Chapter 4

Davian's POV

When I didn't move, Leah pressed the candy into my palm. "I'll have the driver take you to the hotel. I booked a room for you. Stay there for a few days. Once the wedding is over, I'll come find you and explain everything."

A suffocating weight settled on my chest.

She didn't say she loved me, nor that she would miss me.

Yet these instinctual gestures still reminded me of the Leah from years ago who would run through the rain to deliver my medicine and stay by my side until I finished every bite.

Seven years of habit didn't just disappear.

The candy still held the warmth of her fingers. I had spent years believing that kind of warmth was reserved for me alone.

But now, someone else was standing in my place as her husband.

Kayden's voice cut through the air from the doorway, with Simon right behind him. "So you really were here, Leah."

His gaze fell on Leah's hand, which she hadn't yet pulled back, and his expression darkened. "Am I always going to come second to him? I know you still haven't let him go. If that's how it is, we might as well call off this wedding."

Leah's face drained of color. She rushed forward and grabbed his wrist.

I watched as she stood on tiptoe and pulled Kayden down into a deep kiss.

At that moment, I felt like an intruder barging into their marriage.

I took a deep breath, forcing down the storm brewing in my chest. Silently, I grabbed my suitcase and turned to leave.

As I passed Kayden, he deliberately slammed his shoulder into mine.

Unprepared, I stumbled sideways, crashing heavily into a low glass table. The sharp edge sliced through my side, tearing into my flesh.

A blinding pain seared through my waist, and blood soaked through my shirt instantly.

But Leah never noticed. She was too focused on kissing Kayden.

Seeing blood pooling beneath me, Kayden clutched his chest and stumbled against her. "Leah, I don't feel good. My chest hurts so bad. I can't breathe…"

His face paled as he gripped Leah's arm tightly.

With those few words, everyone swarmed around him.

Leah hurried to support Kayden, completely unaware of my injury. Dad and Mom urged them to get to the hospital, Elaine rubbed his back to help him breathe, and Simon rushed ahead to get the elevator.

Kayden didn't even glance down at me as they left.

When Leah helped him out of the room, she just glanced back briefly over her shoulder. "I'm taking Kayden to the hospital. We'll talk later."

With that, the door slammed shut.

The anxious rush of their footsteps faded down the hall.

Clutching my bleeding side, I tried to drag myself up to reach my phone.

But the moment my fingertips brushed the screen, everything went black.

It was the janitor coming to clear the groom's lounge who found me.

Seeing me lying in a pool of blood, she panicked and called for an ambulance right away.

When the results came back, the doctor's expression was grim. "You have a deep cut along your side and have lost a significant amount of blood. Fortunately, your kidney wasn't damaged. Another inch deeper, and we'd be having a very different conversation."

I stared at the heavy bandaging wrapped around my waist, rendered speechless.

Five years ago, when Leah was mugged, I took three knife wounds for her. Those three stabs destroyed one of my kidneys.

The day I was discharged, Leah took my hand and swore she would never let me get hurt again.

And now, my only remaining kidney had almost been destroyed at her wedding to Kayden.

I spent two days in that hospital bed.

Every day was a cycle of IV drips and dressing changes, and even the slightest movement could make the wound start bleeding again.

On the morning of the third day, the doctor checked the wound and urged me to rest for at least another week.

I didn't agree to that. I just gently pressed down on the thick gauze wrapped around my waist.

It throbbed with pain, but it was nothing compared to the hollow emptiness in my chest.

Before I left, a nurse walked in with my discharge papers. She looked around the empty room. "Where's your family?"

Just then, my phone buzzed with an Instagram notification. Kayden had posted a photo.

In the picture, Leah sat by his hospital bed, holding his hand tightly.

Dad and Mom were hovering over him with worried faces, Elaine had brought warm soup, and Simon had brought a massive bouquet of fresh flowers.

The caption read, "False alarm. Just hyperventilation brought on by stress. Grateful for the family who love me."

They had spent two days hovering over Kayden in the hospital next door, yet not a single one of them had cared whether I lived or died.

The nurse asked softly, "Do you want to call your family again?"

I stared at the "Emergency Contact" line on the paperwork.

After a long silence, I took the pen from her hand.

"No need," I said. "I don't have a family."

The doctor urged me to stay for observation, but I refused. Instead, I took my luggage and headed straight to the airport.

When the final boarding call echoed through the terminal, I left the family group chat.

The 24-hour countdown had long since reached zero.

As the plane cut through the clouds, the city that had trapped me for seven years vanished from view.

Ten hours later, I landed at my destination.

The moment I turned my phone back on, a flood of missed calls overwhelmed the screen.