Third Person's POV
“She’ll never know the truth. I had no choice at the time—she woke up too soon. If I had chosen to save her first, my whole act of pretending to have amnesia would’ve fallen apart. She would’ve hated me even more. But luckily, she’s okay,” Aldrich answered.
“Okay? The doctors said if she had been in surgery even a minute later, she would’ve lost her hand,” rebutted the other.
Starlet’s heart clenched after hearing it, while a sweat-soaked hand holding hers.
A few moments later, she felt a soft kiss land on her forehead, followed by a firm, determined voice.
“I know I owe her. But I’ve already planned everything out. In a few days, the doctors will announce that my memory has returned. Everything will go back to the way it was. I’ll make it up to her. I’ll love her the way I should have. I’ll give her everything she deserves," Aldrich explained.
“After we get married, I’ll take her to see the most beautiful northern lights. I’ll go anywhere she wants to go. We once made a wish under a shooting star that we'd stay together forever. She won’t leave me. She never will," he added, assured.
Starlet wasn’t sure if he was trying to reassure himself or remind her of their past.
But that wish… she had no desire to fulfill it anymore.
If someone stayed, it meant they loved their partner. But if they left, it meant they no longer did.
That applied to everyone, especially if one played with someone’s heart.
From then on, Aldrich never left Starlet's side while she was unconscious.
Every half an hour, he had the doctors check on her condition. Every so often, he gently wiped her dry lips with warm water.
He played the role of a devoted, attentive boyfriend flawlessly—until the moment she woke up.
The second she opened her eyes, he quickly turned and left the room.
Starlet watched his retreating figure, a cold smirk flickering across her lips.
A few minutes later, the doctor came in to check on her.
“These past few days… who’s been taking care of me?” she asked suddenly.
The doctor hesitated for a moment, avoiding her gaze before stammering, “I—I’m not sure… probably a nurse.”
“Is that so?”
She let out a soft, humorless laugh and picked up her phone, checking the time.
She had been unconscious for days.
And in three more, she would be gone forever.
Just then, her phone rang.
It was the nursing home.
“Miss Bennett… your sister… she passed away yesterday at around eleven in the morning.”
Her already shattered heart felt like it was being crushed under an unbearable weight.
Tears slipped silently from the corners of her eyes, soaking her pale face.
“Dr. Erickson… was she in pain?” she sobbingly asked.
“No, don’t worry. She was peaceful. She just kept calling your name, asking for you. I tried calling you so many times, but I couldn’t reach you… so I told her you were on your way,” Travis replied.
'This is all that bitch's fault! If she hadn’t crashed my car, I wouldn’t have missed my sister’s final moments. If I had never gotten involved with Aldrich, none of this would’ve happened,' she grittingly thought, guilt, regret, and grief consuming her.
After hanging up, she collapsed onto the hospital bed and buried her face in her hands as a muffled, anguished sob escaped her lips.
Biting down hard on her own arm, she forced herself to swallow the pain, the sorrow, the hatred.
This hospital was full of Aldrich’s people. She couldn’t let them find out about her sister’s death. Otherwise, her plan to switch death with her sister would be in vain.
The next morning, she checked herself out of the hospital and went straight to the nursing home.
When she arrived, her sister was lying in the morgue, peaceful and still, as if she were simply asleep.
Starlet’s legs gave out beneath her. She dropped to her knees and sobbed like a lost child.
