Chapter 7

A taxi pulled up. I was just about to raise my hand to stop it when Elizabeth ran out and grabbed my wrist.

“Emily, I know it’s you! Did you misunderstand something? I can explain!”

“Misunderstand what? I just came here to meet friends. Let me go!”

I tried to pull my hand free, but she held on tightly.

In the struggle, a car came speeding along the curb. My body was on the outer edge of the sidewalk.

Just as it was about to hit me, Elizabeth’s expression changed. She pulled me tightly into her arms.

We were both thrown by the impact.

She fell into a pool of blood and lost consciousness.

My forehead also hit the ground, but I forced myself up and staggered toward her, wanting to check her injuries.

As I reached her side, the cold muzzle of a gun suddenly pressed against the back of my head.

“If anything happens to Elizabeth, I’ll have you buried with her!”

Blood began to flow from my forehead. Through the red haze, I saw Paul’s dark expression. His eyes were murderous.

With that, he took Elizabeth and sped away.

Their car disappeared at the corner. People gathered around me, and someone called 911.

My head grew heavier and heavier. The scene around me blurred into patches of light, and the noise of the crowd faded.

In the end, everything fell into darkness and silence.

When my eyes sensed light again, I vaguely heard someone say urgently, “Her willpower’s strong, and she’s responding. Without timely treatment, losing that much blood, she shouldn’t have survived.”

So, I was in the emergency room.

After I was transferred from the ICU to a regular ward, Paul finally called me.

“Emily, how are you? How’s the baby?

“I misunderstood you. I thought you pushed Elizabeth toward the car. After all, you’re the donna of the Garcia family. With so many witnesses, it would’ve dragged the family into a murder investigation, so I got angry.

“Now I’ve found the driver. He was high that night. I threw him into the New Haven harbor to feed the fish to avenge you.”

This call, which sounded like concern, was really covering up the fact that he loved someone else.

Even though he had said he didn’t care whether I found out.

Maybe Elizabeth still hadn’t agreed to marry him, so he wasn’t ready to let me, the substitute, go. Or maybe he planned to wait until the child was born before telling me everything.

However, this time, all his calculations would fail.

I glanced at the calendar in the room.

In five days, the divorce and immigration procedures would be complete.

“Do you want me to come and keep you company?”

Seeing my silence, he added another sentence, not because he truly wanted to come, but because he was waiting for my response.

“No need. It’s just a minor injury. I’ll stay in the hospital a bit longer for recovery.”

During my hospitalization, Paul didn’t visit me. Since Elizabeth was also injured, I guessed he was busy taking care of her.

After I was discharged, I went to see the cleanup specialist again and asked him to erase all my personal information within five days.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at me cautiously.

“You’re donna of the Garcia family, yet you ask me to handle your divorce and immigration, and now you want to disappear completely? If your don finds out, it’ll be troublesome. I’m upping the price.”

I threw him a card with one million dollars, and he immediately showed a practiced smile.

“Don’t worry. We’re the most professional in the country. We do the job for the money. No questions asked.”

Once I had returned home, I packed some personal belongings into a suitcase, preparing to leave the country in five days.

Just as I finished, the front door opened, and Paul walked in.

Behind him, servants pushed in racks filled with luxury goods.

Paul glanced at my suitcase and frowned.

“You’re going out?”

“No. Just organizing some things.”

I avoided his gaze and tried to push the suitcase away.

“What’s wrong with you lately? I bought you so many gifts, and you don’t even look at them. That’s not like you.”

He followed me, grabbed my hand, and pulled me into his arms. His eyes locked onto mine as if trying to see through everything.

But my phone rang. I broke free and hurriedly answered.

“Emily, come to the hospital quickly. Elizabeth had a heart attack and is being resuscitated right now.”

Standing nearby, Paul heard the news. The color drained from his face instantly.

“Let’s go!”

Before I could hang up, he grabbed my hand and rushed out.

He sped all the way there, running multiple red lights.

At the hospital, Grandpa stood outside the emergency room, his expression heavy.

A few minutes later, the doctor came out and told us, “We urgently need a matching heart for a transplant. If the patient has siblings, it’s easier to find a match.”

“She doesn’t have any siblings left! But what about her niece?”

Paul immediately gripped my shoulders and pushed me in front of the doctor, as if the next second he would send me onto the operating table to take my heart.