Chapter 6

The moment Evan pulled out his phone, Queenie snatched it and hurled it to the floor. It broke with a loud crack, and the screen went dark.

Evan froze. That had been a gift from Queenie on their third anniversary. On the back, she'd even personally engraved the words, "Queenie Stone loves Evan Sutherland."

And now, she'd smashed it with her own hands.

"Cooled off yet?" Seeing him go completely still, Queenie calmed down as well. "I know Mrs. Sutherland's too old to donate blood, but I had no choice if I wanted to save Joel's life. Once he pulls through, I'll make it up to her, no matter the cost. And I'll buy you a new phone. You've been eyeing the latest model, right? I'll get it for you."

Evan slowly lifted his eyes to her, hatred burning in them. "Queenie Stone, I hate you."

The look in his eyes made her jolt. She started to say something when the operating room doors swung open.

The doctor walked out. "The patient has lost too much blood. 2 pints still isn't enough!"

Queenie frowned. "Then what are you waiting for? Keep drawing!"

"But Mrs. Sutherland is elderly. If we keep taking her blood, I'm afraid—"

"I'll only say this once more. Keep drawing. I'm not letting Joel die!" Queenie had lost her mind over Joel.

Evan dragged himself across the floor and weakly grabbed her pant leg. "Take mine. Don't take my mom's blood. Take mine…"

She looked down and saw tears spilling from the corners of his eyes. Her heart wavered, but she still bent down, lifted his chin, and said softly, "Good. See? You should've done this earlier. You screwed up, Evan. You should be doing everything you can to make it right, shouldn't you?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm begging you, let my mom out. Let her rest. Take my blood. As much as you want."

"How could I bear to take that much?" She pulled him up and gently wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "Relax. It'll just be a little."

She turned to the doctor. "Take him inside. As for the woman inside, move her to a VIP ward so she can rest. Do everything you can to get her back on her feet as soon as possible. She can't suffer any lasting damage from this. She's my future mother-in-law. Got it?"

"Yes, Ms. Stone."

Future mother-in-law?

Evan almost laughed at those words. Queenie would never be his wife. Not in this lifetime.

He was shoved into the blood donation room, and the nurse started drawing his blood. As he watched the blood flow out of him bit by bit, he closed his eyes.

They could take as much as they wanted. In just one more day, he and his parents would leave this place for good.

…

When Evan woke up, he was already lying in a hospital ward.

Arthur sat beside him, sobbing. "That damned woman drew so much blood from my boy. Look at how pale he is now! And my wife's still unconscious. We don't even know when she'll wake up. What did we ever do to deserve running into a monster like her?"

Seeing Arthur bawl his eyes out like that made Evan feel like his heart was being sliced open.

He glanced at Grace in the next bed. Her complexion looked even worse than before. She still hadn't woken up. Had something gone wrong?

"Dad—" He opened his mouth to call out to Arthur when the monitor at Grace's bedside suddenly blared.

Evan panicked and immediately slammed his hand on the call button.

Arthur hurried over to check on Grace. "What's happening? Why are the machines going off like crazy all of a sudden?"

Evan could only try to calm him down. "Dad, calm down. Don't worry. It's gonna be okay."

"Quick! Get in here!"

"This is Ms. Stone's mother-in-law! Move it, people!"

"Dr. Walker, the patient lost too much blood in one go. Her heart and kidneys are completely shot. I'm afraid—"

"Afraid of what?" Arthur shook his head wildly and grabbed the doctor's hand. "Afraid of what? Answer me! What's wrong with my wife? What happened to her?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the heart monitor flatlined.

Evan stared at Grace. Just a couple of days ago, she'd been eating with him and talking about how he had to live a good life with Queenie. Now, she'd slipped away right in front of him. His eyes slowly turned bloodshot.

"I'm sorry. We did everything we could. Please accept our condolences."