’t handle stress! The woman in the back is healthy. She can wait for the next ambulance!”

The doctor stared at him in disbelief. “Sir, if we don’t stop that woman’s bleeding immediately, she could die!”

“I said take Olivia first! I’ll take responsibility!” Ethan snarled like an enraged lion.

My consciousness was slipping. Blood loss left me trembling with cold. I fought to keep my eyes open as Ethan ignored the doctor’s protests and carried Olivia into the only ambulance equipped for emergency care.

When its doors shut, the flashing red and blue lights stabbed at my eyes.

I watched it speed away into the rainy night without a moment’s hesitation.

Tears slid down my face, mixing with blood. It hurt so much.

“So that’s your choice…” I whispered, my voice breaking apart in the storm.