Chapter 4

Chloe's panicked voice hit Vivian like a thunderbolt.

She had been lounging lazily in Scott's arms, enjoying a quiet breakfast.

At those words, she froze instantly, every drop of color draining from her face.

"...What? Wh-what did you just say?!"

Her voice shook uncontrollably, an icy dread creeping up her spine to the crown of her head.

"Just this morning! Julian... he took the earliest flight out of the country! I had someone check—he's on a flight to Zurich! And he told me to give you a message..."

Chloe's voice trembled with disbelief and a faint hint of pity.

"He said to stop acting. He knew everything all along. He said... he's played his part in your little game long enough, and now, you two are even."

Clatter—

The porcelain mug slipped from Vivian's fingers, shattering against the floor as dark coffee bloomed across the expensive rug.

Her mind roared with white noise. Her chest tightened as though an invisible hand were crushing her lungs, making it impossible to breathe.

"How... How could he know...?"

She stared blankly into space, her lips trembling.

"Julian loved me so much... He would never leave me... There must be..."

"It has to be a misunderstanding, right?"

Scott chimed in quickly, wrapping his arms around her to soothe her.

"Don't panic, Vivian! He must've fallen for some stupid rumor. I'll track down where he went in Switzerland right now, drag him back, and let you explain everything!"

"Drag him back...?"

Vivian shoved Scott away violently, her bloodshot eyes drilling into him like daggers.

"Explain? Explain what?! Explain that I faked brain damage just to screw around with an intern behind his back?! Explain that I trampled his entire life under my feet, ripped out his real heart, and shoved a cold machine into his chest?!"

Scott paled at her sudden hysteria. "Vivian, you..."

"Get out! Get the hell out of my sight!"

Like a cornered, rabid animal, Vivian shrieked and pointed toward the door.

"This is all your fault! If it weren't for you—"

"Vivian, listen to me!"

"GET OUT—!!!"

She snatched a crystal vase from the console and hurled it at him, glass exploding against the wall.

Terrified, Scott scrambled on all fours and bolted out the door.

A tidal wave of panic crashed over Vivian.

She stumbled toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring at the endless flow of traffic below, her head spinning sickeningly.

Julian was gone... He really left! He knew everything! He threw her away!

This wasn't a rash decision. He had planned his escape down to the minute!

He had even timed his departure right after the surgery, vanishing the moment he could stand!

A thousand questions and suffocating regrets tore at her soul.

When did he find out? Was it outside the apartment? Or even earlier? Why didn't he ever say a word?

When he was lying on that freezing hospital floor, taking kicks from strangers while watching her put on a show...

Were his eyes already stripped of love, left with nothing but silence and contempt?

On the operating table, when he heard her casually discard his heart, ordering them to carve it out...

Just how badly had she broken him?

And now, with that cold artificial heart humming in his chest, reminding him every single second of how his wife betrayed him...

How much agony had he endured?

"No... He can't leave... I have to bring him back... He'll forgive me... We have ten years together..."

Muttering like a lunatic, her trembling hands frantically dug through her contacts until she found Marcus's number.

He was Julian's closest confidant and an old college friend of hers.

"Marcus! Marcus, please help me! Julian left! He knows everything! Tell me where he is! Where did he go?!"

The moment the call connected, Vivian broke into frantic sobs.

Silence lingered on the other end for a long moment before Marcus's cold, exhausted voice came through:

"Vivian, are you finally done playing the fool?"