Chapter 6

Madison let out a faint, bitter laugh. Her voice was unusually calm. “That wasn’t pig’s blood.”

Jake was silent for a beat before snapping, “Are you done? The cook, Mrs. Norman, said it was pig’s blood. She’s in the kitchen every day. Do you really think she’d mistake it for something else? I’m changing the locks. Don’t come back. Go wherever you want.”

Madison stopped him. “Wait.”

Jake cut in sharply, “It’s too late to apologize now—”

But for the first time, Madison interrupted him. “I’m going back today to pack up my things. You don’t need to change the locks. I won’t be coming back.”

Jake paused again, then let out a cold laugh. “You’ve got one day.”

And with that, he hung up.

Her assistant, who had been listening nearby, spoke up quickly. “Miss Spencer, your condition is serious. You can’t be discharged yet. Let me go pack for you.”

Madison shook her head. “You don’t know what I need.”

To be more accurate, she knew exactly what needed to be dealt with.

She removed her IV and went home.

Once there, she began going through all of her belongings.

Anything that could be burned, she burned.

The rest, she sorted carefully.

There was the hairpin he gave her for her birthday, and the pendant from their engagement anniversary.

The bracelets, the luxury items, the little gifts he had given her over the years during holidays and special occasions.

She packed them all away, piece by piece.

Then came the things she had given to Jake.

He had always been forgetful, constantly misplacing things.

So after they started living together, he began entrusting her with the items that mattered most to him.

Madison gently packed the scrapbook she had spent weeks creating for him, the watch she had bought after saving for years, and the ceramic mug she had shaped and painted by hand for him.

She boxed them up too.

When she finished, there was nothing left in the house that bore any trace of her.

This had been her home for five years.

Now, it was just a place she was ready to leave behind.

She walked out with the boxes in her arms.

She gave the belongings that once meant everything to her to a homeless man sitting by the road.

Then she got in her car, ready to return to the hospital.

But her phone rang.

“Miss Spencer,” a cheerful voice said on the other end, “the custom rings you ordered are ready. Do you have time to come by and take a look? Or would you prefer we deliver them?”

She and Jake had originally planned to set a wedding date this year.

She had been so excited that she met with the designer herself, finalized the ring sketches, and arranged to have them custom-made overseas.

But the rings weren’t ready before Xena came back.

Madison thought for a moment. They were just meaningless pieces of metal now. There was no need to trouble anyone else over them.

She drove to the shop and picked up the rings herself.

On the way back to the hospital, fireworks suddenly lit up the night sky. One explosion after another burst overhead, painting the city in color and drawing crowds of people to a stop.

A giant digital screen outside a shopping mall flickered on, displaying Jake’s face.

He was holding an open velvet ring box, looking into the camera with carefully rehearsed sincerity.

“Xena,” he said, “life kept us apart for so many years, but we finally found our way back to each other. Tonight, I lit up the entire sky for you. Will you accept this ring and give me another chance?”

He paused for a moment, then smiled and said, “I know you’ve been trying to get the patent from MZ Company. I’ll make sure you get it. And when I do, just promise me one thing in return.”

The crowd erupted in cheers, swept up in the romance of the moment.

MZ was the company Madison had founded two years ago.

Back then, if Jake had asked, she would have given it to him without hesitation.

But now, everything had changed.

She gave a faint smile, one filled with quiet irony.

As her car crossed the river bridge, she rolled down the window. Without saying a word, she tossed the custom-made rings, paid for with months of care and savings, into the churning water below.

She was leaving North City.

And she was finally walking out of Jake’s life for good.