Chapter 4

The next morning, Christine walked out of the master bedroom and found the guest room door wide open. The room was empty.

She frowned and walked over to the table, where she immediately spotted the engagement termination agreement.

Standing nearby with red, tearful eyes, Lucian pretended to blame himself. "Christie, is Maxwell mad at me? Maybe I should go find him and bring him back…"

Christine let out a cold snort. "Don't bother. He's just playing hard to get. He's so in love with me that he can't live without me. He'll be back begging me in three days."

She was convinced I was just throwing a tantrum.

However, an entire week passed without a single word from me. There weren't any phone calls or text messages. Even the hospital said I had already resigned.

The confidence Christine had at first gradually turned into frustration.

One day, as she walked down the hallway, she glanced at the trash can that still hadn't been emptied.

A dirty engagement ring lay inside. It was the ring she had casually told her assistant, Ethel Nash, to buy back then just to appease Atticus.

The ring was wrapped in a thick layer of red thread because it had been too large. Without the thread, it would've slipped right off my finger.

Christine's heart missed a beat as she muttered, "He even threw away the ring…"

Just then, Ethel hurried over carrying a cardboard box. "Ms. Stafford, these are Mr. Linton's belongings from the hospital. They asked us to bring them back."

Before Ethel could finish speaking, she stumbled. The box fell to the floor.

A rusty metal box rolled out, and its lid popped open. A yellowed diary and a document slipped out onto the floor.

Frowning, Christine walked over and picked up the document. The moment she read the words on it, the blood drained from her face.

It was a critical blood donation consent form from three years earlier. And the name right beneath the donor's signature read—Maxwell Linton.

The comments appeared once again.

"Holy crap! Why is Maxwell's name on that blood donation form?"

"Was it actually Maxwell who saved Christine back then? Did Lucian steal all the credit?"

Christine's hands began to tremble as her gaze fell on the diary. It took her a long while before she finally dared to open it.

My neat handwriting filled the pages.

"Today, I donated blood for Christine. The doctor said I might die. While she was unconscious, she kept holding my hand and calling me Lucian. It's okay. As long as she survives, that's enough for me."

Christine's mind went blank. She suddenly remembered my deathly pale face and hopeless eyes from just a few days earlier when she had forced me to donate blood to Lucian.

"How… How could it have been him…" Her voice shook uncontrollably, and her eyes instantly reddened.

She pulled out her phone and called my number while muttering, "Pick up, Maxwell…. Pick up the phone!"

After a long series of ringing tones, the call connected.

Christine's voice trembled as she spoke urgently. "Where are you right now, Maxwell? Who was it who saved me back then? Say something!"

But the voice that came from the other end wasn't mine. Instead, there were explosions, police sirens, and the anxious voice of a foreign man.

"Are you Dr. Linton's family member? Armed militants just attacked his team near the border. An explosion destroyed the vehicle he was in! We still haven't found his body… Please prepare yourself for the worst."