Chapter 3

Serena lunged to slap me again, but Sean caught her wrist.

He let out a heavy sigh. "Serena, don't. He's your husband. Whatever he does, he just wants your attention."

"It's my fault for keeping you here. I thought because we grew up together as sweethearts, he'd understand our bond. I never imagined he'd misunderstand like this."

"You... you should go back with him. I'll be fine on my own."

Serena looked at him with profound affection. "Sean, you're always thinking of me. Unlike someone who only knows how to throw tantrums and curse his own mother to death!"

She turned her eyes on me, ice-cold and haughty. "If you want me to leave with you, fine. But you will apologize to Sean right now, and you will mean it!"

My face went pale with rage. But the thought of my mother on that hospital bed forced my head down.

I looked at Sean and forced out three bitter words: "I am sorry."

A mocking smirk tugged at the corner of Sean's lips. "You punch me in the face and think a casual 'sorry' cuts it?"

I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms, grinding out, "What do you want?!"

Sean looked at me with cold amusement. "That depends on how sincere you actually are."

I turned my bloodshot eyes toward Serena, but she only sneered, "Don't look at me. You hit him first. You owe him a real apology!"

The last ember in my heart went cold.

Once upon a time, Serena and I had been the couple everyone envied.

We built our home together, and she was always respectful to my mom. We were a happy family.

But the moment her childhood sweetheart Sean returned to town, everything shattered.

Her heart wasn't in our home anymore. It was here, with Sean!

I let out a hollow, tragic laugh. For my mother, I had to throw away every shred of my pride.

My knees buckled, and I dropped straight to the floor in front of Sean.

"I'm sorry!" I choked out, humiliated to the core. "Are you happy now?!"

Sean smiled smugly. "Hey, come on now. I never asked you to get on your knees. What are you doing? Get up."

Serena frowned with deep distaste. "Get up right now! Sean never asked you to kneel. Who are you trying to embarrass?!"

I pushed off the floor and slowly stood, my voice dead. "Can we go save my mom now?"

Serena’s face was dark. She grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the front door.

A flicker of wild relief washed over me. I thought she had finally come to her senses and agreed to go to the hospital.

Yet the second we reached the doorway, before I could even breathe a sigh of relief, she shoved me violently backward. I slammed hard onto the hallway floor.

She looked down at me in disgust. "You're still trying to keep up the charade?! I never realized what a manipulative actor you were! I really underestimated you!"

By the time I scrambled to my feet, the door had already slammed shut in my face.

I threw myself against the door, pounding with all my strength. "Serena! How could you lie to me?! You swore that if I apologized, you'd come with me!"

Serena's muffled voice drifted through the wood: "You lied to me first, so I'm paying you back! That’s what you get for telling such sick lies! Now get the hell away from here!"

Tears burst from my eyes, and a desperate scream tore from my throat: "No! Please! I swear to God I'm not lying!"

I collapsed against the door, hammering it with my raw fists, weeping hysterically.

"Come out! Serena! I'm begging you, please save my mom..."

Inside, music started playing, loud and muffled, drowning out every plea I had left.

At that moment, the pain in my chest went entirely numb. Whatever love I had ever harbored for Serena died on that doorstep, replaced by a dark, suffocating hatred!

Just then, my phone rang. It was the hospital.

"Mr. Miller, whether you found Chief Vance or not, you need to come back immediately. We cannot delay the patient's surgery any longer. You must sign the consent forms!"

I wiped away the tears, my gaze fixing on that closed door with venomous intensity.

If anything happened to my mother, I would never let them off the hook!

I would never, ever forgive Serena for the rest of my life!