Chapter 4

In the days that followed, Susan never came to see Shawn again.

The nurses couldn't help but pity him whenever they saw him sitting alone.

Some of them would even whisper amongst themselves.

"Mr. Carter was brought in the same day as the gentleman in the room next door. Both of them were injured in the fire, but Mr. Young's girlfriend comes to visit him every day. She brings him all kinds of homemade meals and takes such good care of him.

"Meanwhile, no one ever comes to visit Mr. Carter. Some people are truly born luckier than others."

Shawn listened to the nurses talk about how Susan carefully looked after Henry and fussed over him as though he was the most precious thing in the world. By then, his heart had already grown numb to the pain.

On the day he was discharged, Shawn moved out of the home he'd shared with Susan for the last five years.

Then, he turned his attention to the work he had left unfinished.

Shawn had studied architecture for seven years. After graduating, he'd worked at one of the country's top architectural firms for two years. Now, he was an independent designer.

Determined to make a name for himself, he'd entered one of the industry's most prestigious architectural design competitions.

He had made it all the way to the finals. All he needed to do now was wait for the results to be published so he could bring his years of hard work to a close.

However, when he checked the competition's website, he saw Henry's name displayed prominently beneath his design.

Henry had used his design to secure first place in the competition.

Shawn's mind went blank, and he immediately called the competition organizers.

"We've already checked the submission," they told him. "The design titled 'Home' was indeed submitted by Mr. Young. As for your entry, the organizing committee found it to contain plagiarized material and has decided to disqualify you from the competition.

"You've also been banned from participating in any future competitions for life."

Shawn opened the industry's online forums, only to find countless pages of discussions about his alleged plagiarism.

Then, a former colleague called him.

"What's going on with all those online accusations, Shawn? Did you actually plagiarize someone else's work?" the colleague asked.

"The news has already spread throughout the industry. If you didn't do it, you need to clear your name as soon as possible. Otherwise, you'll never be able to work in this field again."

Shawn's hand trembled uncontrollably.

"Home" was a design that he'd spent six entire months creating. He had drawn every detail by hand at his house. Susan knew about every sketch, every draft, and every design detail.

The only person who could've gotten hold of his complete set of drawings was none other than Susan.

Shawn's blood ran cold. He tracked Susan down and demanded, "Why did you take my work and give it to someone else?"

Susan's voice was cold and indifferent. "Henry just returned to the country. He needs this win to establish a name for himself in the industry."

Her tone was calm, and she spoke as if she was stating the obvious.

Shawn clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

In a trembling voice, he cried, "So you stole my work and gave it to him? I spent a great deal of time and effort on this project, Susan! This competition meant just as much to me! What you did is considered plagiarism!"

Upon hearing the word "plagiarism", Susan's expression hardened. "The competition is already over, and the organizing committee has already issued an announcement. There's no point in bringing this up now."

"Besides," she added, "You deliberately started that fire and nearly got Henry seriously injured. I only gave him a few of your designs. You should just consider it an apology to him."

Shawn couldn't believe his ears.

"An apology? I'm not the one who started the fire, so why on earth would I apologize to him?" he roared. "I'm not going to let this slide."

With that, Shawn turned and walked away.

Susan might have had all of his original drawings, but she wasn't able to steal his unique understanding of the design and the countless references he'd collected while studying buildings or gathering inspiration.

She wasn't able to steal everything he had spent years preparing before putting pencil to paper.

He would submit all of it to the organizing committee and demand a new investigation. He was going to clear his name.

While he was driving to the committee's office, a vehicle suddenly came barreling toward the side of his vehicle. In the next moment, a deafening crash tore through the air.

The impact sent Shawn's body flying. His head slammed violently against the window, and the world started to spin around him. Then, blood trickled down his eyelid and stained his vision crimson.

Right before he lost consciousness, he looked through the window of his car toward the SUV that crashed into him. The person who was behind the wheel was none other than Henry.