Chapter 3

3

I had no idea what Lance was thinking.

My hands trembled so hard around the phone, yet I didn’t even have the courage to confront him.

For six years, I had grown accustomed to humbling myself in the dirt before him.

Even after facing blatant betrayal, my immediate instinct was terror that he would abandon me.

Yet I never imagined that before heartbreak could settle, real disaster would strike.

A sudden fire broke out in my apartment complex.

Thick black smoke poured in first, the choking stench instantly seizing my lungs.

By the time I realized what was happening, I rushed toward the stairwell, but it was already an inferno.

The rolling waves of blistering heat forced me back into the hallway.

Trapped, I retreated into a corner.

I pressed a wet towel firmly over my nose and mouth, my body shivering uncontrollably with terror.

My vision blurred with smoke, the temperature soared, and my consciousness began to slip away.

I wasn’t going to make it out alive.

In that terrifying moment near death, the first person who surfaced in my mind was still Lance.

Summoning the last ounce of my strength, I unlocked my phone and dialed his number.

The line rang for a long time.

It rang until the call timed out, with no one answering.

“I guess this is it,” I thought, a bitter smirk tugging at my lips as the darkness swallowed me whole.

When I opened my eyes again, the stark white ceiling of a hospital room filled my vision, the sharp scent of antiseptic stinging my nose.

Lance sat beside the bed, his eyes bloodshot and shadowed with dark circles.

“You’re finally awake! Are you okay?”

All the agony and terror I had bottled up broke free the moment I saw him.

My voice broke, and I threw myself into his arms by pure instinct.

“Lance!”

Before I could say another word, a voice rang out from the doorway.

“Ms. Ward? Lance?”

Lance’s body went rigid in an instant.

Before I could even process what was happening, he shoved me away without a shred of hesitation.

He turned toward the door and took Sierra’s hand.

The two of them walked in together, looking like the picture-perfect couple.

When Lance looked back at me, the worry in his eyes was completely gone, replaced by a harsh, warning glare.

At that moment, my scarred heart ached violently once more.

Sierra walked over to the edge of the bed, her face painted with concern.

“Ms. Ward, are you alright? You scared me to death!”

“The second Lance heard your building caught fire, he dragged me straight here in a total panic.”

Her tone sounded innocent, but her words sliced into me like hidden daggers.

I parted my dry lips, but the bitterness in my throat choked back any sound.

Sierra tilted her head, her gaze darting between Lance and me.

“When he heard the news, he practically leapt out of bed. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were his girlfriend.”

“By the way, what were you two doing just now?”

Her voice dripped with thinly veiled suspicion.

Lance jumped in smoothly, his tone effortless and calm.

“Sierra, don’t get the wrong idea. Ms. Ward was just terrified when she woke up, and I was trying to calm her down.”

“You know you’re the only girl in my eyes.”

Those words drove straight into the deepest wound in my heart like a needle.

I suddenly remembered our college graduation party.

I pretended to be drunk during Truth or Dare and drew the card: “Passionately kiss someone of the opposite sex in the room.”

I summoned all the courage in my soul and looked toward him.

Yet he merely looked away with cold indifference and stared down at his phone.

He treated me as if I were nothing more than a total stranger.

In the end, my best friend stepped in to bail me out by taking three shots of tequila on my behalf.

On the drive home, Lance clamped his fingers around my chin and warned me harshly.

“Lindsey, stop pulling pathetic stunts like that. Our relationship doesn’t need an audience.”

Memory overlapped with reality, leaving my fingertips freezing cold.

I looked at the man doting so tenderly on Sierra.

Finally, I found my voice.

“Mr. Mercer is right. I was just disoriented after waking up.”

Sierra seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, her bright smile returning.

She playfully nudged Lance’s shoulder.

“That’s more like it. But honestly, hearing about Ms. Ward and sprinting off without me... anyone would think she was your actual girlfriend.”

She shot Lance a teasing glare.

Lance stroked her hair affectionately.

“Come on, you always talk about how great Ms. Ward treats you and how you see her as an older sister. I just didn’t want you to be heartbroken if something happened to her.”

Watching their affectionate display right in front of my hospital bed made my eyes burn with raw pain.

Beneath the blanket, I dug my fingernails deep into my palms, using the sharp sting to maintain the last shred of my composure.

Sierra suddenly spoke up with curiosity.

“Ms. Ward, didn’t you say yesterday you left early to spend New Year’s Eve with your fiancé? Where is he?”

The moment the question left her mouth, the entire hospital room fell dead silent.

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