Chapter 4

Chloe stood by my hospital bed, biting her lip as she apologized.

"I'm so sorry, Elena. I didn't mean to make your condition worse. But I promise, I will cure you."

I let out a bitter, mocking laugh.

"Cure me? Where is your medical license, Chloe?"

She stiffened, clearly not expecting me to be so blunt. Immediately, she put on a perfect display of hurt and vulnerability.

"Elena, if you hate me that much, I'll just leave."

Liam instinctively stepped in front of Chloe, shielding her from my gaze.

That protective gesture stabbed me right in the chest.

"Elena, Chloe is only trying to help you. Why do you have to be so toxic?"

"Why are you always so ungrateful?"

He got more and more worked up.

Until finally, he said the words that completely shattered my heart.

"No wonder nobody likes you. No wonder your mother chose death just to get away from you!"

My mother's departure wasn't a sudden rainstorm.

It was a lifelong dampness in my soul.

When my father beat me, my mother took the knife for me.

Before she took her last breath, she told me,

"Living is too painful. This time, I'm leaving, even if it means dying."

I had shown my deepest, bleeding scar to Liam.

And now, he was using it to tear me apart in front of another woman.

I thought I would cry, but when I touched my chest, it felt completely empty. Just cold, hollow air.

I guess when your heart gets cold enough, it stops feeling the pain.

"Liam, you're right. So, why don't you leave me too?"

I forced a broken smile,

Desperate to sever ties with him once and for all.

A flash of panic crossed Liam's face.

"Elena, I didn't mean it like that."

He tried to explain, but Chloe stopped him.

"Liam, she's too unstable right now. She won't listen to anything you say. Let's give her some space to calm down."

Liam hesitated, then nodded.

He tucked my blanket in and walked out with Chloe.

Once he walked out that door,

He didn't come back.

It wasn't until the next morning that they returned to handle my discharge papers.

Looking at my pale face,

Chloe smiled playfully, like she was holding a secret.

"Elena, guess what Liam and I did for you yesterday."

My face remained blank.

"I don't care, and I don't want to know."

Her smile faltered for a second,

But she quickly recovered, pulling a giant plush bear from her bag. Her face was smug.

"Look at this! Isn't it cute? I know it's your favorite."

"There was a couples' challenge at the mall yesterday. We had to kiss for a whole hour to win this for you! Our lips were practically bleeding, but we did it!"

"See? Liam and I really care about you."

In all the years I had been with Liam,

We had never done anything that intimate.

He had always told me,

"The highest form of love is respect. I'm afraid to touch you too much because I don't want to lose control and hurt you..."

Yet,

He could passionately kiss another woman for an hour just for some game.

A wave of intense nausea hit my stomach.

I grabbed the plush bear and threw it straight into the trash can, then gave Liam a cold stare.

"I have a boundary when it comes to hygiene. I don't want secondhand garbage."

Liam's face flushed red with anger.

"Elena! Are you cured now? Since when did you learn to be so malicious?"

"Chloe and I did this just to make you happy! Why do you have to be so petty about how we got the bear?"

I smiled bitterly.

"But I'm not happy at all."

"Liam, let's break up. I'm going back to pack my things."

Before Liam could even react, I had already hopped into a cab and driven away.