Chapter 2

I clutched my bleeding hand and stumbled toward the hospital entrance.

A young nurse ran after me and asked if I wanted the wound treated, but I did not have the strength to turn around.

At some point, the sky opened up. Rain slammed down in thick, violent sheets. I stood under the awning and stared out, and all at once I was back on the day I first met William.

It had rained like this that day too…

We ended up taking shelter outside the same flower shop, arriving one after the other, neither of us carrying an umbrella.

I shivered in the cold. He took off his jacket and held it out to me.

I did not take it. The suit looked expensive. He smiled and did not insist. He stayed beside me and waited for the rain to stop.

But the storm dragged on. The silence between us turned into a few casual words, then into a conversation neither of us seemed willing to end.

By the time the rain finally stopped, we both fell quiet.

In the end, William stepped out from under the awning first.

I had just begun to feel a small, sharp sting of regret when he suddenly turned back and held out his card. "Same time tomorrow. Can I see you again?"

No matter how many times I replayed that moment, my heart still jolted.

We met again the next day. He arrived in a black Porsche and took me to a field of lavender in full bloom.

The day before, I had mentioned that I liked lavender. He had gone out and rented the entire place for me.

I could not even smile. At that moment, I realized we did not belong to the same world. Thus, I turned him down when he confessed.

He acted as if he did not understand the word no. Every day, he waited for me outside the office after work. Every day, he brought me a new gift.

I told him the gap between us was too wide. He never cared.

He dragged me into fast-food places and ate with me as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Then he put on the plainest clothes he owned and walked straight into the slum where I lived.

That time was agony. It was hard not to love him. It was just as hard to accept that a man like him would never truly belong to me.

Hence, I forced myself to be cruel and asked a friend to help me stage something.

That day, I made sure William saw my "boyfriend" walk me home and go upstairs with me.

After that, he disappeared.

I should have felt relieved. But that night, I hid under the blanket and cried until I could not breathe and cried through the entire night.

The next day, someone called to tell me William had seen me leave with my friend, lost control of his car, and crashed.

He was in the ICU, fighting for his life.

The second I heard that, I lost all sense.

I rushed to the hospital in a panic. When I saw him lying there, wrapped in bandages from head to toe, I broke down completely.

I threw myself at his bedside and cried so hard I could barely breathe. I begged him not to die. I told him that if he woke up, I would stay with him.

The moment the words left my mouth, William opened his eyes and looked pleased. "You said it. No taking it back."

I laughed and cried at the same time, then hit him on the arm.

That brush with life and death gave me the courage I had been missing. It brought us together at last.

Later, William stopped pretending. He bought me the best clothes and the most expensive watches. If I so much as nicked a finger, he called in the best doctor in the city.

…

Now, staring at the blood covering my hand, I laughed until tears spilled out.

Just then, William came after me. His breathing was rough. He had clearly run all the way.

"Good. You haven't left." He stepped in front of me, pulled the ring from his finger, and held it out. "Vira was there just now, so I had to say what I said. Stephy, if you really care that much about this pair of rings…"

He tried to press it into my hand. Then his gaze dropped to the dried, dark blood crusted across my palm.

"You're hurt?" His grip tightened at once, and panic entered his voice. "When did this happen? Why didn't you say anything?"

"You pushed me." My voice came out flat and cold.

He froze. Only then did he seem to remember that he had been the one who shoved me to the ground. "I'm sorry. I was too worked up. The baby had just been hurt. If Vira got hurt too, Father would never let you go. Then we really wouldn't be able to leave this family—"

"That's enough," I cut him off. "William, maybe you're not tired of saying those words, but I am tired of hearing them."

After that, I did not look at him again. I turned and walked straight into the storm.

William moved to follow me on instinct.

Then a nurse came running out behind him. "Mr. Jamison, he's awake!"

He stopped short. He lowered his eyes to the ring still in his palm, then slowly pulled it back.

A moment later, I heard him shout after me through the rain. "Stephanie, just wait a little longer. Soon, we'll finally be free!"

My steps faltered for half a second. I looked down as the blood in my palm thinned under the rain, little by little, until it washed away.

Then I smiled.

Very softly, I said, "William, I'm not believing you again. I'm done waiting."