Chapter 2

I had no idea how long I'd been unconscious, but when I came to, the sharp smell of disinfectant hit me straight in the nose.

The first thing I saw was a glaring ceiling above me. My head was wrapped in thick bandages, and each heartbeat sent a fresh wave of pain throbbing through my temples.

"Emily, you're awake? How are you feeling?" Ryan called out.

Ryan leaned in, his handsome face near mine, eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses filled with concern and care.

Beside him, Chloe sat with red, puffy eyes, on the verge of tears.

"Emily, how are you? Can you hear me?" Chloe asked.

I glanced at the diamond ring on Chloe's left middle finger, the kind I could only dream of owning. Just the sight of it made me feel sick.

The memory of them hugging outside the jewelry store and the endless stream of phone calls kept replaying in my mind like an unending movie I couldn't shut off.

I shut my eyes, choosing not to say a word. I couldn't be bothered to spare them a glance.

My silence seemed to make them nervous.

"Doctor!" Ryan shouted, rushing out of the room.

Soon, a tall figure in a uniform strode in.

He was tall, looking calm and professional.

His name tag read: Dr. Ethan Carter, Attending Physician.

"Dr. Carter, what's wrong? She can't hear us," Chloe said, her voice thick with tears.

Ethan gave me a quick check-up and said, "She has a concussion, but her vitals are stable. We can't rule out temporary hearing loss from the impact, so she'll need to stay for further observation."

I had a temporary hearing loss?

With my eyes still closed, I kept up my silence.

Ryan and Chloe exchanged a look, both of them visibly relieved.

Ethan gave them a few quick instructions before leaving, and then they came back into the room.

Thinking I couldn't hear a thing, they started talking recklessly, not holding back at all.

"I nearly had a heart attack," Chloe said, patting her chest. "She was staring at my ring the whole time. Do you think she noticed anything? If she did, what about the money for the house?"

Ryan scoffed, "So what if she did? She's stuck here and can't move. Her savings card and salary card are both in my hands. I know all the PINs. I've already moved all the money. She won't see a dime."

He paused and continued coldly, "When her project bonus comes next month, I'll come clean."

My whole body was shaking uncontrollably under the covers.

Every one of my bank card PINs was set according to our anniversary.

That was seven years ago, today.

My parents died in a car accident, and I became an orphan.

Ryan held me while I sobbed until I lost my voice, swearing he'd give me a home.

From that day on, we both worked ourselves to the bone, scraping together every cent we could.

He promised that once we had enough for the down payment, he'd make it official and marry me.

So I hustled at work all day, taking on every tough project that came my way.

After work, I'd hop on my e-bike to deliver food, and on weekends, I picked up shifts delivering packages.

All I wanted was to save up for that down payment as fast as I could, so Ryan and I could have a place to call home.

No one would have thought the love I believed in ended up being the very shackles that trapped me.

I earned that quarterly bonus after three grueling months of nonstop work, endless overtime, and drinking at work dinners until my stomach bled.

I was planning to use that money to take the two of them on a beach trip to celebrate once the proposal went through.

But now, in their eyes, I was nothing but a tool with an expiration date. I was about to be squeezed for every last drop, bonus included.

I turned my head, my tears falling silently onto the pillow.

Fragments of old memories flashed through my mind, weaving together like shards of glass, cutting into my already broken heart again and again.

I remembered back in high school, when I got cornered by some punks in an alley. Chloe grabbed a brick and rushed in to save me, and ended up getting kicked out of school for me.

In college, when it was pouring rain, Ryan tracked me down across half the campus with an umbrella and told me he would be the one to protect me and that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me ever again.

Thirteen years of friendship and seven years of love had all been a lie, every single bit of it.

I thought the pain couldn't get any worse, but then Chloe's voice, sharp and cold, pierced me straight in the heart as a dagger dipped in poison.

"Forget it, stop worrying. She has trusted me her whole life. She's so easy to fool. Just like back in high school, she still believes I got expelled because of her. Can you believe that?"

That sentence was like a bolt of lightning, splitting my mind wide open.

What did she say? The reason she was expelled had nothing to do with me?