Chapter 3

I dodged Xander's car in a panic, but the brakes suddenly failed. Luckily, the car slammed into a wall, and I barely managed to save my life.

I had just been lifted into the ambulance when the vehicle suddenly exploded.

Both of my legs were fractured, and a large shard of glass pierced deep into my abdomen. I almost died from blood loss.

When Bianca saw me pinned under the car, lying in the pool of my blood, she merely frowned and said, "Xander was badly frightened. He's not in a good place. I'll take him to the hospital."

At that time, I still held onto a sliver of hope for her. However, I lay in the hospital ward for an entire month before she finally came to visit me.

The first thing she did was plead on Xander's behalf.

"Xander's depression is getting worse. He's even threatened to kill himself to make it up. Please don't call the police. Just do it for me, please?"

I looked at Bianca, holding my hand, sobbing hard.

In the end, I gave in, but my heart started turning cold from that day on.

…

Lying in the quiet hospital ward, my injuries from three months ago had not fully recovered.

An endless itch mixed with pain crawled through my body, driving me almost insane.

Unable to bear it any longer, I pressed the call button, but no nurse came.

Helpless, I dialled Bianca, hoping she could arrange a caretaker for me. However, I could not reach her no matter how many times I tried.

Then, on Xander's social media, I spotted her.

They were kissing passionately in the firelight. Behind them, the burning estate was unmistakably the last place my mother had lived before she died.

In the video, they had recklessly lit fireworks around the estate, trampling on the rose garden that my mom had spent all her life's energy caring for.

Then, they set it on fire, burning the peach blossom tree that Bianca and I had planted together when we were children, until nothing remained but ashes.

Bianca let Xander set everything on fire, even stopping the firefighters from approaching, all just to see Xander smile.

I could not believe what I was watching. I called her maniacally.

After countless calls, Bianca finally answered the phone in an icy tone, "I already said that I'm taking Xander out to relax. Were you deaf or something?"

I questioned her in a hoarse voice, "Taking him to relax is one thing. How dare you touch my property?! Don't you know that's where my mother lived before she died?"

Bianca replied impatiently, "Enough. It's all your fault. There's nothing wrong in using your things to make it up to him! Besides, a dead person was once there. It'll just make that place haunted! Only you treat it as something special. Xander is just helping you cleanse that place of negative energy!"

"That was my mother!"

Facing my outburst, Bianca merely tutted and said perfunctorily, "Your mother's long dead! Why let such a huge estate go to waste? Do you have that much money that you don't even know how to spend it?"

She added, "I've already sent out news that we'll have our wedding the day after tomorrow. This time, you must cheer Xander up. Once he's feeling better, we'll get our marriage registered. Xander really is too kind…"

Her words disgusted me so much that I felt a heave of nausea.

Xander's voice rang out in the background, "Bianca, are you done washing up? I'm ready! I've prepared red wine and candles tonight. It'll make you very happy!"

Bianca explained in a soft panicked voice, "I promised Xander a candlelight dinner. Go get some rest. I'll see you at the wedding the day after tomorrow!"

Then, she hung up.

I looked at my phone, finding it all rather comical.

We were all adults. Anyone could tell what was going on from the faint panting and sound of water mixed into her final explanation.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated.

It was a message from the wedding gown shop.

[Mr. Fuller, the wedding dress that Ms. Newton has sent over has been cleaned. When would you like it delivered?]