Chapter 2

Back in her room, she wrapped her arms around her body in silence, unable to stop her tears from falling again. Only in this room could she cry uncontrollably, because Joshua never came—he didn’t even look at this room.

In fact, over the past three years, she could feel Joshua’s growing indifference toward her, but she stubbornly believed that as long as she stayed by his side, one day he would be as good as he had been in the beginning. But the divorce agreement that night seemed to have shattered the last line of defense.

She was truly on the verge of no longer being able to hold on.

Astrid sat quietly through the night until a ray of sunlight slipped into the house in the early morning. The winter sunlight was still dazzling, and Astrid realized that her breath seemed a little hot, but she couldn’t care less right now. She hurried to look at the clock—it was already 6:30. In ten minutes Joshua would get up. If she didn’t hurry to make breakfast, Joshua would get angry.

She got up reluctantly; her head felt a little dizzy. Astrid didn’t worry about it—she would go rest properly after cooking.

The moment she pushed the door, she felt her body turn to light, and in the next moment, darkness.

In her dream, Joshua left without looking back. Astrid desperately tried to catch up to him, but it was as if Joshua couldn’t see her. Walking farther and farther away, she shouted Joshua’s name again and again, but in the distance, it was as if he couldn’t hear her.

“Joshua!” Astrid struggled to open her eyes, gasping slightly, her heart pounding nonstop.

And suddenly, Joshua’s familiar and pleasant voice sounded in her ears. “Since you’re awake, I should go to work.” After saying that, he was ready to leave, but suddenly his arm was grabbed by a soft hand.

When she saw Joshua again, Astrid almost cried out once more. That’s good—really good. Joshua was still there. That’s good. So good. She could still feel Joshua’s warmth in her small hand. The dream she had just had made her think Joshua had disappeared from her world forever, and seeing Joshua again made Astrid’s happiness overflow.

“Please don’t go, stay with me for a while, okay?” Astrid’s two clear eyes looked at Joshua expectantly. Still a little drowsy from just waking up, she looked like a little kitten.

In fact, Astrid didn’t have much hope of getting a yes, but if Joshua promised her, she would feel more at ease.

Seeing Astrid ask like that, Joshua showed a bit of tolerance. Perhaps because he had neglected her for so long, he felt a certain guilt in his heart.

He sighed and said, “After you finish drinking the medicine, I’ll leave.”

Astrid’s heart leapt with excitement, but it didn’t last long.

Joshua’s phone rang—it was a message, and as he read it, his handsome brows furrowed slightly.

Looking at Joshua, Astrid had a bad feeling. “Joshua?” she called.

As if he hadn’t heard, Joshua walked toward the door to leave Astrid’s room, his voice turning cold again. “Something has happened at the company. I won’t keep you company. The medicine is by your side—remember to take it. You should sleep more.”

“Joshua?” Astrid called out to him quickly. He stopped before leaving the room, but didn’t turn to look at her, only waited in silence. The room was dark, and Astrid could only see his silhouette. This scene was so similar to her nightmares. “You’ll come back, right?” Like a plea, Astrid tightly gripped the corner of the blanket, forcing herself to hold back the trembling and fear in her body as she asked Joshua.

She felt the air around her gradually heating up, so much that she might faint, but this wasn’t the moment. Astrid was waiting for Joshua’s answer in order to do so; otherwise, she couldn’t even think clearly.

“Of course.” The answer came without hesitation. With a click followed by soft footsteps, the door closed, leaving only the sound of the clock in the room.

After Joshua’s response, Astrid let out a sigh of relief, and her body gradually relaxed as well. The temperature around her slowly dropped; there was neither cold nor heat in the air.

Was there any possibility that Joshua cared about her even a little? If nothing had happened at the company, would he have stayed with her a bit longer? Normally, when she begged him, he would only give her a cold look and then turn away, but today he hadn’t left as usual. Maybe if she held on a little longer, he would gradually fall in love with her. The moment would come when he could notice her. Astrid slowly got up with great difficulty. Joshua had told her to take the medicine—he was taking care of her, so she had to be obedient and drink the medicine so that when Joshua returned, she could be healthy.

The medicine touched her lips and tongue, sliding slowly down her throat. It was extremely bitter—so bitter that her eyes turned red. She had hated taking medicine since she was a child, especially medicine that bitter.

In the past, it was her mother who coaxed her into taking the medicine, patiently waiting for her to finish before putting a candy in her mouth and gently patting her back while she cried.

Since marrying Joshua, she had never cried while taking medicine again, because Joshua had said that an adult shouldn’t be afraid of the bitterness of medicine and should drink it easily.

So whenever she got sick, she pretended that nothing was wrong, drank the bitter medicine, and hoped that Joshua would notice in search of his approval.

But Joshua never said it even once. He never even took the initiative to give her the medicine, nor did he ever see her drink it. So she kept all the bitterness of these three long years to herself.

After drinking the medicine, Astrid wiped her mouth. She had endured it well, and she wondered whether her mother would be happy to see her so strong now.

Speaking of her mother, Astrid thought again of the intensive care unit. How long had it been since she visited her? When she recovered this time, she had to take Joshua with her. Last time, she told her mother that next time she would go with him to visit her.

Three years had passed and she had never woken up—only the sound of the dripping instruments proved that she was still alive. If it weren’t for that accident, wouldn’t things be like this? But… if it weren’t for that accident, wouldn’t she and Joshua never have met?

Thinking of this made Astrid’s heart ache. She didn’t want this, she didn’t want that either, but she also didn’t want her mother to become like this.

If her mother could wake up, she would have no more wishes. Even if Joshua never fell in love with her in this life, as long as she could quietly remain by his side, that would be enough. She would be satisfied.