บททั้งหมดของ She Made Me Hide Our Love, Then Wore His Ring: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

By the time the ambulance arrived, I had lost so much blood that I was shaking all over.The police helped the paramedics lift me onto a stretcher."Captain Bennett, the other car's empty. No blood in it either."That made Captain Bennett curious.The ambulance had only just arrived, so the other driver could not have been taken away in one.And yet there was nobody at the scene.The crowd on the sidewalk buzzed with theories."I saw it. Some woman showed up and took the guy from the other car away.""Probably his girlfriend."A little kid in the crowd suddenly pointed at me and shouted, "No, that's wrong. I heard it, I really did. That guy over there is the one who's her boyfriend."Captain Bennett turned and looked at me, puzzled.I thought of Vanessa's back as she walked away for good, and I closed my eyes.A shiver went through me before I could stop it.The blood loss had left me cold all over.But my heart felt colder still."No other injured parties. Get him to the hospital, now

The chat went still.Nothing else came through.I blocked and deleted Vanessa, and I slept well that night.When I woke up the next morning, there was a crowd around my bed."Ethan, we heard you were in a car accident, so we came to see how you're doing."Vanessa stood at the back of the group, her eyes flicking toward me and away again.I knew why she was standing that far off. Keeping her distance, still.Marcus glanced at my leg where it was propped up, and something smug flickered in his eyes.He made a show of sighing. "I really didn't do it on purpose. I never thought you'd get hurt this badly."The corner of my mouth twitched. "Is that so?"You know better than anyone what happened out there. I was driving normally. If you hadn't floored it and cut across into me, how would I have crashed at all?"Marcus's face froze. He turned to Vanessa looking like the injured party.Vanessa finally came closer and stared at my leg for a few seconds without a word.Marcus's eyes went red, as

Time seemed to freeze.The mockery in Marcus's eyes turned to shock in an instant.Vanessa stood stunned, managed a weak greeting to Mr. Grant, and then couldn't get out another word.I nodded to Mr. Grant. "There's a lot here I've never done before. I'll be counting on you to show me the ropes."Mr. Grant took my hand and led me into the lobby. "You're too modest, Mr. Reed. Chairman Reed has run this company for years, and the industry still tells stories about him. Like father, like son."After a round of pleasantries, I started in the human resources department, exactly as planned.My father once told me that however capable a person is, working alone means his strength runs out eventually.You have to learn to spot what other people are good at, acknowledge their ability, and put them where that ability actually counts. That's how you get twice the result for half the work.New hires went through three days of training, and I didn't ask for special treatment.At my instruction, Mr.

He never got close enough to touch my sleeve before the bodyguards waiting at the end of the alley had him pinned to the ground.Marcus thrashed for a long time and couldn't get up.All he could do was lie there with his hair in his face and dirt all over him.Right then Vanessa came looking for us, and she shouted at me, "Ethan, I admit I did a lot of things wrong when we were together, but you can't use your position to settle a personal score."Marcus got hired because I helped him. It's how I got in too, using what you taught me."Vanessa's voice was hoarse, as though I were the one throwing my weight around. "Even if you can't stand the sight of us, you don't get to do it like this."If you don't let him go, I'm calling the police."Marcus had pulled a knife on me, and they were the ones threatening to call the police.I shook my head and laughed under my breath. "Perfect timing. You calling them saves me the trouble."First Marcus staged a crash on purpose, attempted murder. Then

I sat in the chair in Mr. Grant's office while Mr. Grant stood beside it, uneasy. "Mr. Reed, something like this happening is a failure of my management."I didn't keep hammering at it. "Everyone gets stretched too thin sometimes. What this shows is that our policies need to be tightened and actually enforced."Mr. Grant nodded again and again.Two weeks later, Marcus got out of detention.The next day was the day of our hearing.After two weeks, Marcus had lost every bit of his old arrogance.He was much thinner, the circles under his eyes dark, and he looked a decade older.In court I laid it out clearly and in order, producing evidence piece by piece.All Marcus could do was shake his head weakly and deny it.But against evidence that strong, his excuses accomplished nothing.After a little over two hours, the verdict came down from the bench.For attempted murder and for the later knife attack, Marcus was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.Vanessa watched the whole thing from th