Chapter 4

When I woke up again, I was lying in a hospital bed with an IV drip attached to my arm. Jade was sitting beside me, tightly holding my other hand.

The moment she saw my eyes open, she leaned toward me.

"Steve, you're finally awake! You have no idea how worried I've been."

There was a hint of lingering fear in her eyes, and her voice had softened.

"I only wanted to teach you a lesson. I never thought things would get this serious."

I stared at her for several seconds before slowly pulling my hand away and turning my face toward the window.

"Wasn't all of this your fault in the first place? Why are you pretending to care now?"

Jade's expression stiffened.

After a moment, she looked away guiltily, though her voice carried a hint of protest.

"I admit I acted impulsively today, but you didn't suffer that much.

"We were already at the hospital. The moment I realized something was wrong, I had you rushed in for emergency treatment.

"You were just unconscious for a little longer than expected. Look at you now. You're perfectly fine, aren't you?"

I turned to look out the window.

When she dragged me to the hospital, it had still been morning. Now the sky was darkening, and the streetlights in the distance were already flickering on one by one.

I opened my mouth, but I could not think of anything left to say.

In the end, all that escaped my throat was a faint, bitter laugh.

Back then, even when I accidentally cut my finger while cooking, she would practically insist on taking me to the hospital for a full medical checkup.

Now, after I had been unconscious from morning until evening, nearly losing my life in the process, she acted as if it were no big deal.

I closed my eyes. I really could not stand looking at her anymore.

"I'm awake now, and I'm fine. You can go home."

Jade frowned.

"I think I'll stay and keep you company."

Just then, her phone rang. Luis's voice came through, sounding rather weak.

"Ms. Smith, when are you coming back? I'm all alone at home, and I'm still not feeling very well..."

Jade hesitated for a moment before carefully tucking the blanket around me.

"Get some rest. I'll come see you again tomorrow."

Before I could say anything, she hurried out of the hospital room.

I spent the next three days in the hospital under observation. However, the promise she had made to come see me "tomorrow" was never fulfilled.

The day I was discharged, I took a cab home by myself.

When I reached the front door, I tried scanning my fingerprint more than a dozen times, but every attempt came back with an error message.

With no other choice, I called Jade.

"Why can't I get into the house?"

Before she could answer, I heard Luis's voice.

"Mr. Hoffman, I'm so sorry! It's all my fault!

"Ms. Smith helped me register my fingerprint yesterday. I've never used such a fancy smart lock before, and I accidentally deleted yours..."

His voice grew increasingly apologetic.

Jade quickly reassured him.

"All right, stop blaming yourself. Steve is a kind person. He won't hold something like this against you."

Only then did she turn her attention back to me.

"Just find somewhere to sit for a while. Wait until we get off work and come home. We'll let you in then."

With that, she hung up.

I stared at the firmly locked front door and let out an incredulous laugh.

I never imagined that one day, I would find myself locked out of the very marital home I had personally furnished and decorated.

I immediately called a locksmith.

After examining the door for quite some time, the locksmith frowned.

"This is an imported, custom-made security door. The security rating is extremely high. The only way to open it from the outside is to break it down."

I froze for a moment, remembering how we had gotten this door in the first place.

Back when Jade and I lived in that tiny partitioned room in the crowded neighborhood, the place was full of all kinds of people. Drunken fights in the hallway were common.

People would sometimes bang on the wrong door in the middle of the night or try turning someone else's doorknob. Even the neighbors next door had been robbed once.

For those three years, whenever I was home alone, I was so afraid I could not sleep deeply.

Later, when we moved into our marital home, Jade let me make all the renovation decisions. There was only one thing she insisted on choosing herself: this door.

She had spent nearly a third of our entire renovation budget on it.

She told me that from then on, I would never have to lie awake at night worrying about my safety again.

Now, she had personally welcomed another man into our home who had locked me out.

There was no reason to keep this door anymore.

"Go ahead and tear it down. I just need to get inside."

The locksmith worked for nearly three hours before finally managing to open the door.

I was looking down at my phone, transferring the money to him, when he suddenly stopped me.

"Wait a minute. Are you sure this is your house?"

I looked up, confused.

He warily pulled out his phone.

"You’re not the man in the photos hanging inside. You're not some kept man coming here to cause trouble, are you?

"I'd better call the police!"

I was just about to explain when something over his shoulder caught my eye.

Right in the middle of the living room, where our wedding portrait of Jade and me had once hung, there was now an enormous artistic portrait of Luis.