"The weather's scorching. You've really outdone yourself, staying sprawled on the ground to put on this act. Here, have an iced drink."
In an instant, a terrifying sensation of impending death swept over me.
My heart hammered so hard that my upper body shook uncontrollably.
I gasped for air, my throat producing a wheezing sound.
Noticing something was wrong, everyone recoiled in horror.
"I-Is she really in pain?"
Ian froze instantly, his entire body shaking.
"Daisy?" he asked in a trembling voice as he stumbled over to me.
Zoey moved in front of him, laughing as she brought up a video on her phone.
"Ha! No wonder this scene looks convincing. Turns out she played a patient with arrhythmia before. Incredible performance, huh? Her acting's flawless."
Ian's expression changed drastically.
He shot me a hard glare and slammed his hand on the table. "Daisy Graham, can you stop already? Everyone's gathered here to celebrate Zoey's promotion to attending physician today. Can't you at least show her some respect?"
I lay on the ground, my face twisted in pain.
There was no strength left in me to answer him as my consciousness was already slipping.
"Hey!" Ian heaved in anger.
Desperate to keep up appearances, he thrust a glass of liquor toward me.
"Get up and apologize to Zoey!"
Zoey downed her drink, then crouched down beside me to lecture me.
"Daisy, I've already finished my drink. If you still refuse to drink, that's on you. You can't be this petty. Oh, I get it. You're too busy with your act to bother, right? That's fine. Let me help you."
As she spoke, she topped my glass with liquor.
A few friends of hers understood immediately and moved in together, forcing my mouth open.
"Mm… Mm!"
I struggled in pain, but it was all in vain.
There was nothing I could do as Zoey poured the entire glass of liquor down my throat.
The strong liquor burned down my throat, and before long, my body went numb.
My heartbeat became impossible to control, pounding so hard it felt like it might burst from my throat. As a searing heat gripped my chest, for the first time, I felt the horrifying sensation of suffocation.
My eyes went wide as I stared at Ian pleadingly.
"H-Help me…"
He shot me a contemptuous look and let out a cold snort. "It's just a glass of liquor. Stop making a scene. Zoey's a doctor. She knows what she's doing."
He looked away and raised his glass to Zoey.
"Zoey, don't mind her. She doesn't know any better. Let's drink!"
One of their friends protested, "Ian, you're allergic. How can you drink? Your girlfriend should drink on your behalf."
Everyone turned to look at me.
In their disappointed eyes, I was still just putting on a performance.
Seeing this, Zoey chuckled and stepped in.
"Forget it. She's already taken this act far enough. One more drink, and she'll be forced to play dead. Ian, let's do this the usual way. I'll drink on behalf of you, but let's do something different this time."
She held his hand intimately and lifted the glass to his lips.
Their friends immediately cheered, "Drink it!"
Unable to resist their enthusiasm, Ian blushed as he took a small sip.
The next second, Zoey forcefully pulled him in by the back of his head and kissed him, transferring every drop of alcohol from his mouth into hers.
He didn't struggle. In fact, he closed his eyes, savoring the moment.
When they finally pulled apart, a thin thread of saliva lingered between their lips.
Despair filled my heart.
Through my fading awareness, I caught a glimpse of a sachet of powdered medicine near Zoey's feet. There was still some powder left inside.
Driven by a desperate will to survive, I crawled toward it with all the strength I had left.
Just as my hand was about to reach the sachet, she suddenly stepped on it and crushed it under her foot.
"Wow, weren't you on the verge of dying earlier? The moment you saw Ian and me interact, you couldn't keep up the act anymore, huh?"
She deliberately raised his voice, making sure everyone could hear.
"Daisy Graham, you're truly disappointing."
Ian shot me an annoyed glare and turned away impatiently.
Zoey took the opportunity to seize a fistful of my hair, a dangerous smile spreading across her face.
"Your arrhythmia must be killing you, huh? Don't worry. Something worse is coming for you."
Her gaze turned vicious all of a sudden as she grabbed a wine glass from the table and smashed it to the ground.
