Fade with the Wind

Ivy Yarley stood frozen, staring at the half-opened door. At one glance, she immediately spotted the man in the patient's gown among the group.

Jason Hough was lazily leaning against the head of the bed, playing with his phone. Someone was partially blocking his face, but Ivy still noticed his sharp nose bridge and deep-set brows.

He clearly did not look injured!

Ivy blinked. She thought that her overwhelming grief must have made her hallucinate.

"Guys, let me count. Which round of revenge is this now?"

"The first time, we lied that Jason lost the necklace that he was going to give her. She searched all night for it in the snow and ended up with a high fever and still refused to rest."

"The second time, we tricked her by saying that Jason was unconscious. She knelt and crawled up nine hundred ninety-nine steps just to get him a blessed cross, only for Jason to give the cross to a dog."

"The third time, we framed her for cheating and ruined her graduation. The way she desperately tried to prove her innocence… Honestly, it still cracks me up!"

"This time, we lied to her and made her give up five bags of blood. This must be the ninety-sixth lie? Three more lies, and our game of revenge is up. It hasn't been an easy journey. Jason must've sacrificed a lot all these years."

"Well, she brought it to herself. Who told her to be so blind back then to win over Felicity Shaw at the dance championship? Felicity cried the entire night. She's Jason's sweetheart. He wouldn't let anyone off the hook for making her cry.

"This was why he 'dated' Ivy in the first place–to exact revenge ninety-nine times. What a pity. Once all this is over, Jason is going to dump her. We won't be able to have any fun anymore."

…

A deafening buzz filled Ivy's ears, as if she had just been struck by lightning. Her heart felt as if it were being carved apart. She pressed a hand against her chest, bending over as she gasped for air, the pain nearly suffocating her.

She could not believe what she had just heard. She could not believe that Jason dated her just to take revenge!

He clearly knew how much she liked him.

Jason Hough–the most sought-after bachelor in King City. Outstanding grades, powerful family, devastatingly handsome. There was once a saying that any girl who had seen him would inevitably fall for him.

She, Ivy, was the girl he picked out of a million. She had thrown away her pride and pursued him for three years, yet he would not budge. That was, of course, until he agreed to be with her one random day.

Ivy thought that she was getting what she dreamed of. Little did she know that it was just a cruel game of revenge.

He did not agree to be with her because he always had someone else in his heart.

He only agreed to 'date' her because she won the dance championships over Felicity, which made her cry.

To exact revenge, he pretended to be with her and lied to her 99 times just to avenge Felicity.

Ivy's tears were free-falling. It felt as if something was stuck in her throat, and she could barely breathe.

She looked at the group inside the room, laughing raucously. Then, she looked at Jason's icy face.

She suddenly felt like the biggest joke of all.

She had given him her heart, only for him to ruthlessly step on it and throw it into the trash can. Her heart was dirt-cheap.

Right at that moment, the people in the room seemed to sense something and looked over at the door.

Ivy quickly turned and left. She walked as fast as she could, then broke into a run.

She did not know where she was going. All she knew was that she wanted to run away from this place. Away from Jason. Away from this absurd nightmare.

She ran until she could no longer run. Then, she bent over, and the floodgates of tears broke.

She covered her face and let out a muffled sob, pouring all of her grievances out.

How pathetic, she thought. She had been a fool all this time.

A long time later, her phone rang. She answered with trembling hands.

Her mother, Mary, said rather gently, "Ivy, your father and I are about to move abroad permanently. Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

Not long ago, her parents had been transferred abroad for work. They had planned to relocate the entire family, but Ivy could not bear to part ways with Jason, so she had been putting it off. She even thought of staying in King City just for him.

At that moment, it all felt like a bitter joke.

"No." She wiped away her tears and took a deep breath. Her voice was hoarse yet determined. "Mom, Dad, I'm coming with you."