Chapter 2

2

I woke up to the sharp smell of disinfectant.

"Elara, you scared me to death. You collapsed from the fever."

Xavier stood up, pressing a cool hand to my forehead. His face was filled with genuine concern.

He picked up a bowl of warm broth. He carefully blew on it before bringing it to my lips, feeding me small sips.

For a moment, I felt like I was twenty-one again.

Then, Xavier's phone rang.

I knew his ringtone well. This was a specific tone he had set for someone special.

A flash of tension crossed his face as he quickly declined the call.

I leaned against the headboard, my pale face staring at him. "Why didn't you answer?"

He gave a forced laugh. "Wrong number," he said awkwardly.

I just nodded. Seeing that my expression didn't change, he breathed a sigh of relief. But he was clearly distracted.

He started feeding me the broth way too fast.

After a few minutes, he stood up abruptly, looking apologetic.

"Elara, something came up at the office. I'll be back to check on you in a bit."

Before I could even respond, he grabbed his coat and was gone.

In the past, if I had so much as a cold, Xavier would stay by my side for nights on end. Now, it seemed something more important existed.

This hospital room had a great view. I could see the entrance below clearly.

I watched as a figure in white threw herself into Xavier's arms. She tilted her head and pecked him on the lips.

Xavier didn't pull away. Instead, he pulled Bianca closer and deepened the kiss.

I knew this would happen, yet my heart still felt like it was being stabbed.

I couldn't watch anymore. I turned back to the bed.

A short while later, I received a message from Bianca.

It was a photo of her fingers interlaced with Xavier's. In the background were the messy hickeys on her collarbone.

The cruelest part was that Xavier was still wearing our promise ring.

Tears streamed down my face. My feverish brain replayed every memory I had with him.

Xavier told me to wait for him, but night fell, and he was nowhere to be seen.

I lay alone in that hospital bed, listening to the rhythmic drip of the IV.

That day, I ate alone. I talked to the doctor alone. I changed my bandages alone.

Lying there, I suddenly thought of my mother.

I didn't have many memories of her, mostly just her screaming matches with my father.

But in the back of my mind, I could still see a glimpse of her being gentle.

Then my father cheated, and everything changed.

I suddenly understood her.

But I didn't want to become her. I didn't want to be driven insane by a man.

Once my fever broke, I checked myself out and went home.

My phone kept buzzing with notifications.

Bianca had sent a video.

Thanks to her, I knew exactly why Xavier hadn't come back.

In the video, Xavier's face was flushed from alcohol. This man, usually so dignified, was now clinging to Bianca like a desperate child.

"Don't go. Please don't leave me," he rasped.

I suddenly remembered the night I met Xavier. We were at a bar, and he had grabbed me just like that, begging me not to leave.

After that, he began his intense pursuit of me.

My heart shattered. Something inside me finally broke.

We were never a love story. We were just an accident.