Chapter 5

Our parents gave him a good beating for it; his face was all bruised and swollen, but he still turned to me with a crooked grin.

His eyes were full of pride, as if to say, "See? Your big brother's awesome, right?"

Then the plane crash happened, and our parents were gone.

Elbert dropped out of college and threw himself into the family business.

From then on, he stopped smiling at me and never cooked for me again.

Later, Marshall—the man I'd been pledged to—asked me along to his birthday party.

When I got home, I found a bank card from his father slipped into my bag.

The PIN was my birthday, and the balance showed a staggering 20 million dollars.

The very next day, the major business deal Elbert had spent nearly half a year pursuing landed with the Long family.

I tried to explain.

But Elbert wouldn't listen.

He slapped me hard across the face, his voice shaking with rage as he roared, "Selfish and stupid! After all these years, what have you grown besides your damn romantic fantasies?!"

I lay in the hospital bed and slept for what felt like ages.

When I woke again, it was already getting dark outside.

My face was damp, so I reached up to wipe it.

There was no red on my hand.

I let out a small sigh of relief. Thank goodness—it was not blood.

My phone buzzed with a WhatsApp notification—a reply from Elbert sent half an hour ago. [Make it yourself.]

It was anticipated. I wasn't that upset.

Actually, maybe it was better if he resented me.

The more he disliked me now, the less he'd have to grieve when I was gone.

I put down my phone, got out of bed, and shuffled into the bathroom.

The mirror reflected a pale face, growing gaunt from weight loss.

Suddenly, I remembered running into Marshall in the elevator today—he said I'd lost too much weight.

He told me to stop restricting my diet and to eat whatever I could manage.

I looked at my reflection again.

The weight loss was, in fact, painfully obvious.

Elbert used to have such sharp eyes.

But now, he couldn't seem to see it at all.

Something dripped onto the sink.

I glanced at the crimson drop, wiped away the nosebleed like routine, then stuffed a medical cotton ball up my nostril.

No surprise, the bleeding wouldn't stop; the cotton was soaked through in no time.

I called the nurse for another clotting factor injection.

Figuring I couldn't stay in the hospital forever, I asked the doctor how to inject the clotting factor myself.

When I was discharged, the doctor prescribed me a full set of medications and gave me disposable syringes.

He reminded me, "If the bleeding still doesn't stop after injection, or if you experience any other discomfort, you need to seek immediate medical attention."

Then he added, "By the way, you have a family caregiver with you, right? In your condition, you really shouldn't be alone."

I was about to tell the truth, but seeing the worried look on the doctor's face, I nodded instead and said, "Yes, I have my brother with me."

As I stepped out of the hospital, it suddenly dawned on me—I had nowhere to go.

Thinking of what Marshall had said—"At this point, you don't need to follow dietary restrictions anymore"—I decided to just let myself go for once.

So I grabbed a cab and headed to the mall to get something to eat.

I used to worry about gaining weight, so there were so many things I never dared to eat much of.

But today, I decided to indulge myself.

I went into the mall and, in one go, bought two cups of milkshake.

Then I headed to the supermarket and grabbed a big bag of chips, pies, and other junk food.

With Christmas approaching, the supermarket was packed.

I waited in line for ages to check out.

By the time I finished and was carrying my heavy bags out, I was already short of breath.

There were some benches outside the supermarket, so I sat down, trying to catch my breath.

I looked down to see a pair of black leather shoes.

Looking up, I saw Elbert standing there, his expression icy.

He gave me an indifferent glance, then swept his eyes over the two cups of milkshake and the impressive pile of snacks beside me.

Given my appetite, there was no way I could finish all this on my own, and two cups of milkshake were just overkill.

He sneered. "Seems you're living it up."