Chapter 7

Ernest felt his heart drop while a brazen thought suddenly crossed his mind. What if the child Milana was carrying was not Miles’s?

Suddenly, he felt an undeniable surge of joy welling inside him.

What if… the child was his?

With this thought in mind, he rushed out of the house and headed toward the location Miles had appointed.

Soon, he arrived at a bridge where he found Miles leaning against the railing and glaring at him with a look marked by utter contempt.

Drawing closer, Ernest cried out sharply, “Whose child is Milana carrying?!”

The river surged violently right underneath the bridge.

When Miles flicked his cigarette away, it dropped into the river and was washed away in an instant.

He marched up to Ernest, then taunted him, “Mine, of course!”

With that, he produced a piece of paper from behind his back and flaunted it in Ernest’s face.

“Take a good look, the child is mine. You complete fool!”

Ernest’s pent-up rage reached its tipping point. He clenched his fist and landed a punch square on Miles’s face.

With that, the two men were tangled up in a brawl.

Though Miles was struck in the face, he did not get upset. Rather, he laughed and taunted again, “Ernest, you are a pathetic man who has led a pathetic life.

“So what if you’ve spent five years dedicating yourself to Milana? At the end of the day, both Milana and the baby are mine!

“Come to think of it, I should be thanking you for taking care of her over the last five years, so much so you even lost your hearing for her sake! Too bad she’s never loved you, though! At this point, it wouldn’t even make a difference if you died for her!”

Ernest’s eyes became bloodshot as he grabbed Miles by the collar and landed another punch directly on his eye this time.

As soon as the punch connected, a sharp and shrill scream came from behind them, “Stop!”

The moment the cry was emitted, Miles, who had been lying on the ground and pretending to be knocked out, suddenly lunged forward at Ernest.

Miles grabbed Ernest, then dragged them both toward the edge of the railing where their bodies dangled precariously over the edge.

Miles immediately feigned panic and cried out in horror, “Milana, he’s trying to push me off!”

At the same time, his smile turned sinister while he turned to Ernest and hissed in a lowered voice, “You’re not going to give up, are you? Let’s find out who Milana truly cares for, shall we?”

With that, he threw both of them over the edge.

In that crucial moment, Milana lunged forward and grabbed Miles's arm just in time.

Meanwhile, Ernest, who had nothing to hold onto, plunged into the river.

The moment he broke the surface, he was engulfed in a rush of water. The last thing he saw was Milana holding onto Miles while her face was etched with concern. The whole time, she did not even bother to spare a glance at him.

It was accompanied by the freezing sensation of the water, which washed over him and rushed into his lungs.

His heart, already numb with pain, finally died in the freezing water.

The impact of hitting the water from a height of over thirty feet could not be understated. He nearly passed out and lost his will to survive at the moment his body hit the water.

The water surged relentlessly into his ears while the cold sensation pierced every pore of his skin.

As he was starting to lose consciousness, he closed his eyes in despair while a single thought replayed in his mind incessantly.

‘Milana, there’s nothing I regret more than falling in love with you.’

Moments before he sank to the riverbed, two figures swam toward him and rescued him from the depths of the river.

The moment he broke through the surface, he heard the gut-wrenching cry of Milana.

“Ernest, you’re scaring me! Please don’t die!”

It was soon followed by someone forcefully applying pressure to his chest, which caused him to throw up a mouthful of river water he had accidentally ingested. The feeling was so nauseating that he launched into a violent coughing fit.

The next thing he knew, he felt the warmth of somebody embracing him.

“Ernest.” Milana leaned right next to his ear and cried out, “Since you know how to swim, I figured I should save Miles first. I thought you would be fine…”

Ernest looked at her blankly as a wry smile played at the corners of his lips.

With everyone looking on, he walked away while still drenched in water in an utterly humiliated state.

His heartache had turned into complete numbness by now, which meant he no longer felt anything.

A surge of cold wind sent another shiver that ran through every pore of his body.

With every step he took, he left a trail of ice-cold water behind him.

It was on this cold night that his love for Milana had vanished for good.