Xavier burst in without a word, grabbed my wrist, and dragged me outside.
Not wanting to disturb my younger sister’s rest, I held back my temper and followed him out of the ward. After the door closed, I immediately shook free from his grip.
My gaze grew cold. “What did you come for? And what am I apologizing for?”
Xavier pulled out a wet wipe and casually cleaned the place where he had touched me.
Then he tossed it into the trash with disgust before speaking. “You hurt Millie’s dog so badly. Shouldn’t you take responsibility for what you did?”
I shot back, “But I was bitten by that animal too! Why don’t you ask her to cover my medical costs?”
As I spoke, I showed him the wound.
Earlier, I was occupied with my sister’s situation and hadn’t had time to treat the injury, only getting a few rabies injections and a tetanus shot.
When Xavier saw the bloody hole in my leg, he frowned, and softness flashed in his eyes.
When we were little, Xavier was often picked on in the orphanage. Some troublemakers once drove dogs to attack him. I was the one the dogs bit, my entire body covered with bloody wounds, just to save him. Because of this, I am very scared of dogs. Back then, he even said he would grow up fast and become a man who could protect me, so I would not get hurt again…
Perhaps remembering the past, some pain rose in Xavier’s eyes, and he moved his hand toward my leg.
The next moment, the special ringtone broke the quiet air.
Xavier picked up the call, and Millie’s broken sobs came through the phone.
She roughly said the dog’s injuries were too serious and it was already beyond saving.
The call finished, and the small bit of warmth in Xavier’s eyes vanished. Endless coldness swallowed me.
“Are you satisfied?”
I opened my mouth. Before I could argue, Xavier’s voice was full of disappointment.
“Irene, I once believed you understood proper behavior. In the abduction incident three years earlier, I used a great amount of people and cash to save you when your clothing was messy. What else do you want?”
“You, a used and ruined woman who was already taken by others, besides me wanting you, who else would take you?”
The abduction incident three years earlier was the turning point that made the connection between Xavier and me fall apart.
At that time, his business opponent was unhappy that he controlled most of the earnings, so they paid people to seize me and demand payment from him.
He stayed calm, logical, and saved me in the quickest way.
Back then, my clothing was torn apart because I fought desperately, wanting to use death to stop Xavier from being pushed into a hard spot.
Unexpectedly, this instead turned into Xavier’s only evidence that I had been violated.
No matter how many times I explained that those marks were left when I tried to end my life and not from violence, he never trusted me.
The sentences I wanted to explain were stuck in my throat.
Xavier noticed his words sounded too heavy, and his eyes shifted. “What I say is all truth. It is natural that you cannot argue back.”
At that moment, a nurse passing by told me, “Miss Gordon, correct? You forgot to take the card you just topped up with one hundred thousand. I brought it for you.”
Just as I was about to extend my hand, Xavier moved one step quicker and grabbed the card.
He lifted the card and demanded from me, “Where does the money in this card come from?”
My eyes stayed calm and clear. “Why do you care where it comes from?”
Xavier became irritated by my reply. In front of me, he broke the card into two pieces. “You are really capable now. Do not let me discover you are being supported by some dirty person.”
Hearing the phrase “being supported,” I felt like my tail was stepped on and quickly fired back, “Xavier, do not think everyone is like Millie, depending on men for everything.”
“I, Irene, even if I leave you, will still live very well!”
Xavier coldly laughed. “Leave me. You’re only a useless nobody, a fool who understands nothing. If you were not depending on my company, how could you have such a comfortable life now?”
The anger from being belittled surged in my heart. I looked at the former lover who had become the sharpest knife stabbing into me.
My heart pulled tight, and I forced myself to hold back the tears.
I watched Xavier take another call in front of me and walk away.
At that instant, I suddenly understood that Xavier and I were no longer the same type of people.
He had become completely strange.
So strange that he was no longer the boy who once loved me with his whole heart.
