Chapter 3

The breathing on the other end grew a little heavier. "Are you sure? Ms. Sinclair, you have an incredible talent for medical research. As long as you enroll, every condition is negotiable!"

As soon as she hung up, an early admission notice from Hecton Medical School landed in Gemma's inbox. A recommendation letter for a private hospital was also attached.

Becoming a doctor had always been her dream. She'd already turned down this top-tier medical school once, so she wouldn't be separated from Harry. But now… she decided to leave, and she'd take her mother, Melinda Steele, with her.

The cuts all over her body hadn't stopped bleeding. In the end, she had no choice but to head to the hospital.

She'd just finished getting the wound on her head treated when a large hand suddenly clamped down right over the gash on her arm. A sharp pain shot through her, making her vision darken around the edges.

Harry didn't seem to notice. He yanked her toward the stairs. "You hurt Rachel, and she's losing too much blood now. So you're giving her your blood."

"I'm not going!"

Gemma couldn't break free, so she simply sank her teeth into Harry's forearm. He hissed in pain, and his grip loosened for a second.

But the next moment, his hand clamped around the back of her head, and his lips crashed down on hers. "You like me, don't you? As long as you save her, after we graduate I can sleep wi—"

Gemma froze, then instantly understood what he meant. She shoved him away with everything she had and slapped him hard across the face.

"Just because I like you, you think you can ignore how I feel and humiliate me however you want?" She sounded broken, but her words came out loud and clear. "Then listen closely, Harry. Starting today, I'm done liking you!"

Harry's movements stalled. Then, he gave a short laugh, as if he'd just heard the punch line of some joke. "You're done liking me? Fine. I couldn't care less if you can actually pull that off. But right now, you're still gonna donate blood for Rachel."

"Anyone with basic medical common sense knows that blood donations between close relatives can trigger immune collapse syndrome. The mortality rate is over 90%!" Gemma snapped.

But he didn't believe her. He dragged her straight to the blood donation room. It wasn't until the doctor confirmed she hadn't been lying that he finally let her go, his expression dark.

Gemma lay in the treatment room and shut her eyes, a bitter taste in her mouth. She clearly had way more injuries than Rachel, but Harry acted like he was blind when facing her.

She felt ridiculous for having poured 18 years of genuine affection and devotion into him, and for losing herself for three whole years. At the same time, she felt Melinda's lifetime of hard work had been completely wasted.

Fortunately, after Melinda was diagnosed with cancer, she'd transferred all the private assets she'd kept hidden from William into Gemma's name. She'd been afraid that if she suddenly passed away, Gemma might end up mistreated by a future stepmother.

So Gemma didn't have to worry about money. She slowly opened her eyes and booked a plane ticket to leave on the day of the exam.

Once her wounds were taken care of, she headed straight to the oncology hospital where Melinda was staying and finalized the details for transferring her to a hospital overseas.

She didn't dare let Melinda see how bruised and battered she was. All she could do was stand outside the hospital room, covering her mouth as tears silently streamed down her face.

That night, William, Lena, and Rachel didn't come home. Gemma was more than happy to have the house to herself.

The next day, she took the day off, packed the personal belongings she and Melinda would need, and shipped everything overseas.

On the third day, she put on a long-sleeved shirt to hide her injuries and finally returned to school. But the moment she walked through the gates, she noticed something was off.

Everyone was looking at her strangely.