Chapter 4

I did not regain consciousness until the following day.

The bleeding had stopped, but the doctor warned that I needed plenty of rest or I could be left with lasting health problems.

Grace had stayed at the hospital to look after me.

Derek, on the other hand, had left while I was still unconscious, summoned away by a single phone call from Jenny. She claimed that what had happened the day before had given her nightmares all night and that she needed him there with her.

When Grace saw me staring silently at the floor, she suggested asking my parents to come to the hospital and care for me.

"No," I refused immediately. "My father already has high blood pressure. I can't give them one more thing to worry about."

No sooner had I spoken than my mother called.

"Zoe... your father collapsed. We're at the hospital."

The calm I had struggled to maintain shattered in an instant. I rushed toward the emergency department without even stopping to put on my shoes.

"Why did he suddenly collapse?" I asked.

"Someone came to our house and told us to convince you to divorce Derek as soon as possible so she could take your place. She also said that you..."

My mother's voice broke. It took her a long moment to compose herself enough to continue.

"She said you had lost another baby, that the bleeding wouldn't stop, and that you would never be able to have children again.

"Then she claimed she was carrying the Shaw family's firstborn heir. Your father was so furious that he collapsed on the spot."

I clasped my mother's hand and tried to reassure her.

"Mom, don't panic. Dad's blood pressure is just a little high. He'll be all right."

Then the examination results came back.

"The patient has suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and needs an emergency craniotomy. We need a family member to sign the consent forms."

A sudden crack of thunder split the clear sky, seeming to detonate inside my skull.

My father was wheeled into the operating room. The glowing red words SURGERY IN PROGRESS seared themselves into my eyes.

Unable to hold myself back any longer, I called Derek and demanded through clenched teeth to know why he had allowed Jenny to do something like this.

His response was almost completely indifferent.

"You only have yourself to blame. If you'd simply agreed yesterday, Jenny wouldn't have gone to your parents. Why did you have to provoke her?"

All at once, my will to argue left my body. Countless words rose to my lips, but I swallowed every one of them as a crushing sense of helplessness spread through me.

"Fine. If that's what you believe, then so be it. I've already signed the divorce papers and left them on the nightstand. Sign them too, and let's go our separate ways without dragging this out."

I ended the call.

A notification immediately appeared in my photo gallery.

[On This Day]

When I opened it, I remembered that exactly four years earlier, I had accepted Derek's proposal.

In the video, he was down on one knee, his eyes shining with sincerity.

"I never believed two people could be destined for each other until I met you.

"Now I look forward to every year ahead of us, to waking up beside you every morning and ending every day with you.

"For the rest of my life, you will be the one I put above everyone else, the only person for whom I make every exception."

But a grainy recording could not take me back to the past.

I tapped delete, then cleared every photograph of Derek from my gallery. In an instant, all those happy moments I had revisited countless times disappeared without a trace.

A jeweler called shortly afterward.

"Ms. Sullivan, the appraisal and sale of your jewelry have been completed. The proceeds have been deposited into your account. Please check that you have received them."

I looked at the new eight-figure balance in my account and did not hesitate. I donated the entire sum to a foundation supporting women and children and an animal welfare organization.

Once my father was out of immediate danger, I spent a fortune chartering an air ambulance and flew him to the country with the best medical care available.

Meanwhile, Derek accompanied Jenny to the design competition.

There, an unassuming piece tucked away in a corner caught his attention and stirred something deep within him.

His gaze moved to the signature in the lower right-hand corner.

Zoe Sullivan.

His heart had recognized her work before his mind did.

Derek hurried out of the venue, convinced that Zoe had entered the piece as a way of apologizing to him. But when he reached the hospital, the doctor told him, "The Sullivan family has taken the patient overseas for treatment. They won't be coming back."