Chapter 2

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital bed.

The nurse told me that the hotel receptionist had called 911, fearing someone might die in that suite.

After transferring the medical expenses back to the receptionist, I drafted a mass text message canceling the wedding and hit send.

A few minutes later, Ethan kicked the hospital room door open, storming in furiously.

"Chloe Carter! What the hell is the meaning of that text? Do you really think playing hard to get is going to make me crawl back to you?"

By the last sentence, his voice carried a hint of desperate anger.

I took a deep breath and looked at him calmly.

"I'm not playing games, Ethan. Don't you love Lily? I'm stepping aside to let you two be together."

Ethan choked on his words, a rare flash of guilt flickering in his eyes.

"Don't be so impulsive. What Lily and I have is just a casual fling. It doesn't mean anything."

As he spoke, he seemed to regain his confidence.

"And honestly, it's your fault too. You're always so busy. Lily was the only one who stayed by my side."

Every word out of Ethan's mouth was a complaint about how neglectful I was.

But the only reason I had been working myself to the bone these past few years was because he asked me to help him start his business.

To support his dreams, I put my Ivy League education on hold and refused to return home to inherit my family's estate.

We were supposed to build a life together, but Ethan made a habit of dumping all the company's mess onto my lap.

I was the one who drank until my stomach bled just to secure investors. I was the one who secretly begged my parents to use their connections to help him.

Pulling all-nighters until 3:00 or 4:00 AM for business deals was my normal.

Meanwhile, he was always "traveling for business," disappearing for ten days at a time.

Back then, I was too naive to suspect anything, believing he was running around for the sake of our company.

Now I realized that every single business trip was just a getaway to sleep with Lily.

I pointed toward the exit. "Get out."

Ethan pressed his lips together, silently walking over to the side of my bed.

"I'm not leaving."

He pulled out a fresh red apple and began peeling it in silence.

Years ago, when I was hospitalized with a high fever, he had cared for me just like this.

Back then, it was out of love. This time, it was purely out of guilt.

Ethan tried to hand me the peeled apple, hoping to appease me.

"I was too aggressive tonight. I'm sorry."

When I remained silent, he grew frustrated and shoved the paring knife into my hand.

"If you're still mad, fine! Stab me. Get it out of your system."

I had no interest in playing his twisted games. I took the apple and sliced it into small pieces.

But just as I took a bite, Ethan pushed his luck.

"Since I've apologized, you need to go and apologize to Lily too."

"She's still in the ER. The doctor said if you had kicked her any harder, her uterus could have been permanently damaged."

I knew it. His sudden kindness was always laced with poison.

The sweet taste of the apple instantly turned bitter in my mouth.

"Ethan, the wedding is off. I am dead serious."

His brow furrowed deeply.

"But you attacked her first!"

"If you just apologize to her, I will have my dad personally perform your mother's heart bypass surgery this month. I'll get her on his private schedule immediately."

I had begged Ethan countless times about my mother's worsening heart condition.

Every single time, he made excuses, saying his father was a world-class surgeon who couldn't show favoritism or let patients skip the line because it would ruin his reputation.

Even when I offered to pay triple the price, he refused.

Now, just to force me to bow my head to Lily, he could easily pull strings to make it happen.

The person he was willing to break rules for was never me.

Fortunately, he couldn't threaten me with this anymore.

My dad had already pull some strings and found another top surgeon. They were planning to perform my mom's surgery right after the wedding anyway.

I shook my head. "I will never apologize to her."

Ethan snapped, standing up abruptly.

"Fine! Let's see how long you can hold out!"