Chapter 4

The wind was stronger.

I stood there, staring after the direction the car disappeared, for a long time.

The shock and fury on my face drained away little by little, until all that remained was a hollow calm.

It turned out that not every wound would bring up deep hatred.

The night grew heavier.

I don’t know how long I walked. I only knew the cold kept sinking deeper into my bones.

Right before the last of my strength gave out, I hit the emergency call button on my phone.

It was something I’d set a long time ago. One contact only—Felix.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a familiar bedroom.

The housekeeper told me Felix had searched for me through the night, stayed by my bedside until dawn, and only left after someone called him away.

"The young master was very worried about you," the housekeeper said softly. "Just like you used to take care of him."

I stared at the ceiling and didn’t speak.

Used to.

Those two words were a rusty key shoved hard into the lock of my memory.

The door flew open—

For five years, I’d taken care of him when he was paralyzed, and no one understood why I wouldn’t leave.

Was it hard?

Of course, it was. Hard enough that I couldn’t see an ending.

But now, looking back… those were the years I’d felt closest to him, the years that felt the most real.

At least then, he needed me.

Not like now. The tenderness was fake, the wedding was fake, and even his concern felt like charity.

Everything was a carefully designed scam.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth and let out a self-mocking smile.

"He doesn’t have to do any of this," I told the housekeeper, my voice raw.

The housekeeper blinked, clearly confused. "Miss… didn’t you take care of him the same way before? Between husband and wife, isn’t that… the responsibility?"

"Responsibility?" I repeated under my breath, and the word felt like a bitter joke.

Just then, a muffled argument drifted down the hallway outside the door.

Felix along with his parents.

His mother: "Why did you bring her back again?! You stayed up all night with her! What is she trying to pull this time. Playing the victim card?"

Felix sounded exhausted, but unusually firm. "Mom, I told you. Her condition is not well. I can’t just leave her, she needs me."

"Need you?" His father gave a cold laugh, full of undisguised contempt. "Are you still dreaming? A greedy woman like her took our money a long time ago and is already preparing to—"

Inside the room, my whole body went rigid.