Chapter 3
By the time Curtis finally snapped out of those endless apology letters, I already smelled pretty bad.
He bought a bunch of scented stuff and covered me with it, then went out and got so much ice that it nearly filled up the room.
Archie was very satisfied with those apology letters.
"Where is she?" Archie asked.
"She..." Curtis hesitated.
Curtis had dark circles under his eyes. Probably too tired, his reaction was slow.
"She can't come," Curtis said.
Archie let out a cold, furious laugh. "Can't come?
"She deliberately caused that car accident, and Daisy barely made it out alive. And she can't even bring herself to apologize?
"Guess I've let her get away with too much all these years.
"I was ready to give her a break, but she threw it all away herself!"
Even as a spirit, my chest tightened with every word Archie said, squeezing so hard I could barely breathe.
There was no physical pain, but the hurt had already taken root deep in my soul.
Daisy spent seven days in the hospital.
Julius didn't show up at all during those seven days.
But Archie never left her side, not even to rest.
"If only you were him, Archie, things would be so much better," Daisy said.
Daisy finally broke down in tears.
Archie was overwhelmed with heartache. He held her close, careful and tender, letting her tears soak through his clothes.
He gently ran his fingers through her hair and murmured, "Whenever you need me, I'll be here."
I sat quietly beside them, watching as the embrace that used to be mine now wrapped around another woman. My heart felt neither sorrow nor joy.
Honestly, that car accident wasn't entirely accidental. Daisy kind of did it on purpose.
Just like in some drama web novels, the female lead always ended up hurting herself to get the male lead to notice her.
But Daisy could never let anyone find out she did it deliberately. If Julius and the Hughes family knew, who knows what they'd think of her?
So, once again, I ended up being the scapegoat for her.
This time, Daisy must've thought that landing herself in the hospital would guarantee Julius showing up.
Unfortunately, he didn't.
Daisy was finally getting out of the hospital after seven days.
The Hughes family dropped everything and came to pick her up together.
Daisy was once again the princess, wrapped up in everyone's love.
"Mom, I want ice cream," Daisy called out.
"You just recovered. No ice cream. Lucky you didn't end up with any scars," Erica replied.
Erica gently caressed Daisy's temple with motherly affection.
"If she'd ended up with even a single scar, I'd go ruin Jenna's face!" Gordon fumed.
The rest of the Hughes family looked at me with pure hatred, like they wished they could tear me apart.
"A-Actually, it's not really her fault," Daisy stammered, guilt heavy in her voice, but she never dared to tell them the truth.
Archie's eyes flashed with anger, but no matter how furious he was, I still belonged to him.
"I'm sorry. I'll apologize for her. As compensation, I'll have her sign over that heart-shaped island to you," Archie said.
The heart-shaped island was the love token Archie had given me.
"Really?" Daisy's whole face lit up with excitement.
"Of course," Archie said.
"Isn't Jenna going to be mad? I tried to buy it off her for a ton of money before, but she wouldn't budge." Daisy sounded a bit wronged.
Archie's lips twisted slightly, his tone cold.
"She owes you this. What right does she have to complain?" he said.
Archie crushed every last bit of hope I had, right then and there.
I collapsed in the corner, watching Daisy jump up excitedly.
"Ah!" Daisy yelped, pain shooting through her. She twisted her ankle.