6
I don’t know when I fell asleep, but when I woke up, he was still there.
He was true to his word. He put his company on hold and brought in a team of famous doctors to treat me.
It was useless.
My body continued to fail, but no one could find a reason why. I expected him to lose his temper, to accuse me of faking it. Instead, he said nothing, just watched me with a look of profound, aching sadness.
I could feel his worry. I knew then tho
somewhere deep down, he did care for me. Sometimes, I’d wake in the middle of the night
to hear him whispering in his sleep.
“Zoe… I’m so sorry.”
I would clamp my hand over my mouth to stifle my sobs. But a suspicion took root in my mind. Would a man like him, a wealthy playboy, truly feel this level of guilt over someone like me? His grief felt too deep, like he was mourning someone already dead.
His constant attention infuriated Bianca.
“You’re postponing our wedding for her?” she shrieked, bursting into my room. “Do I have to be on my deathbed to get your attenti- on? Do you actually love her?”
I looked up, startled. My eyes met his panicked gaze across the room, and my heart clenched. I held my breath, waiting for his
answer.
“Bianca, don’t be ridiculous,” he finally snapped after a long silence.
She stumbled back, a single tear clinging to her eyelash, the picture of heartbreak. Her eyes, however, swept over me with a chilli-
ng, venomous hatred.
“Don’t get too happy,” she sneered at me, a strange, knowing look on her face. “You think he feels guilty for you? It’s only because…”
My hand, hidden under the blanket, clenched into a fist. A sense of dread washed over me. I looked at Perry. The guilt in his eyes
confirmed my worst fears. A flicker of panic crossed his face.
“That’s enough, Bianca!” he shouted. “Go home.”
He practically dragged her out of the room. But I felt like I’d been plunged into ice water, my heart sinking to the bottom of a frozen
lake.
After that, Perry moved me to a private VIP wing where access was restricted. I never saw Bianca again. He spent every spare moment with me, bringing me my favorite foods, talking to me to pass the time. For a moment, it felt like we had gone back to the ‘way things were.
Chapter 2
way things were.
But it all felt… unreal.
06:43
System detects male lead’s devotion. Life force has recovered to 30 percent, the System announced. I felt no joy. My body was just being prolonged. The System, for some reason, couldn’t tell the difference. This unknown
terror gnawed at me day and night.
I wasn’t getting better; my death
Finally, I couldn’t take his sudden change in attitude anymore. One evening, as he took me to a hilltop to watch the sunset, I confro-
nted him.
“Perry, do you love me?” I asked, looking him straight in the eye, my fingers twisting the hem of my shirt.
He froze, his eyes filled with a lost, searching look, as if he was trying to find the answer himself.
He opened his mouth to speak, but his phone rang. It was Bianca. She’d had a relapse.
His face contorted in panic, his voice unsteady. “Zoe, I’m sorry, something’s come up. I have to go. I’ve booked you a room at the inn down the hill. You can… you can get back on your own, right?”
He didn’t wait for an answer. He jumped in his car and sped away.
I stayed on that hilltop and watched the sunset alone. When the cold became unbearable, I started the long walk down the mounta- in, an empty shell, numb to the world. My heels were rubbed raw and bleeding, but I didn’t feel a thing.
It took me until the next afternoon to get back to the hospital.
When I reached my room, I saw them. Locked in an embrace.
Tears streamed down my face. My heart, which I thought couldn’t break any further, simply ceased to be. Every good memory we ever had turned into a shard of glass, and the last pillar holding me up crumbled into dust.
“You rest here,” Perry murmured, tucking the blanket around her. “I’ll be right back.”
He turned and left the room. I quickly ducked down the hall. When his footsteps faded, I sank to the floor, wrapping my arms arou-
nd myself.
A pair of expensive shoes stopped in front of me. Bianca tilted my chin up with a contemptuous finger.
“You see? I’m the one he loves,” she said, her voice a triumphant purr. “We grew up together. We were inseparable. A few years ago, I fell into a coma. To save me, he pulled you into this world.”
