Chapter 3

Cole made a trip to the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Hope on the weekend. He had heard that it was known for answering prayers, so he decided to pray for his fiancée.

He heard that she used to be a woman of extraordinary beauty and grace—a true favorite of fortune—until a devastating car accident left her in a vegetative state for five long years. Now that he was going to marry into her family, their fates were tied together for better or worse.

He would do everything in his power to wake her up. Even if she never regained consciousness, he would care for her for the rest of his life. He would never have another woman in his life.

He made his way up the hill on his knees. He stopped at every step to bow his head in prayer. Halfway up the hill, he ran into some familiar faces.

Claire and Sienna had both scraped their knees raw, and blood continued to seep from their wounds. Yet they still sandwiched Joseph between them, afraid he might stumble and fall.

The three of them also hadn't expected to bump into Cole here. All of them looked taken aback.

Joseph teared up as he touched the two rosary bead bracelets around his wrist. "Claire and Sienna heard that this church is especially good at answering prayers, so they insisted on coming here to pray for me, Cole. Look at their knees..." he choked out.

Cole ignored him and continued his devout climb up the steps on his knees. He lowered his head at every step and repeatedly prayed in his mind. "Dear God, please watch over my wife. Please let her regain consciousness and bless her with a lifetime of peace, happiness, and good health."

The three of them stared at him in utter disbelief, stunned by the depth of his devotion.

At last, Sienna couldn't take it anymore and grabbed his arm. "You've been spoiled rotten by us since you were little. What on earth has gotten into you? There are almost ten thousand steps to the top of this mountain.

"Are you seriously going to hike up there on your knees? Unless someone saved your life, no one's worth this much effort!"

Cole chuckled. "Oh? I take it he saved both of your lives, then?"

“Joseph's different. He's the most important person in my life," Claire instinctively refuted.

It was strange to think that when she confessed to him at 17, she had told him that Cole was the only man she would ever love. But now, the person she considered the most important in her life was Joseph.

Cole laughed until tears welled in his eyes. "Right… So, the person I'm praying for is also the most important person in my life."

Right after saying that, he pulled his hand free, stepped aside, and climbed onto the next step before sinking to his knees once more.

Sienna's expression became complicated as she watched how resolute he was. In the end, she sighed. "I get it now; you're praying for me, aren't you? That's enough. I don't need you to put yourself through this kind of suffering."

Claire looked at him with undisguised heartache. "I don't need you to do this for me either, Cole. Give up already."

Without uttering a word, Cole shot them a cold and unfeeling look. He shifted his attention to the distant mountaintop and continued up the steps on his knees.

His unwavering resolve left both of them shaken. For the first time, they left Joseph behind and followed Cole up the mountain.

Time slipped by, and he only reached the top at dusk. His knees were raw and bloody, and he dragged himself with great difficulty to the wishing tree, where he asked for a prayer ribbon and wrote a name on it.

Sienna and Claire, who tailed him, went rigid when they saw the words "AL." Those letters belonged to neither of them.

Cole had just tucked the ribbon into a small prayer pouch when Claire abruptly seized his hand. Her eyes were blazing with fury as she demanded, "Who is that?"

She could accept it if Cole was praying for his older sister. However, any other woman was completely out of the question.