Chapter 2
Aurora felt like a thousand needles were stabbing her heart all at once.
She wasn't pretending. She really was dying.
She was about to raise her hospital admission slip to prove she wasn't making it up when the little girl in Owen's arms suddenly curled up, shivering. "Daddy, I feel awful."
Owen's face changed instantly. He frantically reached out to feel her face. "What's wrong, Lily? Where does it hurt? Tell me."
Evelyn rushed over and grabbed Owen's arm, her voice urgent. "Owen, hurry, take Lily to the ER. She was saying she felt dizzy earlier. Maybe it's heatstroke."
Owen spun around and strode off with the little girl in his arms.
After a few steps, he suddenly paused. He turned his head and glanced at Aurora.
"Hey," he said in a low, commanding voice, looking to the side. "Lock her in my car."
Two young men in plain clothes rushed over and seized Aurora's arms, holding her firmly on either side.
"Owen," Aurora shouted desperately, fear in her voice. "I'm really here for treatment."
Owen ignored her completely.
He rushed off with the little girl in his arms, Evelyn right beside him, and the two of them disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Meanwhile, Aurora was dragged through the parking lot and forced into the back seat of a black sedan.
The car door slammed shut with a heavy thud.
Aurora threw herself against the window, pounding on it desperately. "Let me out."
But the guys outside didn't spare her a glance. They wandered over to the shade under a nearby tree, pulled out their cigarettes, lit up, and started joking around.
After screaming herself hoarse for several minutes, Aurora finally slumped onto the back seat, panting desperately.
It was peak summer, and the car was parked out in the open, with not a scrap of shade. The sun blazed down, turning the inside of the car into an oven as the temperature soared.
In less than ten minutes, tiny beads of sweat broke out across Aurora's forehead.
Twenty minutes later, her clothes were drenched, her hair stuck to her face, and her back was glued to the seat, soaked through.
By the thirty-minute mark, her head started spinning.
In a haze, Aurora suddenly remembered that twenty years ago, Owen was the housekeeper's son in her family.
His father was a compulsive gambler, so Owen couldn't afford his tuition and was nearly expelled from school.
It was Aurora who went to her dad and begged him to pay Owen's tuition so he could keep studying.
Thanks to her, her father paid Owen's way for twelve whole years.
She never thought he'd turn out to be such an ungrateful bastard.
If she had a second chance, she'd never fall for Owen again.
Before Aurora could spiral any further, a wave of nausea crashed over her, her stomach churning violently.
She instinctively covered her mouth, but nothing came out, with only a sour burn that scorched her throat.
Her vision went black, and she passed out.
When Aurora finally woke up, night had already fallen.
The car was pitch black, with only a faint glow from a distant streetlight barely shining in.
The heat that had suffocated the car all day was starting to fade, but Aurora was still burning up.
She forced herself to lift her head and glance out the window.
The parking lot was completely empty. There wasn't a single person around.
The two men Owen had left to guard her were gone, and Owen never showed up.
Leaving her locked up in that car all day had nearly cost her her life.
Just then, Aurora's arm dropped down and bumped into the emergency hammer under the seat.
She grabbed it and started smashing it against the window, desperate to break free.
The first hit didn't budge the glass at all.
She swung again, and again, throwing everything she had into each strike.
Finally, the glass shattered.
Shards of glass sprayed across her face, the sharp edges slicing her cheek open. Blood trickled down her chin.
She didn't have time to deal with the wound. Dropping the hammer, she immediately started crawling out the window.
She pushed her upper body through first, gripping the window frame with both hands and dragging herself out with all the strength she had left.
But as she managed to lift herself up, a sudden, stabbing pain shot through her lower abdomen.
She looked down. A jagged shard of glass from the window had stabbed straight into her belly.
A sharp piece was still lodged in her lower abdomen, blood spilling out, running down her stomach, soaking her waistband, and dripping onto the ground.
Gritting her teeth, she used every ounce of strength left to drag herself out of the window, crashing hard onto the pavement.
She fought to stay conscious, but the blood spilling from her belly was already turning the concrete beneath her into a bloody mess.
Just then, rushed footsteps came running over.
Before Aurora could lift her head, she heard Owen shout anxiously, "Aurora, what's wrong with you?"