Chapter 5

The road was a mess. Trembling, Henry gripped the steering wheel with one hand and called Susan with the other.

"There's been an accident, Susan. Please come and help me," he pleaded.

Ten minutes later, Susan arrived at the scene.

The moment she saw Shawn trapped inside the wrecked car with blood pouring from his injuries, her eyes widened in shock.

"Shawn!" she screamed. "How did this happen? Call an ambulance right now!"

To her dismay, Henry immediately stopped her. "No. We can't make a big deal out of this. It'll ruin me."

He looked toward her and continued in a trembling voice, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I was just afraid he'd go to the organizing committee and expose me. Don't blame me… Please don't blame me…"

Seeing this, she pulled him into a tight embrace. "Don't be scared. Leave it to me. I'll take care of everything."

Then, she glanced guiltily at Shawn, who was lying on the ground.

…

By the time Shawn regained consciousness, a week had passed.

He had suffered internal bleeding in his head and multiple fractures throughout his body. It took several rounds of surgery before his condition was finally stable.

Susan was sitting by his bedside. Her face looked haggard, but the moment he woke up, her expression was instantly flooded with relief and joy.

She clutched his hand tightly. "Shawn! You're finally awake. How are you feeling?"

Afterward, the doctor came over to examine him.

"His vitals are recovering well. As long as he gets plenty of rest from now on, he should be fine."

Upon hearing this, Susan let out a breath of relief. Still shaken by what happened, she continued holding onto Shawn's hand, but the latter yanked his hand away from her.

"It was Henry's doing, wasn't it?" Shawn asked.

Susan fell silent.

His voice trembled. "Where is the evidence I was planning to hand over to the committee?"

A trace of heartache flashed across Susan's face. "You just woke up, Shawn. Let's not talk about that right now, okay?"

Shawn used what little strength he had left to push Susan away.

"He almost killed me, Susan Langley!" he screamed. "I almost died!"

He stared at the woman he had loved for eight years with grief and resentment. "To protect him, you handed my hard work to him on a silver platter and allowed him to deliberately crash his car into mine."

"How could I have ever fallen in love with you?" he cried; the pain in his chest was making it difficult for him to breathe. "I won't let this slide, and I'll make those who hurt me pay for what they've done."

Susan sighed. She looked guilt-ridden, but her voice remained firm. "There's no point, Shawn. I won't let you hurt Henry."

Shawn stared at the resolute look in her eyes and suddenly came to a realization.

"What are you implying?"

"I burned all the evidence you collected. The competition is already over, and the committee has been dissolved. There won't be any more dispute over who 'Home' belongs to.

"As for the person who crashed into you, the police have already caught him. He was a drunk driver. The case has been closed, and the incident had nothing to do with Henry. Even if you file a complaint after you're discharged, nothing will change."

Shawn's eyes widened in disbelief. Susan's words felt like a knife twisting in his chest.

His entire body went numb, and all of a sudden, he let out a broken laugh. "I can't believe you're willing to go this far for him."

It seemed like he had overestimated how important he was to her after all.

As a searing pain tore through his chest, his physical injuries began to ache as well. Subsequently, the monitors beside his bed started to beep rapidly.

The noise finally snapped Susan out of her trance.

"I know you're not willing to accept this, Shawn, but Henry didn't mean for any of this to happen. He was just scared.

"I'll make it up to you. Didn't you say that you like kids? Do you want a child of our own? We can have a baby. Let's go back to the way things were," she hurriedly tried to comfort him.

Shawn fell silent and simply closed his eyes.

Unfortunately for her, it was no longer possible for them to go back to the way things were in the past.