After his words were finished, he kicked the hospital bed with ruthless force.
The pain from my wound pulling deep within me sent waves of agony through my body as if my bones were being pulled apart, one by one. A strained groan slipped from my lips.
I had known Aiden didn’t care for me, but I never imagined the level of disdain his colleagues would hold for me.
My body felt like it was disintegrating, piece by piece. Staring into the empty void, I waited for death to claim me.
Everyone around me was too absorbed in their tasks, unaware of how my breaths had become shallow and labored.
Just as I clung to the edge of consciousness, I heard someone cry out for help on my behalf.
“She’s losing too much blood! Her face is wrong; please, someone help her! Don’t let her die!”
But instead of receiving aid, mocking voices responded.
“Why hasn’t she given up yet? We already told her Aiden is with Lorelei. If she’s so capable, why doesn’t she call him herself? Why bother acting like this for us?”
The whispers of onlookers swirled around me, sharp and cutting.
Under the weight of their cruel comments, Aiden was finally summoned by his colleagues.
But what I met wasn’t care or concern; it was a slap across my face. Twice.
“Corinne, I’ve had enough of you!” His voice was cold, as though every word cut through my very soul. “You might not care about your reputation, but I still care about mine!”
“What were you thinking, staging that accident? Are you scared now? If you want to die, go somewhere else! Don’t bring your bad luck to me!”
Even now, he still thought I was the mastermind behind the crash, convinced it was some twisted scheme to win his attention.
Tears streamed down my face as I shook my head frantically, trying to deny his accusations, but my voice failed me.
The child in my womb had gone eerily still. My throat, raw and hoarse, could only produce weak, desperate sounds. Despair gnawed at me, and with the last bit of strength I could summon, I pointed to my stomach, silently begging him to save us for the sake of the child.
But instead of the compassion I had desperately hoped for, Aiden's hand came down harshly on my belly, his eyes ablaze with fury.
"The baby is fine!" he spat, his words sharp as daggers. "Lorelei already told me she saw you talking to the driver. Now that it’s all out in the open, you're playing the victim? I don’t have time for your games. Lorelei isn’t well right now."
With a final, dismissive glance, he turned on his heel and stormed away.
A wave of alarm rippled through the crowd.
"There’s so much blood on the bed!"
"She’s lost too much; the baby can’t be saved."
"Push her out of here! How shameless can she be? Does she think this will make us feel sorry for her? Poor Aiden is stuck with someone like her. What terrible luck!"
A bitter smile tugged at my lips, but it was more of a grimace as my consciousness began to fragment, slipping further from my grasp.
As my eyes fluttered closed, memories of a night five years ago, the night of that fateful banquet, washed over me.
Back then, I had been nothing more than an intern, reluctantly coaxed into drinking far too much by my supervisor.
When I finally realized the danger I was in, I tried to break free, but the grip on me was unyielding.
Dragged into a room, panic rising in my chest, Aiden appeared, wielding a stick like a warrior. He drove the man away, saving me from the fire that threatened to consume me. At that moment, he was like an angel descending from the heavens, and without realizing it, he carved a place for himself deep within my heart.
The following morning, I woke to find he had stayed by my side, guarding me through the night.
Through our conversation, I learned just the basics about him, enough to make me feel even more indebted.
In gratitude, I found myself drawn to him more and more.
One day, he surprised me by picking me up after work. For the first time, it felt as though this untouchable man might just be softening before my eyes.
I seized the chance, pouring everything I had into making him smile.
I cooked for him, baked cakes from scratch, and stayed by his side during those late-night shifts.
For two months, every moment was a chance to show him how much I cared.
And in the end, I won him over, the icy walls around his heart slowly crumbling beneath the warmth I gave him.
I truly believed my sincerity had touched him, that we’d walk through life’s stages hand in hand, embracing the happiness we both deserved.
But instead, I found myself standing on the precipice of despair.
Once we were together, I was always the one reaching out, the one who put in the effort. His responses were scarce, and more often than not, he declined my invitations.
I made excuses for him, convincing myself that "doctors have demanding, exhausting jobs."
