Nora felt a sharp, burning pain in her heart. She suddenly pushed open the door of the lounge and was met by Sally's panicked eyes.
"Nora ..."
Sally said carefully, "I just thought this wedding dress was beautiful and asked Benjamin to recommend it to you. I didn't mean anything else... Are you angry with me?"
Benjamin stood behind Sally, protecting her, telling Nora coldly, "I should have married Sally. If you hadn’t suddenly woken up and interfered, do you think you deserve to wear this wedding dress?"
Nora couldn’t help but stare at Benjamin in disbelief.
Her heart ached as she managed to ask, "If I don't deserve it, why did you let me try it on today?"
Benjamin frowned, answering, "If Sally hadn’t thought of you, do you think I would have allowed it? Now that you’ve tried it on, that’s all there is to it."
Without waiting for her response, the shop assistants began to remove the wedding dress from her.
"Miss Duncan had already reserved this wedding dress," one of the employees said, sneering.
"Some people are so shameless, taking the dress and even trying to steal the man."
"Mr. Hunt clearly doesn't like her. Yet someone still keeps trying to get close to him. It’s really pathetic," another added.
"Miss Duncan is the only daughter of the Riley Family. Does this woman really think she’s worthy of this dress just because she calls someone 'sister'?" a third said mockingly.
The employees continued to insult Nora without hesitation. After being in a coma for five years, Nora's movements were slow and unsteady. When she heard their cruel words, she was about to confront the store manager and have them disciplined. However, Benjamin waved her off.
"Nora, I see a rash on your arm. It looks like you’re allergic. You should go to the hospital quickly."
Sally, who knew the truth, pretended not to hear the insults. The employees quickly forced Nora out of the store. With no other option, Nora went to the hospital.
When she returned home, Benjamin was waiting for her.
"I made a mistake about the wedding dress shop," he said.
"I’ll make it up to you. Let’s go see the meteor shower tonight."
Although Nora didn’t want to go, Mr. and Mrs. Riley were excited to hear this and immediately agreed.
That evening, Nora sat in the car. The route they were taking was the same as the one they had planned five years ago to watch the meteor shower. But the night wind was cold, the sky was clear of stars. It didn’t look like the right weather for a meteor shower at all.
They climbed up the mountain to find the best view. Then, Benjamin suddenly said he had to return to the car for a meeting. He left Nora alone to set up the tent.
Half an hour passed, the wind grew stronger and mixed with light rain. Yet, Benjamin was nowhere to be found. Nora realized something was wrong. With no signal on her phone, she returned to the main road, only to find the car was gone.
She was stranded on the empty mountaintop.
"Benjamin? Benjamin!" Nora shouted, but received no reply.
Heavy rain quickly poured down from the sky, soaking Nora completely. She felt like being drowned. Fortunately, she had made a guide to this place five years ago. So, she managed to find the path down the mountain.
Unfortunately, the rain was coming down hard. Not to mention, the night was pitch black. Nora could barely see the road.
She walked down step by step, trembling with cold and fear. She didn’t know how many times she fell, her body covered in mud and soon washed away by the rain. Her knees and arms were bruised.
The only sound that night was the thunder roaring above her and the rain pounding down, mixing with the despair she felt in her heart.
Finally, after hours of walking, she reached the foot of the mountain. She waited until the early morning. When the rain stopped, before she saw a car driving through the suburbs. The kind driver gave her a lift.
When she arrived home, her parents and Sally weren’t there. Mrs. Burnett, her maid, was shocked to see Nora in such a state.
"Nora, how did you end up like this? Didn’t Mr. Hunt say he would take you back to the hotel after the meteor shower?"
Nora sat on the ground, exhausted. Her heart sank. Did her parents trust Benjamin so much that they didn’t even call her to confirm? Or did they simply not care about her at all?
Unable to speak, Nora remained silent as Mrs. Burnett cleaned her up. Afterward, she saw Sally’s latest post on her iPad. The photo showed Sally with Benjamin and her parents at a concert. They all smiled at the camera, looking like one happy family.
Even worse, Nora saw that Sally was wearing a small dress and the gemstone jewelry her grandfather had sent the day before.
Benjamin had also left a message.
[This is your punishment for your unrealistic delusion!]
After being caught in the rain, Nora developed a fever. She felt dizzy, like a fish stranded out of water. Her heart raced and it felt like it might explode. But her throat was tight and she could hardly breathe.
She heard noises downstairs. Sally and her parents had returned. A moment later, Sally came into Nora’s room with a cup of boiling hot tea.
"Nora, mom was worried you might have a fever, so she asked me to bring you this," Sally said, making a point to puff out her chest so Nora would notice the necklace she was wearing.
Seeing that Nora ignored her, Sally wasn’t bothered.
She smiled sarcastically and added, "By the way, Nora, I asked Benjamin to do all of this yesterday on purpose."
Nora’s heart skipped a beat and a sharp pain twisted in her chest. Before she could react further, Sally threw the boiling hot tea in her own face and started crying uncontrollably.
