Chapter 3

"Drive me to the airport right now. That's an order."

Monica's eyes burned with fury, but Liam gently tugged on her sleeve and slightly shook his head. After a long silence, she finally swallowed her pride, bent down, and personally opened the passenger-side door.

Liam stepped in without hesitation. "Sorry, Mr. Bryant. Monica just regained her memory, and as the one who saved her life, I'm really worried about her condition. As the Bryant heir, I'm sure you won't mind, right?"

Monica didn't look at me once. She buckled Liam's seatbelt, opened the driver's door, and muttered,

"If you're coming, get in."

At the sound of Monica's cold voice, Liam's lips curled up ever so slightly.

I let out a short laugh and slid into the back seat. These two thought they were putting on a show of power, but they had no idea that I was headed to the airport to pick up my new wife.

Just thinking about Keira made me sigh.

In my last life, I swore I'd stay faithful to Monica. So Keira never married, never had a status, and spent her whole life quietly taking care of me. And now, in this lifetime, after all the twists and turns, she turned out to be Dad's chosen match for me.

I felt an unexpected wave of nerves. Just then, the car suddenly jolted violently, followed by Monica's panicked scream as she frantically spun the steering wheel. The left side, where she and I sat, was rammed into an out-of-control truck.

Sharp pain shot through me, yet Monica's first words were asking if Liam was hurt.

Liam had been sitting in the front passenger seat—the safest place. He wasn't in danger at all!

I tried to call for help, but my phone had been thrown somewhere during the impact. Through the pain, I looked down and saw my thigh wedged under the crushed seat. A gash had split open an artery, and my blood and life were draining fast.

My vision blurred from the blood loss, so I pressed my hand over the wound and silently prayed for the paramedics to get there quickly.

However, when the rescue team arrived, Monica stuck her head out the car window and shouted desperately, "The person in the back seat isn't injured—don't worry about him. Save the passenger first!"

My hand reaching for help froze as Monica's words stabbed into my heart like a knife. She knew my life was in danger, and she didn't even bother pretending anymore.

In the passenger seat, Liam kept crying about how much pain he was in, demanding the police break his door open first. Monica was so anxious that she was crying, ignoring her own injured arm to hold Liam tightly.

Seeing this scene, the police went around to the back, forcefully shattered the window, and safely rescued me.

Hearing Monica's frantic scolding, they remained expressionless. "You can shout and yell, which proves your lives aren't in danger. I know you're anxious to save your lover, but we can't let a seriously injured person bleed to death in the back seat!"

Even strangers could clearly see their relationship. I couldn't believe I had trusted Monica so blindly in my past life.

How had I missed all the signs?

...

When I woke up again, I was in a hospital bed. Clarissa and Jocelyn were whispering at my bedside.

"Mr. Bryant Senior doesn't know about this yet. If he finds out Monica got into a wreck with Orlando in the car, we're screwed."

"Relax. Monica is donating blood to Liam right now. Once Orlando wakes up, we'll tell Mr. Bryant Senior he was the one driving. That way, we not only get away clean, but we can blackmail them for enough cash to cover Liam's study abroad expenses."

My whole body ached, but nothing hurt more than my heart.

Just then, Monica rushed into the hospital room. "Is he still unconscious? Quick, give him anesthesia now and transplant the skin from his face to Liam."

Clarissa and Jocelyn were shocked. "What happened to Liam? Why does he need a skin transplant?"

Monica replied, "He's in the ER, but I didn't get the details. I only heard him crying that his face was ruined and he needed new skin.

"If it's for Liam, then we move now. I've practiced forging Orlando's signature before. I'll sign the release form. Here's the sedative. You two, get him to drink it."

Their words chilled me to the bone. I snapped my eyes open and reached for the nurse call button, but Monica was faster. She lunged forward and pinned my hand down, her face twisted with malice.

"Orlando, Liam cares about his appearance more than anything. You have to help him."

Clarissa quickly scrawled my name on the form while Jocelyn grabbed a glass of milk laced with sedatives and forced it toward my mouth.

"Why did you have to wake up now, Orlando?"

"Would it really be so bad to just be Liam's donor?"

I wanted to struggle, but my whole body was injured and covered in casts—I couldn't move at all. The three of them looked at me coldly, forcing me to drink the sedative and covering my mouth to prevent me from screaming, waiting for their opportunity.

My head grew heavier, and my vision began to fade.

Suddenly, the door to the hospital room burst open with a loud, thunderous bang.