INICIAR SESIÓNA week later, I was discharged.During those weeks, Silas and I had grown close and quickly become friends. He'd even reached out to a design school in Paris on my behalf so I could study environmental design, something I'd always dreamed of.The day I left London, the sky was clear.At the airport, the PA announced boarding. Silas pushed my luggage to security."You're really not going to see him one last time?" he asked quietly, looking toward the huge floor-to-ceiling windows outside the security checkpoint.I followed his gaze.A dark figure stood by the railing on the terminal's second floor. It was Lucas.He didn't rush over or try to stop me like a madman. He didn't even dare come near the security gate. He just watched me from a distance.I looked away. "No need. It's all in the past.""Okay! Here's to your new life!" Silas said, shaking my hand.I turned, handed over my boarding pass, and strode through security.Behind me, by the second-floor railing, the man who'd once belie
A month later, my cast finally came off, and I could walk slowly down the hall on crutches.That afternoon, the first snow of the year fell on the city.Bundled in a thick cream-colored coat, I held the railing and made my way to the small garden outside the hospital building.Snow settled on the bare ginkgo branches. The air was crisp and clean.I saw Lucas by the pavilion at the far end of the garden.He wore only a thin black sweater and carried no umbrella, letting the icy snow settle on his disheveled hair and shoulders.He was even thinner than he'd been a month ago. His eyes were sunken, his face an unhealthy gray, and his right hand clutched one of the pavilion's posts.When he saw me, he froze and stepped back.He seemed to want to hide among the trees, but he couldn't bear to take his eyes off me.I stopped about ten feet away and watched him through the falling snow.The look in his eyes was crushing, heavy with pain and regret, with longing and something close to groveling.
When security slammed the door, the wrenching sobs in the hallway were finally cut off.The room went quiet again.The nurse tucked in my blanket, said a few soothing words, and pushed her cart out.I huddled against the cold headboard. It took a long time for my heart to slow.As far as I knew, the world had stopped in the summer when I was 22.I'd just graduated from college and was excited to start work at a design firm.My life was a blank page, untouched by the feuds of a wealthy family.I remembered nothing of the endless humiliation of trying for a baby, and nothing of the suffocating blood and fire of the crash.And the man who'd just called himself my husband? He looked worn out and smelled of blood.To me, he was a crazed stranger who'd barged into my room.His eyes had been bloodshot and desperate, almost wild.But I felt no pity or tenderness. I only wanted to get away from him.Outside the door, everything gradually went quiet.Through the window in the door, I could make
Three days later, I woke from the coma and was moved to a regular room soon after.Morning sunlight slipped through the blinds and fell across the sheets.My head was wrapped in thick gauze, and my right leg hung in a cast above the bed. I lay propped up against the headboard.My mind was blank. I couldn't remember anything.The door opened a crack. Lucas stood in the doorway.In just three days, he'd lost so much weight that he barely looked like himself.When he saw me awake and looking out the window, tears spilled down his cheeks.He came to the bed, but his legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees beside it. He reached for my right hand with trembling fingers, then froze the moment he touched me."Freya..." A sob caught in his throat. "I'm sorry... I know everything now..."I'm a bastard... I was blind. I deserve to die..."Freya, hit me if you want. You can even kill me. Just get better. Please don't shut me out..."He pressed his forehead against the bed rail, his shoulders sh
At the hospital's obstetrics emergency department, Lucas waited.He sat on a hallway bench, soaked through, his hands covered in dried blood. His mother rushed over and grabbed his arm. "Did they save the heir?!""They're still working on it..." Lucas said hoarsely.The emergency room door swung open. The lead surgeon came out and pulled off his mask, his face grim."We've saved the mother for now. The baby was severely deprived of oxygen and is in the NICU. We can't say whether it will survive the night."Lucas looked stunned. He buried his face in his hands.Margaret frowned, furious. "Where's Freya? Something this serious happens, and she can't even be bothered to show up? What kind of heartless woman does that!"Freya!It hit Lucas like a thunderclap. He shot up off the bench."Freya's still on the bridge! Did the rescue team... did the rescue team get her out?!"He shoved past Margaret and the medical staff like a madman, ran out of the hospital, and frantically flagged down a cab
The next day, I waited until Lucas had gone out on business.I wheeled my suitcase out of the estate. I was about to call a car when I heard hurried footsteps behind me.Isabella came after me, one hand pressed to her lower back. Her face was puffy, and her eyes flickered with agitation and calculation. She grabbed the handle of my suitcase and wouldn't let go."Freya! Please don't go! This is all my fault. I can move out!"Please don't divorce Lucas over this... But the Enright family needs this baby. I swear I'll never try to take your place!"Her shouting drew stares. I didn't want to keep struggling with her, so I pulled away and tried to leave.Then Isabella screamed, lost her footing, and fell hard onto the concrete steps!"Ah!"She let out a bloodcurdling shriek and curled up on the ground, clutching her stomach. "Freya, why did you push me?!"Bright red blood soaked through her pants and spread into the rain puddles."Blood! The pregnant woman is bleeding heavily!" shouted one







