Emilie claimed she was tired, and Adam gently guided her aside to rest, wiping the sweat from her brow and massaging her uninjured leg.
It turned out that Attorney Jackson could care for someone—but that someone had never been Lisa.
Suddenly, Emilie’s eyes widened, and she saw Lisa standing in the doorway. Her face twisted with fury: "Why is she here? Isn't it enough what you've already done to me? I've given you up to her, so why are you trying to take my life too?!"
"Adam, get her out of here! I don't want to see her!" Emilie screamed, her voice wild. She struggled to stand but lost her balance, the weight of her casted leg pulling her down.
Adam rushed to her side, catching her in his arms and pressing her head against his chest. His face turned pale with fear, his eyes red with panic.
"Calm down, Emilie. No one will hurt you again... I’ll get rid of her right away. As long as I’m here, everything will be fine."
Turning his gaze toward Lisa, he spoke with cold disgust: "Lisa, why do you have the nerve to show up here?"
Perhaps from the constant crying, Lisa had grown numb. Seeing Adam now, her heart no longer hurt as much as it had before.
"I have some important items to return to you."
Twenty minutes later, after Adam had finally managed to calm Emilie, he stepped out of the physical therapy room alone.
Lisa handed him the apartment key, car key, safe key, and the bank card they had both signed. As she placed them in Adam’s hands, a sense of relief washed over her.
"From now on, we don’t owe each other anything."
Lisa had expected tears when she saw Adam again. She had once loved him deeply, believing he was the only one for her in this life. But witnessing Adam tenderly holding Emilie in his arms had shattered that final shred of hope.
She had made up her mind. She could no longer afford to love Adam, nor did she want to.
Adam looked at the keys and bank card in her hand, and then he laughed, a bitter edge to his voice. "Do you think this is over? You owe Emilie, and you’ll never be able to repay her in this lifetime!"
At that moment, Adam still clung to the belief that Lisa was responsible for the accident. The police may have released her due to insufficient evidence, but in his mind, she was guilty.
Lisa’s expression remained calm as she spoke, her voice steady: "I have nothing to fear when I stand tall. I owe Emilie nothing."
"It's a good saying, Lisa. One day, the truth will come out, and when it does, I’ll make you pay ten times the pain I’ve endured!" Adam shot Lisa one last glance before taking the keys and bank card from her hand and turning to leave.
His resolute departure marked the final end of their relationship.
Five years of deep love had crumbled in an instant. It wasn't life or death that separated them, but the absence of love.
With the wedding cancelled, there was still much to take care of in the aftermath. The invitations had already gone out the day before Emilie's accident. Lisa made the difficult calls one by one, informing the guests about the cancellation and offering sincere apologies.
Her family and friends were understanding, offering kind words of reassurance, telling her everything would be fine. But when it came to Adam's brothers, the responses were nothing but scorn and ridicule.
The harshest of them all came from Adam’s close friend, Vera—Emilie’s devoted follower.
"Lisa, you've caused Emilie so much misery! She deserves to be struck by lightning!"
