Both nurses froze.
Their faces turned pale with embarrassment as they finally looked at me properly.
"O-Oh... sorry, ma'am."
Then they quickly left the room.
The silence afterward felt unbearable. Only the sound of the IV drip remained.
Drip.
Drip.
I slowly turned my face away and tears slipped quietly into my hair.
Funny.
Even strangers thought Kelsey was Dimitri's wife now. Maybe everybody already forgot I existed.
After a while, I tried sitting up because I needed the bathroom. My body still felt numb and weak, but I didn't want to call the nurses again.
I carefully pushed the blanket aside and stood up.
The second my feet touched the floor, my legs gave out completely.
I crashed hard against the edge of the bed, and pain exploded through my body so suddenly that my vision turned black for a second.
A broken gasp escaped my throat.
The door outside opened slightly. Through blurry eyes, I saw Dimitri standing there.
He froze.
For one second, he actually stepped forward instinctively. His hand even lifted slightly toward me.
My heart stopped.
But then his expression hardened again.
He slowly lowered his hand and stepped back.
Like he regretted caring.
I watched him turn around and walk away.
Outside the room, I heard his assistant speak carefully.
"Mr. Romanov... if you're worried about her, why don't you just go inside?”
Dimitri answered coldly and immediately.
"She deserves this."
The assistant hesitated before speaking again.
"But sir... none of this was really Miss Annika's fault. Her parents already died paying for what happened. You've punished her for seven years already."
Silence.
Long silence.
Then Dimitri finally spoke again, quieter this time.
"If I forgive her, then who'll forgive me for losing my family?"
My breathing shook violently.
By the time their footsteps disappeared, I was already crying silently on the floor.
...
The next few days passed quietly.
Nobody visited me. I slept most of the time because staying awake hurt too much. Honestly, I’m glad Vivienne didn’t come to my room either. It makes me sad what happened between us. We used to be so close. Our age gap is only four years, and we treated each other like real sisters. But ever since that accident, Vivienne has hated me so much. So when Kelsey came, Vivienne doted on her and even kept asking her brother to marry Kelsey as soon as possible.
One night, my phone suddenly vibrated beside me and woke me up. I reached for it weakly.
Unknown Number.
A message appeared.
【Your blood saved me really well~ From now on, everything that belonged to you will slowly become mine too. Including Dimitri.】
Below the message was a picture.
The moment I saw it, my entire body went cold.
Around Kelsey's neck hung a silver locket necklace.
My necklace.
Inside the small heart-shaped locket were tiny pictures of my parents. That was the last thing they ever gave me before they died.
My hands started shaking violently.
No.
No, no...
I ripped the IV needle out of my hand so fast blood splattered onto the bedsheets. I didn't even stop to clean it.
I stumbled out of the room and ran down the hallway as fast as my weak body could manage.
Every step hurt.
But I didn't care.
When I reached Kelsey's private ward, I shoved the door open hard.
Kelsey sat comfortably against the bed pillows while eating fruit casually.
The moment she saw me, she smiled slowly.
"Oh?" she said sweetly. "Look who came visiting. You really care about me that much?"
My eyes locked onto the necklace around her neck immediately. My voice shook badly.
"Give it back."
Kelsey touched the locket gently and blinked innocently.
"This?" she asked softly. "But Dimitri gave it to me himself."
Pain hit my chest so hard I almost couldn't breathe.
"No..." I whispered.
She smiled wider. "He said it suited me better. Then he told me it reminded him of the old you. The version before everything got ruined."
I felt sick.
Actually sick.
I stepped closer instinctively and reached toward the necklace, but stopped halfway because I was scared of damaging it.
That necklace still carried my parents' pictures inside. It was all I had left.
I lowered my hand slowly and swallowed my pride completely.
"Please..." My voice cracked. "Kelsey, please give it back to me. That necklace is all I have from my parents now."
She watched me quietly.
I forced myself to continue.
"You can take anything else. Money, jewelry, my room, my position... anything I still have left. I'll give it to you willingly. Just please don't take that too."
Kelsey tilted her head thoughtfully for a moment.
Then she laughed softly. "But I don't want those things." She slowly touched the necklace again while staring directly into my eyes. "The only thing I still don't have is your place beside Dimitri."
My chest tightened painfully.
"So why don't you give me that too? Give me the title of Mrs. Romanov. Divorce him and disappear properly."
I closed my eyes.
For a few seconds, I couldn't even speak.
Maybe this was how losing everything felt.
Empty.
Cold.
Hopeless.
When I finally opened my eyes again, they were full of tears.
"F-fine," I whispered hoarsely. "I'll do it."
Kelsey looked surprised for a second.
I kept staring at the necklace.
"As long as you return that necklace to me," I said weakly, "I'll give you the position of Mrs. Romanov myself. You can have Dimitri too."
The moment the words left my mouth, the ward door suddenly opened behind me.
Dimitri stood at the doorway of Kelsey's hospital room, his face terrifyingly dark. His eyes landed on me first. Then on the silver locket in Kelsey's hands.
His jaw tightened instantly. "So in your eyes, being Mrs. Romanov means less than some necklace?"
My throat tightened painfully. I looked at him for a long moment before answering weakly.
"That isn't just a necklace," I whispered. "It's the last thing my parents left me. Their pictures are inside it. Once it's gone... I really won't have anything left anymore."
The moment I mentioned my parents, Dimitri's entire expression changed. Hatred flooded his eyes immediately.
"Parents?" he repeated with a sharp laugh. "You still dare talk about them in front of me?"
Before I could react, he suddenly snatched the locket from Kelsey's hands.
I froze.
Dimitri stared at the necklace coldly while gripping it tightly in his palm.
"You know what?" he said quietly. "Maybe I've been too soft on you lately. I should've destroyed every single thing connected to your parents years ago."
Fear shot through my chest instantly.
"Dimitri... don't."
But he already turned toward the hospital window.
"No!" I screamed.
He raised his hand, destroyed the chain and threw the necklace.
Everything inside me broke apart at that moment. I rushed toward him without thinking. I just wanted to catch it. Just this one thing.
The second I collided into Dimitri, the necklace flew through the air toward the open window.
Then suddenly...
My body lost balance too.
"ANNIKA!"
