Mariah’s POV
Cruella scrubbed at her face in disgust. “So gross! That’s disgusting!”
Before I could react, she stumbled toward Carmilla and threw herself into her arms.
“Mom! Are you okay? I was so scared… I was so scared…”
Carmilla burst into tears, clutching her tightly.
Viggo’s back was torn open, blood soaking through his shirt, but he didn’t spare himself a glance. He lowered his head, checking Carmilla over and over.
“Where does it hurt? Did you get scared?”
In that moment, love and indifference stood in stark contrast.
I stood off to the side, something lodged in my chest so tightly I could barely breathe.
For weeks I’d told myself to stay calm. To harden my heart. But when you finally understand that you are not the one being chosen… it still hurts. It hurts so badly your whole body trembles.
I didn’t understand how it had come to this.
I used to believe Viggo had loved me, at least once.
Seven years ago, during the cruise ship fire, he never left my side.
We drifted at sea for three days and three nights. He fed me his own blood to keep me conscious and begged me not to give up. When we were rescued and I burned with a high fever, he ignored his own weakness and took care of me for an entire week.
Back then, I thought I would marry no one but him.
My dad called me foolish. He threatened to cut ties with me. And I accepted it without hesitation.
But now, with something to compare it to, I finally see the truth.
He did save me. It just wasn’t love.
It was a carefully packaged debt of gratitude.
And that life-saving favor? Over these past few years, I’ve repaid it in full.
We owe each other nothing now.
At the hospital, I had just finished getting my wounds treated when the door to my room was kicked open.
Viggo’s parents stormed in.
“You curse!” his mother shrieked, pointing at me as if I were something rotten. She even tried to claw at my face. “If it weren’t for you, how could he be hurt this badly?”
“What kind of company building collapses like a condemned house? Lights falling from the ceiling?! Are you kidding me?”
I looked up at them, cold and steady.
“My building meets top-tier safety standards. No one controls an earthquake. Your son got hurt because he chose to save someone. Why is that my fault?”
She froze, clearly not expecting me to talk back.
Her face flushed red. Clutching her chest dramatically, she grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the door.
“You’re coming with me. You’re going to apologize to Viggo!”
But when we reached his hospital room, they suddenly stopped.
Viggo had settled Carmilla onto the bed. He was feeding her medicine himself.
When he saw his parents, he didn’t even glance in my direction.
“She was really shaken up,” he said. “Mom, can you massage Carmilla’s head? She says it’s killing her.”
His parents’ expressions changed instantly. They rushed over to her bedside.
“Oh, dear, what’s wrong? Why are you so pale?”
Then, as if on cue, they turned and snapped at me again.
“This is all because your company isn’t safe! You bring nothing but bad luck, making everyone miserable!”
Cruella ran over and hit me.
“You built a bad building on purpose! You wanted to hurt my mom!”
Carmilla spoke weakly from the bed.
“Cruella, don’t blame Mariah. No one can predict an earthquake.”
Viggo’s eyes reddened with tenderness. Right in front of me, he brushed her hair back and kissed her gently on the cheek.
“I’m sorry you had to go through this.”
Cruella threw herself into Carmilla’s arms again. “Mommy worked so hard.”
His parents sighed along.
“If he’d married Carmilla back then, none of this would’ve happened.”
As if the earthquake were something I had personally caused!
As if only Carmilla had been injured, and I hadn’t been hurt at all.
I stood there, expressionless.
But inside, it felt like thousands of ants were gnawing at my heart. The pain spread and spread until I could barely stand. Until I nearly broke.
The in-laws I’d bent over backward to please adore Carmilla.
The husband and daughter I gave everything to didn’t recognize me. Didn’t love me. Didn’t even ask about my injuries.
I was a complete joke.
I turned and walked away without another word.
I asked the nurse to start my discharge paperwork.
It wasn’t even finished when someone blocked my path at the corner of the hallway.
“Mariah.”
I looked up.
Carmilla stood a short distance away.
Her makeup was gone. A strip of gauze was taped to her forehead. She looked pale, fragile. In her hand, she held a cup of warm water, like she’d been waiting for me.
“I wanted to apologize,” she said softly. “Back at the company… I didn’t expect Viggo to act so impulsively.”
