Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The hot and stuffy air outside immediately greeted Ivy's skin as she stepped out of the Carter mansion grounds. She no longer cared about the house slippers still on her feet or the thin pajamas that did little to protect her from the scorching morning sun. All she knew was that she had to leave that place immediately before the last remnants of her sanity completely vanished in front of her own family.

She walked quickly along the deserted sidewalk beside the main road. Her steps felt light, not because she felt free, but because her body was already beginning to lose consciousness from severe hunger and the tremendous stress that had overwhelmed her since last night.

Her head suddenly throbbed violently. The world around her spun wildly, turning the colorful streets into a thick black haze that slowly swallowed her vision. Before her feet could take another step, her frail body collapsed onto the hard surface of the sidewalk. Her consciousness faded into darkness.

***

The sharp smell of medicine immediately filled Ivy's senses when she slowly opened her heavy eyelids. The ceiling above her was pristine white, contrasting sharply with the painful throbbing still pounding inside her head. She was no longer on the street but lying on a hospital bed, with an IV line inserted into the back of her right hand.

"How unusual. The beloved daughter of the Carter family fainted all alone on the side of the main road."

A voice that sounded cold yet sarcastic stopped Ivy's movements. She turned her head toward the corner of the room.

Sitting back against a black leather sofa with his legs crossed was Elvino Sebastian Vettel—or, more familiarly, Vino. The man was dressed in a dark gray suit with his tie slightly loosened. Among businessmen and within their former university circles, Vino was known as Arthur Carter's archrival ever since they had attended university together. The business rivalry and pride between the two men had never subsided to this day.

Ivy did not answer. She turned her face toward the window, unwilling to give any response to the unfamiliar man who was now watching her with an assessing gaze.

Seeing Ivy's silence, Vino scoffed softly. He rose from the sofa, walked toward the bed, and placed a phone on the bedside table.

"Do you want to borrow my phone? If you still have even a little bit of pride left to call your family and ask them to pick you up, feel free to use it," Vino said flatly, his voice making no attempt to hide its disdain, although a trace of bewilderment lingered in his eyes as he looked at Ivy's miserable condition.

With hands that were still trembling, Ivy reached for the phone. Her throat felt constricted, yet a foolish glimmer of hope still lingered in her chest. She searched for Arthur's contact and pressed the call button. The phone rang several times before finally connecting.

"Hello?" Arthur's voice on the other end sounded cold.

"Brother Arthur. It's me, Ivy."

"What is it now, Ivy? Don't cause trouble while Sarah's condition is unstable."

"Brother..." Ivy's voice was hoarse, almost a whisper. "I'm... I'm at the hospital. I fainted on the street..."

Before Ivy could finish her sentence, a heavy, weary sigh came clearly from the other end of the phone.

"You're twenty years old, Ivy. Stop seeking attention with cheap tricks like pretending to be sick," Arthur cut in mercilessly. "If it's just an ordinary illness, take care of yourself. Don't bother us. Sarah really needs our attention right now."

Click.

The call was abruptly disconnected.

The tears Ivy had been desperately holding back finally spilled uncontrollably. She bit her lower lip, struggling to swallow the sobs that were forcing their way out of her chest. In front of Vino, she did not want to appear so vulnerable, but the reality that her own brother had truly cast her aside caused her defenses to collapse instantly. She lowered her head, allowing her shoulders to tremble violently as she endured the unbearable pain in her chest.

Vino, who was standing only a few steps away from the bed, watched everything in silence. His brows furrowed slightly as he observed the girl in front of him clutching the white bedsheet tightly.

Before the situation could become even more awkward, the door to the hospital room suddenly opened. A middle-aged male doctor in a white coat stepped inside with a nurse, carrying a blue folder containing the medical records.

"Family of the patient?" the doctor asked, looking back and forth between Vino and Ivy.

"I was the one who brought her here," Vino replied coldly, taking over the conversation.

The doctor nodded slowly before opening the papers in his hands. He looked at Ivy with an expression of deep empathy, which instead caused the blood in Ivy's entire body to suddenly run cold.

"The laboratory results and comprehensive scans are out," the doctor said cautiously. "We found a fairly serious abnormality in the white blood cells and inactive spinal bone marrow function in Miss Ivy's body. Based on the pathological analysis we have just completed..."

The doctor paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before delivering the verdict that made all the blood in Ivy's body seem to stop flowing.

"...you have been diagnosed with advanced-stage acute leukemia, and your condition is already on the brink of critical."

What? Acute leukemia? That's impossible...

The words became trapped in Ivy's throat, turning into a choked gasp that constricted her chest. She slowly shook her head, refusing to believe what she had just heard. The objects inside the white room suddenly spun violently. The doctor and nurse beside her bed seemed to blur, leaving behind only a ringing hum that filled both of her ears.

All this time, she had thought that her extreme fatigue, prolonged dizziness, and frequently unsteady body were merely the result of prolonged stress from being neglected by her family. She thought it was simply the mental burden caused by one emotional blow after another. But reality had slapped her far more cruelly. The deadly disease had been hiding inside her body for a long time, devouring the last remnants of her strength without her realizing it.

So, this is why my body has always felt completely broken? This is why I've always been so weak? Ivy lamented silently amid the deafening silence.

The doctor went on to provide several explanations regarding treatment procedures and referrals to a major hospital, but not a single word managed to penetrate Ivy's mind. Her thoughts were blank. All that remained was the deadly verdict spinning around inside her head, as though mocking how miserable her life had become.

After the doctor and nurse excused themselves and left the room, the atmosphere fell silent once again. Elvino Sebastian Vettel was still standing where he had been, staring directly at Ivy with an expression that was difficult to decipher. The man did not throw his usual sarcastic remarks. An unusual silence dominated the air between them, as though Vino were weighing just how fragile the girl before him appeared at that moment.

"Is your drama over?" Vino finally broke the silence, his voice quieter than before. The man stepped forward and placed his car keys on the small table. "If your IV has already been removed, I can drive you home. Or do you want to keep sitting here and lamenting your fate?"

Ivy looked up, staring blankly into the sharp eyes of the man before her. She no longer had the strength to be angry or even put up her usual defenses. With a stiff movement, she pulled the IV tape from the back of her right hand, allowing a small drop of blood to emerge before covering it with a tissue.

"Thank you, Vino," Ivy said softly, her voice almost like a whisper of wind. She straightened her wrinkled pajamas before getting down from the bed, her legs still weak and trembling. "I'm sorry for troubling you today."

Vino did not answer. He simply turned around, opened the door wide, and let Ivy walk out first.

The journey inside Vino's luxurious car passed in complete silence, without any small talk. Ivy merely rested her head against the car window, staring blankly at the city buildings rushing past outside. Her mind was still dwelling on the doctor's verdict, intertwined with the deep heartache she felt toward her family.

The car eventually entered the spacious grounds of the Carter residence, which appeared quiet. As soon as the vehicle came to a complete stop in front of the main entrance, Ivy hurriedly opened the car door, wanting to escape from the suffocating feeling that was becoming increasingly unbearable.

"Thank you once again," Ivy said without turning around, preparing to step out.

However, before Ivy's hand could push the car door any wider, Vino suddenly stopped. The man turned his gaze toward Ivy's neck, which was slightly exposed because of the loose collar of her pajamas.

There, hanging around her neck, was a small jade necklace shaped like a teardrop, engraved with a jasmine flower. It looked worn yet had clearly been carefully preserved.

Vino's breath suddenly caught in his throat. His eyes widened instantly as he stared intently at the small object reflecting the afternoon sunlight. His memories were pulled back more than a decade, to a time when he was only ten years old—the darkest period of his life, when he had been kidnapped and locked alone inside an old, dusty warehouse located not far from the orphanage where Ivy had once lived.

Back then, amid fear and bruises covering his body, a little girl had managed to sneak in through a broken window, bringing him drinking water and holding his trembling fingers. The little girl had not cried even once. Instead, she had patted his shoulder and bravely told him not to be afraid of the criminals. Then Vino had given her a jade necklace as a talisman and promised that he would find her if he managed to get out of that room. But before Vino could ask the girl's name, the sound of footsteps belonging to the person causing the chaos drew closer, forcing the little girl to flee through a gap in the wall.

For years, that search had never yielded any results. And now... the jade necklace was hanging right around the neck of the girl he had just helped from the side of the road.

Vino turned quickly and gently yet firmly grabbed Ivy's wrist to stop her from getting out of the car.

"Wait," Vino's voice came out strained, far less composed than usual. His eyes remained fixed on the jade necklace around Ivy's neck before lifting to meet the girl's sorrowful, glistening eyes. "This necklace... where did you get this necklace, Ivy?"

Ivy froze for a moment, blinking in confusion at the drastic change in the cold billionaire's demeanor. "This... this has been mine since I was little."

Vino fell silent, rigid. His breathing grew slightly heavier. All the pieces of the puzzle from the past suddenly fit together perfectly in his mind.

"So... you're the little girl who sneaked into that old warehouse back then," Vino whispered in disbelief, the expression in his eyes softening drastically, revealing a warmth he had never shown anyone before.

Ivy stood frozen, her brow furrowing deeply in utter confusion as she stared at the man beside her. "Huh? What did you say?"