Months ago, she had undergone surgery on her lungs. The doctor had warned her not to overwork herself.
But she hadn't been able to do that.
Now she was going into respiratory failure and her body was shutting down.
Aria desperately begged the security guards to rush her to the hospital. They agreed without delay, seeing how much blood she had lost.
Unfortunately, there was no way to get her quickly to the hospital, as the roads were blocked.
“I'm sorry, Ma'am.” The security guard sighed heavily. “Today is the launch of Ma'am Jasmine's perfume brand. Sir Sebastian rented out the entire road to throw a private concert for her. We can't get past.”
Aria kept coughing out more blood. Her eyes were slowly closing. But outside, music blasted, and people were laughing and cheering.
It was all about Jasmine.
Sebastian was showcasing his love for her to the whole world. Something he had never done for his wife.
Aria let out a low, painful sigh.
With everything in her, she pulled the wedding ring that had his initials on it and threw it out of the window, into the river close by.
She didn’t want it. She didn’t want him. She was done with this stupid marriage.
By the time Aria regained herself, she couldn't recognize where she was for a few seconds.
The Doctor kept his worried eyes fixed on her. “Ma'am, you're lucky to be alive. Your lungs collapsed from severe stress and exhaustion. If you had arrived a minute later…”
His voice trailed off. But Aria already knew.
Tears welled up in her eyes. Her body wanted to give up on her—Just like her heart had, long ago.
She turned her face to the side, staring blankly at the IV drip.
“Ma’am, we have to keep you here for a few more days to conduct some tests. Your body needs help. Can we contact your husband? He needs to be here as your guardian.”
Aria swallowed her sobs in, disagreeing with a quick head shake. “I don't need a husband.” She stared directly into the doctor's eyes, “Can I leave here in two days?”
The doctor thought for a few seconds, “Yes, but—”
“I would like to be discharged by then. Thank you.” Aria didn't want to waste any more time. Dante will be over to finally take her away tomorrow.
The doctor was about to head out when the door pushed open, and Sebastian rushed in, looking a little out of place like he had run all the way here.
“What is wrong with her?”
“I was exhausted from all the stress. My lungs collapsed and so did my body.” Aria spoke up before the doctor could.
Jasmine laughed dismissively, “Oh, Aria. When will you stop being so overdramatic? You are not the first person to undergo lung surgery. Stop being such an attention seeker.”
Sebastian kept his gaze fixed on Aria. She looked thin and malnourished. The frown on his face softened, and he seemed concerned for a few seconds.
“You brought this upon yourself. You could have just apologized. When did you get so full of yourself?!”
“If you knew you were starting to feel weak. Then why didn't you inform me? You should have let the guards know. Why do you keep misbehaving?” He sounded like he was blaming himself.
Aria sneered quietly at him. 'Inform him?’
Like he was actually going to do anything to help.
She had been locked in that storage room for days while he was busy rebuilding his life with Jasmine. He had kept her locked in that dark room just because she wouldn't ‘apologize’.
Informing him would have seemed like she was finally giving in to apologize for something she didn't even do!
Aria didn't see any reason to act up anymore. She was leaving in two days anyway.
“I was wrong. I didn't want to start up any more trouble.”
Sebastian couldn't pinpoint why his heart ached slightly at her words.
He probably was beginning to feel guilty for treating her so rashly. So, he decided to stay with Aria the whole time.
Two days later, in the morning, when Aria was being discharged and ready to leave. She spent hours messaging Dante.
Sebastian became suspicious. Because Aria usually spent more of her time working with her laptop than randomly on her phone.
“What's so important that you can't keep your phone away for a minute?”
He collected her phone from her hand, but Aria was fast enough to grab it back.
“It's my period tracker, Sebastian. Do you really need to see that?”
Sebastian cleared his throat awkwardly as he stepped back. “Okay. But keep the phone away already. We have to get going.”
Aria stared at him. Sebastian was doing things for her that he didn't normally do. But Aria wasn't falling for any of that.
Sebastian only followed her to the car and told the driver to drive her home before he left.
On getting home, Aria headed straight to Sebastian's room. She opened Sebastian's drawer and placed the hospital's lung collapse report inside.
Then she took out her diary and wrote on the last page.
[Final Reminder: This is what loving you did to me. You destroyed me.]
After that, she closed the diary.
Her 30% stake in his company, signed divorce papers, her resignation, three miscarriage reports, her lung collapse diagnosis—and every single scar he gave her.
They were all her fifth wedding anniversary gifts to Sebastian.
After putting everything in place, she zipped up her only remaining suitcase, and walked out the door without looking back. Not once.
