Chapter 4

Upon arriving at the hospital, the doctor pulled back the gauze. A dead silence fell over the emergency room for a brief moment.

"The wound is severely infected. She needs surgical debridement immediately. If we wait a few more hours, she will lose this leg of hers."

I lost consciousness. When I came to, the first thing I did was look down at my legs. Both my legs were still intact. Silent tears streamed down my face.

Then, I heard the sound of people talking in the corridor. Someone said, "Mr. Scott, regarding your wife's emergency procedure—we need a family member's signature in order to proceed with the subsequent treatment plan…"

"Just hand it to me," Kenneth said. His voice carried a tinge of weariness.

All of a sudden, Gigi screamed hysterically, "Ken, I'd rather be dead! My hand is going to be permanently scarred. How am I ever supposed to go back to dancing?"

Kenneth dropped the pen immediately. "Doctor, the signature will have to wait. I need to go check on Gigi for now."

His hurried footsteps faded rapidly into the distance.

Half an hour later, the door to my hospital ward was pushed open. Gigi entered with a man's coat in her hands. She came up to my bed, and her eyes were overflowing with provocation.

"Oh, Estelle. You're awake now. Ken's absolutely spent after caring for me earlier, so he went to buy some chowder. I just came to get a coat for him."

She pulled out a piece of paper from her bag and let out a cry of surprise. That was the marriage certificate that belonged to Kenneth and me.

"I'm sorry. Ken said it was bad luck for him to hold onto this certificate, so he simply stuffed it into my bag yesterday. It was an eyesore to me, so I brought it with me so I could throw it into the trash."

She chucked the marriage certificate onto my blanket, then reached out a finger and pressed it against the bandage around my wounded leg.

I sprang right up in bed, sweat forming on my forehead instantly.

"You have nothing to compete against me with, Estelle. You are just a cheap substitute that can be tossed away at any time," she whispered with an evil smirk on her face.

I cried out in pain.

The sound of footsteps came from the other side of the door.

Gigi's face fell, and she stuffed the marriage certificate under my pillow immediately. Then, she pulled her hands back. The expression on her face was instantly replaced with a look of remorse as her eyes glistened with tears.

"I'm sorry, Estelle. I didn't mean to touch your wound!"

However, she couldn't conceal the slight smile playing on her lips at all.

Kenneth pushed the door open and walked in. He glanced at me, furrowing his brows. "What's with all that screaming when you're already done with your surgery?"

I did not say a word.

My gaze settled on the calendar hanging on the wall. It was April 17th, our fourth wedding anniversary.

All of a sudden, Gigi exclaimed and gave Kenneth's sleeve a tug. "Ken, is it my birthday today? I almost forgot about it!"

He smiled, pulling out an exquisite-looking gift box from his pocket.

The moment I caught sight of the box, my heart wrenched. The earrings he gave me for our first anniversary were made by the same brand.

He opened the box, revealing a necklace within. He turned around and put it around Gigi's neck. Gigi threw herself into his arms, giggling sweetly and coquettishly. "How did you know I wanted this, Ken?"

Kenneth directed his gaze toward me and answered in a flat voice, "I know it's our anniversary today, but Gigi's feelings are more important. Anniversaries happen every year. It doesn't make any difference if we skip this one."

As it turned out, he had not forgotten. It was just that he didn't care.

I smiled. We would no longer have any anniversaries in the future anyway. As it happened, I no longer cared for them anymore either.

That worked out pretty well.

On that same night, I removed the wedding band from my finger. In my previous life, I kept it on even when I was being buried alive. Even when I was buried chest-deep in the soil, I still wondered if he would come and save me.

I would not do the same in this life.

I placed the ring and marriage certificate on the bedside table, using them to hold down a slip of paper underneath.