Chapter 4

Selena didn't even look at Simon, all her attention going to comforting Katy. "Katy, don't cry. I'll buy you an ice cream later."

I turned to look at Simon, who didn't even cry. He simply stared at Selena in silence, his eyes filled with a lifelessness no kid his age should have.

I suddenly spotted a red mark on Simon's arm. "Simon, what happened to your arm?"

Simon shrank back. "It was… Katy. She pinched me earlier."

My head buzzed.

Simon had delicate skin and was prone to bruising. Even the slightest pressure would leave his skin red and swollen.

"Katy pinched you?"

"She said… I'm going to die young. She said I took her mother from her."

I immediately turned to glare at Katy, who was still crying crocodile tears. "Joe, is this how you raise your daughter?"

Joe's eyes flickered. "Children always talk nonsense… Katy, did Simon hear that wrong?"

With Selena there, Katy made a face at me. "He's going to die young, isn't he? Daddy told me Ms. Aston is going to be my mommy someday. All of you will have to get out of her life!"

Selena's expression shifted. "Katy, don't spout nonsense."

Joe immediately covered Katy's mouth, looking panicked. "Selena, we have to go. Eric doesn't seem to be in the right state of mind."

With that, Joe took Katy's hand and hurried out.

Selena looked at me, her gaze conflicted. "I'll go check on them. I don't want anything bad to happen to them."

With that, she ran after them.

The hospital room fell completely silent.

Simon suddenly reached out and tugged at the hem of my shirt. "Daddy, don't cry."

He started wiping my tears away with his little hand.

Selena didn't come home all night, and I felt completely numb inside. It wasn't until the next morning that she suddenly burst into the hospital room.

"Eric, come with me!" She grabbed my wrist and started yanking me out of the room.

"What for? Let me go!"

"Joe got into a car accident! He's lost a lot of blood. You have type B blood. You need to donate blood to him now!

I froze for a moment. Then I almost laughed at how absurd it was.

"He got into a car accident. How is that any of my business?"

"If you hadn't upset him so much and made him leave, would he have wandered into the middle of the road in a daze?" Selena's eyes had turned red.

"I'm not going." I shook her hand away. "I still need to take care of Simon."

"Simon's fine! He's just lying down. But Joe's going to die!"

Selena didn't care at all. She immediately summoned two caregivers and had them haul me up.

"Let me go!" I struggled with all my might, but she seemed to have lost her mind. She ordered the caregivers to yank me away to have my blood drawn.

"Doctor! Take his blood! He has type B blood!"

I looked at Selena. She had once promised to protect me for the rest of my life, but now she was forcing me to donate my blood to another man.

The needle went into my vein. As they started to draw my blood, I started to feel dizzy, and my vision gradually went black.

"Is that enough?" I asked weakly.

"Take more! We need some as backup!" Selena stared at the blood bag, her eyes burning with expression. She hadn't even noticed how pale I had become beside her.

As soon as the needle was removed, I immediately passed out.

By the time I came to, I was lying in a hospital bed. Selena was sitting by my bedside. Seeing that I was awake, she immediately sighed in relief.

"Honey, you're awake. Here. Have this. It'll help you regain your strength."

I looked away. "Get lost."

"Are you still angry with me? Joe's fine now, all thanks to your blood. The doctor said his life might have been in danger if the blood had arrived any later," Selena continued as if nothing had happened.

"I know I was out of line yesterday, but I was so worried that I wasn't thinking straight. Joe's my colleague and Simon's godfather. If something happened to him, I could never live with myself."

"Where's Simon?" I didn't want to hear her talking anymore.

"Simon's fine. I hired the best caregiver for him to watch him around the clock."

"I want to see him." I struggled to sit up, but a wave of dizziness hit me hard, and the room started spinning.

Selena held me down. "You're really weak now, so don't move. The doctor wants you to stay in bed. Don't worry about Simon."

"I want some chicken soup."

"I'll buy some for you. Wait here. I'll get it from your favorite restaurant." Selena hurried out, as if trying to make up for what she had done earlier.

But I still couldn't stop worrying about Simon. I ripped the IV out of my hand and made my way to his hospital room, one step at a time.

The cardiology department was upstairs, and the elevator was out of service, so I had to climb two flights of stairs. With every step I took, I felt my vision go black for a moment.

Finally, I arrived outside Simon's private room. I only managed to secure it by asking my best friend Nathan Burke for a favor. His wife, Julie Lowe, arranged it for us.

Simon was prone to allergies and had a weak immune system, so he had to stay in a private room. I pushed open the door. "Simon, I'm here…"

I froze on the spot, thunderstruck.

Simon was gone.