Chapter 4

My leg was ruined for good.

Esther sat beside my hospital bed, guilt written all over her face.

"Hugo, I'll find another way. Your leg is going to get better. I promise."

I stared at her blankly, yet I caught the faint flicker of relief hidden in her eyes.

This was the third time my right leg had been seriously injured because of her.

Three years earlier, Esther had made dangerous enemies. When they cornered her, I stepped in to protect her and ended up with a severely injured leg. Adam moved in to help take care of me, and that was when he first met Esther.

After that, Esther spent less and less time at home. Then one night, Adam did not come home either. I went out searching for them and was struck by a car.

The nerves in my right leg suffered permanent damage, leaving me with a limp.

It was after that accident that I found proof of Esther's affair and climbed onto the rooftop.

The irony was almost laughable.

My ruined leg, and eventually the rest of me, had become sacrifices in their great love story.

Esther clearly remembered it too. She could not meet my eyes. Using the excuse of paying the hospital bill, she hurried out of the room.

The phone beside my pillow lit up.

"You think your leg broke because she knocked you down? All these years, the medication you've been taking has been laced with something that weakens your bones.

"They wanted you crippled for good so you couldn't haunt them day and night. Hugo, set yourself free. The longer you live and stand between them, the stronger their bond becomes. Only your death will brand them with shame for the rest of their lives."

I calmly ended the call.

There was no outburst.

There was no breakdown.

After I was discharged from the hospital, I became unusually quiet.

I stopped checking up on Esther. I stopped questioning her. I stopped suspecting anything.

Yet the calmer I became, the more uneasy they seemed.

In the end, Esther was the one who brought it up.

"Something urgent came up at the company. I have to leave town on a business trip for a week."

She watched me closely as if she had already prepared herself for an argument.

I simply nodded.

"Okay."

Then I turned to Adam.

"You must be exhausted from taking care of me. Take the week off too. I'll be fine by myself."

Both of them froze.

They had not expected me to agree so easily, and all the explanations they had prepared died in their throats.

Esther carefully tested my reaction.

"Hugo, that day at the hospital... did you see something?"

"See what?" I asked.

At my denial, she quietly let out a breath. The tension in her eyes eased, and her expression softened.

"When I get back, I'll take you to see the mountains in Elsbergen. How does that sound?"

For three years, I had brought up Elsbergen more times than I could count.

Every time, Esther had refused.

She said it was too far away. She said I was too sick. She said I would only burden everyone if I went.

She always promised to take me once I got better.

I waited three years.

"Okay," I said softly.

That night, the guest room door remained slightly ajar.

Adam's voice drifted out. It sounded choked and unsteady.

"Esther, are we going too far with Hugo? He just broke his leg."

Esther's answer was firm.

"I'm saving everyone. If he stays here, sooner or later he'll drive both of us insane. Sending him to a care facility in Elsbergen is the best thing for all of us."

So that was the truth.

This was never about making my dream come true.

It was not about easing her guilt either.

She wanted to leave me trapped in the snow of a foreign country forever and remove the final obstacle standing in the way of their great love.

I laughed soundlessly.

Why go through all that trouble?

I returned to my room, filled the bathtub to the brim, and lowered myself into the water.

When the blade sliced across my wrist, ribbons of blood spread through the water, and I felt freer than I ever had before.

...

Third Person's POV

Early the next morning, Esther finished packing and knocked on the bedroom door.

"Hugo, we're heading out. Take care of yourself while we're gone."

Only a deathly silence answered her.

Normally, the moment she called his name, Hugo would come out barefoot and wrap his arms around her.

Today, there was nothing.

A strange sense of dread crept into her chest.

Esther grabbed the handle and twisted it hard. The door swung open. She froze where she stood.