chapter 3

I was taken to the hospital.

Not to a patient room, but to a luxurious reception lounge. Lily was sitting on the sofa, dressed in a hospital gown, her face pale.

When she saw me, she immediately put on a fragile, guilt-ridden expression. "Sophia, I'm so sorry."

"I didn't know Ethan would bring you here this way."

As she spoke, her eyes welled up with tears.

"It's all my fault. If I weren't sick..."

"Ethan... he wouldn't be forcing you like this."

She performed with great emotion, pitiful and delicate, making it seem like I was the villain bullying others with my power.

Ethan walked over and pulled her into his arms, his heart aching for her. "Lily, don't say that."

"This isn't your fault," he comforted her softly, his tone holding a tenderness I had never heard before.

Then, he lifted his head and looked coldly at me.

"Sophia, apologize to Lily."

I was stunned.

Apologize?

What did I do wrong?

"She's unwell, and you're still pretending to be pitiful to upset her? How malicious can you be?" Ethan's voice grew even colder.

I watched them embracing, the sight painfully sharp to my eyes.

In these three years, he had never held me like that. Even holding hands was a rare occurrence.

I thought he was just a cold person by nature. It turns out he isn't. It's just that his tenderness and his love were all reserved for another woman.

And I was just a superfluous, unwelcome presence.

My stomach churned with familiar, wrenching pain. I endured the discomfort and spoke coldly.

"You're trying to take my kidney. Why should I apologize?"

From within Ethan's embrace, Lily flashed a smug smile.

But her voice was tinged with sobs. "Ethan, don't blame Sophia."

"She surely didn't mean it."

"It's my own body that's failing..." She broke into a violent fit of coughing, as if she might stop breathing at any moment.

"Lily!" Ethan's face changed dramatically, filled with panic as he patted her back.

The look he shot me was instantly murderous.

"Sophia, are you really determined to hound her to her death?" he roared, like an enraged lion.

I looked at him, screaming at me for the sake of another woman. My heart was already numb.

"Yes," I let the single, quiet word escape.

Since he was determined to see me as malicious, then I would be malicious for him.

The look in Ethan's eyes shifted to one of complete disappointment and ice. He released Lily and stepped towards me.

"Say that again."

I straightened my spine and met his gaze without flinching.

"I said, yes."

Smack!

A sharp, stinging slap landed hard on my face. My cheek burned, my head was knocked to the side, and I tasted blood at the corner of my mouth.

The whole world fell silent.

All I could hear was a ringing in my ears.

Ethan... he hit me.

For Lily, he hit me.

I slowly turned my head back to look at him. His hand was still raised mid-air, the anger in his eyes not yet faded. "Sophia, you brought this on yourself." His voice was utterly devoid of warmth.

I smiled. A silent, desolate smile.

Tears traced paths down my cheeks, mixing with the blood at my lips—salty, bitter.

"Ethan Martens," I looked at him, enunciating every syllable.

"We are over."

Having said that, I turned and stumbled out of the room. Every step felt like walking on blades.

I didn't know where I was going. I only knew I never wanted to see those two people again, never wanted to stay in this suffocating place a moment longer.

I reached the long hospital corridor, leaning against the wall for support, gasping for breath. The world spun around me.

My vision darkened, and I nearly collapsed. Then, a gentle voice sounded near my ear. "Miss, are you alright?"

A hand steadied me just in time. I forced my eyes open and saw a face as gentle as polished jade. He was wearing a white coat and gold-rimmed glasses, looking refined and scholarly.

It was the doctor who had examined me before, Dr. Jimmy Clarke.

"I'm fine, thank you," I struggled to stand steady.

He looked at my swollen, red cheek and the blood at my lip, his brow furrowing slightly.

"You look very pale."

"Would you like me to examine you?"

I shook my head and pulled out the crumpled inspection report from my bag, the one I had clutched until it was creased.

"That won't be necessary, Doctor."

"I am well aware of my condition."

I handed the report to Dr. Clarke.

He took it, opened it, and glanced at the contents.

His face changed instantly.