Meanwhile, somewhere else, he was watching the same chaos online. Lewis frowned as he called his assistant to control the rumors. Cherry pressed into him, tears soaking his hand, and he gripped her shoulder with that dangerous calm of his.
“Tell me, is any of that online stuff true?” His voice was low, cutting.
Cherry buried herself against him.
“Lewis, please don’t think about it. The past is past. Don’t blame Addison. She didn’t do it on purpose. She’s the reason I’m alive. If she asked me to die today, I couldn’t refuse.”
He hugged her tighter.
Then BANG!
A crash came out of nowhere. The car flipped hard, metal screeching, and I was thrown against the seat. Before I could even catch my breath, the door ripped open. Strong hands yanked me out, and I hit the ground hard.
I tried to push myself up and felt a foot press into my back.
“Ever think about what it’s like to get crushed when you’ve hurt others?” one of them sneered. “Your life’s been lucky so far, but today you’re going to feel real pain.”
“I… I didn’t…” I barely managed to say, but a hard slap cut the words off. Blood ran from my mouth, and my head spun.
They tied my wrists to the back of the car. The engine roared, and suddenly I was dragged across the road. Gravel tore through my clothes, my skin, my already weak body. I screamed, but my voice was raw, hoarse, useless. My arms burned where the rope pulled, my knees scraped, my heart pounding with fear and helplessness. The people in the car laughed, filming everything like it was some twisted show.
I don’t know how long it lasted. My body was shredded, my consciousness slipping, pain barely registering. When the car finally stopped, they untied me and left me crumpled on the ground.
When I woke up, the world was quiet.
Moonlight glinted off countless gravestones. I should have been terrified, but there was no one dead more frightening than the living. I got up, unsteady, and made my way to the main road.
By the time dawn came, my last bit of strength gave out and I collapsed completely at the roadside.
“Are you awake? Any pain anywhere?”
I groaned and opened my eyes to a nurse adjusting my IV. Every movement felt like needles stabbing through me.
“You were brought in for emergency care. I can’t reach your family. We have to do the hospitalization procedures, pay the fees, and monitor your condition…”
“I know,” I whispered, cutting her off. I pulled the patient gown over my scars, hiding the damage.
She offered a wheelchair, but I refused. Every step outside the ward was agony, like walking over broken glass. I didn’t go back all night. Lewis never asked.
I remembered when I was first diagnosed with heart disease, sitting alone at my parent’s grave, lost for two hours. The world had erupted online with my supposed disappearance, black-and-white headlines screaming my failures. When Lewis found me back then, his tears fell on my shoulders as he held me. Was any of that real?
Now, his eyes were full of Cherry. Whether I lived or died, it didn’t matter.
I stood quietly at the hospital payment line. A voice made me freeze.
“Lewis babe, I’m fine now. You don’t have to worry so much,” Cherry said, playful but soft.
I stiffened and didn’t look back. Of all places, she was here.
Lewis’s voice cut through, gentle but sharp.
“The doctor says you’re showing signs of a miscarriage. You have to be careful.”
Cherry interrupted. “I’m used to it. I understand, Addison. Yesterday… It was my fault. I was reckless.”
I clenched my fists so hard my knuckles ached. I turned to leave and saw Lewis staring at me, shock in his eyes.
“Addison?”
Shock turned to anger quickly. Cherry crouched behind him, trembling.
“Please, Addison. I didn’t do anything wrong online. Don’t scare me anymore. I’m in late-stage pregnancy. The doctor said I can’t be upset like this.”
“After I give birth, you can punish me however you want. I’ll accept it.”
Lewis planted himself between us. Cold. “I’m here to make her pay for what she did. She nearly lost the baby yesterday because of your recklessness.”
I opened my mouth, wanting to scream, to show him my scars, my pain, my nearly broken body. But the disgust in his eyes stopped me. My voice caught, gone.
Cherry bent over, pale. “Lewis, my stomach… it hurts so much.”
He didn’t hesitate. He scooped her up and ran toward the doctor’s department. His shoulder slammed into me. I fell, my elbow hitting the marble hard. He didn’t even look back.
I stayed on the floor for a long time, watching them disappear. People stared. I pushed myself up slowly, numb, and shuffled back into the line. Every step burned, but I couldn’t stop. I had nowhere to go, no one to notice me.
When it was my turn, I just signed the discharge papers without a word. The nurse looked at my medical records and frowned.
"If you leave now, you could die any moment," she said softly. "Honestly… three days at most. Your condition’s gotten worse.”
