Chapter 3

If I wanted to transfer to a different hospital, I needed my original ID card and medical records, but Boaz had taken them when he grabbed my passport.

I called over a dozen times, but he didn't answer at all.

Eventually, Finley sent me a hotel address and said, "We're hosting a send-off party for Cindy. If you need something, come over yourself."

The private room was as boisterous as a New Year's Countdown party. Cindy stood atop a chair, popping open a bottle of champagne with one hand.

As the champagne sprayed out, she laughed and jumped down, met by a chorus of cheers.

"You're such a legend, Cindy!"

"Yeah! Don't go leaving all four of these guys in the dust once you hit the snowy mountains!"

She lost her footing upon landing, and Boaz instinctively reached out to catch her. They collided, and both burst into laughter.

I stood at the doorway, sticking out like a sore thumb. Someone recognized me and said, "So, is this the clingy thing who insisted on tagging along no matter what?"

"I heard she has a heart condition, and that the four of them would have to take shifts just to look after her."

"Honestly, I'd be worried too. Who could handle bringing such a high-maintenance princess along on a graduation trip with them?"

Finley didn't stop them when he heard their words. Instead, he chuckled and remarked, "She's just been spoiled rotten by us since she was a kid."

They used to say that I wasn't a burden and that I was the most important person in their lives. But now, to prove how wonderful Cindy was compared to me, they recast me as inescapable dead weight.

I walked up to Boaz. "Give me back my documents."

He didn't budge. "You must first promise us that you will not come after us no matter what."

"I need to transfer to a different hospital."

Drake let out a derisive laugh. He sneered, "Is this a new excuse of yours, Arianna? You should be more creative."

Evans took off his glasses and rubbed his brow, looking weary. He said, "Come on, Arianna, it's not that we don't want you to travel with us. It's just that Cindy is more independent and has the stamina to keep up with every activity.

"If you come, we'll be spending every single day guessing when you might start feeling unwell. How could anyone actually enjoy themselves like that?"

A sharp, twisting pain suddenly pierced through my chest. I gripped the edge of the table, reaching for my emergency medication with my other hand.

Someone behind me wasn't paying attention and bumped into my shoulder, and the pill bottle rolled into an ice bucket. I crouched down to retrieve it, my hands shaking so violently I couldn't even get a firm hold on the rim of the bucket.

Boaz yanked me upright.

"That's enough. Do you really have to have an 'episode' right now, just because we said a few nice things about Cindy?"

I looked up at him. "You think I'm faking it?"

He shrugged. "It's always the same thing happening every time we go out. Either you get dizzy, or your chest feels tight.

"We get tired too, you know."

Cindy's smile faded. She started to reach out to help me, but Boaz blocked her.

"Leave her be. The more attention she gets, the more she plays it up."

In the end, a waiter delivering a meal noticed how unwell I looked and called an ambulance.

By the time the ambulance arrived, the group was already preparing to head to a hotel near the airport.

Boaz handed my identification documents to the nurse, then leaned in to whisper a warning to me, saying, "Fine, go to the hospital if you want, but don't you dare make a scene. Cindy has been looking forward to this trip for a long time."

I had been looking forward to it, too, for three whole years, but they didn't care at all.

In the ambulance, the doctor asked me if I wanted to contact my family. I watched through the window as the five of them walked away, side by side.

"I have no family."

…

At the hospital, a nurse handed me a surgery consent form. In the space for an emergency contact, I slowly wrote a single word—"None".

A notification popped up on my phone.

Cindy sent a photo of the five of them raising their glasses and wrote, "Next stop—the Northern Pole!"

Boaz even tagged me in the chat and said, "If you've come to your senses, head to the airport and see us off now."