Chapter 2

I suddenly felt a terrible agony flare in my chest, the pain spreading throughout my entire body. What followed was an aching emptiness.

Was this what it felt like to have one's heart dug out?

When the plane crashed, I was surprised to find that I had survived. As it turned out, this had all been arranged by Rachel. She hadn't let me die because she still had use for my heart and me.

The anesthesia slowly took over, and I knew no more as I was finally dragged into the darkness.

…

When I woke up again, I was already in a hospital bed.

Rachel was slumped beside my bed, asleep. One of her hands rested gently on the back of mine, the gesture protective.

Sensing the slight movement of my hand, she jerked awake from her slumber and looked into my eyes with delighted surprise. "Honey, you're awake? Does it hurt anywhere? I'll summon the doctor right away to check on you."

From how anxious and concerned she seemed, I could never have imagined that she didn't actually love me. Her hand was very obviously warm, yet when she touched me, I felt nothing but a chill sweep through my body.

Gently extracting my hand from her grip, I replied hoarsely, "It really hurts. Rachel, when the plane crashed, I thought that I would never get to see you again. I was so, so scared.

"Do you know what it's like to fall into the ocean and suffocate as you drown? All around you is nothing but pitch-black darkness and absolute silence, as though everything around you is dead…"

Rachel's expression slowly became uncomfortable before she hurriedly stood up and rushed outside to call for a doctor. It seemed she had completely forgotten that there was a call button right there in the room.

I stared silently at the phone she had accidentally left behind on the bedside table.

In the past, I had never once looked through her phone as a gesture of respect and trust. Now, however, I decided to snoop through her phone like a spouse who suspected their partner of cheating.

The password was a simple 1111.

Before everything that happened, I might have simply assumed that she couldn't be bothered to think up a complicated password, but now, I knew that it was actually Cameron Zink's birthday.

I checked her WhatsApp and saw that her most recent conversation was with someone whose name was a single ".".

Rachel, who claimed that she never bothered giving nicknames to any of her contacts, had done so for the one man who held a place in her heart.

Like the punctuation mark that was his nickname, Cameron Zink was the one she loved, period.

I suddenly recalled that one time six years ago, Rachel had said she needed to head overseas for an acquisition deal.

For an entire year, she disappeared, even refusing to let me fly over to her. On the surface, she claimed it was because she was worried that I would be too exhausted by the journey.

Looking back on it now, I finally understood that that was the period she was pregnant and had to give birth!

The chat history between the two was rather sparse, mostly just Cameron sending her photos of their son. Nonetheless, no matter what time he sent them, Rachel would always reply with utmost sincerity. From six years ago to now, not once had she ever not responded to any message from him.

Compared to that, every time I sent her a message, she was always impatient. Sometimes, I would have to send over a dozen messages before she finally replied with one simple "OK" emoji.

I used to comfort myself by saying that she was the CEO of her company and had to be extremely busy, so she wasn't replying to my messages because she was earning money.

Only now did I understand that she just didn't have the time to respond to my messages specifically.

Even the medical report showing that I couldn't produce viable sperm was fake, something she fabricated because she didn't want to have children with me.

I didn't know when I started crying, but tears now blurred my vision.

At last, my focus went to the background photo of her chat window with Cameron. A little boy stood between her and Cameron, with each of them pressing a kiss to his cheeks on either side.

What a sweet and loving family of three.

At that moment, the sound of footsteps coming closer echoed in the corridor, and I quickly placed Rachel's phone back in its original spot.

The first thing Rachel saw when she entered the room was the tears in my eyes. Shocked, she hurried over to my bed.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked. "Why are you crying? Doctor! Quick, take a look at him and find out what's wrong!"

After the doctor had examined me, he instructed me not to get too agitated.

"Mr. Yarrow, you're currently using an artificial heart. Besides that, both your legs were severely injured and suffered extensive nerve damage, so it's highly likely that you'll be crippled for life. The best thing for you right now is to keep your emotions calm and stable."

There was a pained expression on Rachel's face as she took my hand in hers. "Honey, it'll be alright. No matter whether you'll be able to stand again, you'll always be the man I love most. I will only ever have you as my husband in this life."