Chapter 3
Even as Hannah blinked rapidly, the sight of William trying to feed her didn’t disappear.
As if sensing her disbelief, William prodded her once more, still speaking in that gentle tone.
“Open up,” he said. “You need to eat, Hannah.”
Tears sprang to Hannah’s eyes as she nodded timidly, parting her lips to allow him to feed her with the spoon.
The moment the soup touched her tongue, she could feel its warmth spreading from her mouth throughout the rest of her body.
It felt so surreal to be treated like this. He hadn’t touched her so gently in three years.
For a mere second, Hannah thought that maybe the old William was still there, buried beneath all the anger and hurt.
That was, until the door suddenly slammed open.
“William! I’m so sorry!” Emma wailed as she hurried over to him and threw her arms around his neck. “I only wanted to prank you by putting that pincushion inside the sheets, but I never expected Hannah to be the one to find it and get hurt in the process!”
William’s expression remained gentle as he patted Emma on the shoulder soothingly.
“It’s all right,” he assured her. “I know you didn’t mean it. It’s not your fault, Emma.”
As he continued comforting her, all the warmth in Hannah’s body instantly vanished, replaced by dull resignation.
Of course.
How could she have almost deluded herself into thinking otherwise?
He wasn’t even looking at her anymore.
At that moment, the door opened once again, and the healer stepped inside.
After asking William and Emma to leave, she went over and examined Hannah carefully.
“Ms. Smith, your body is falling apart,” Rose said firmly, though her eyes held a gentle, sympathetic look. “Your life force is fading faster than I expected. You might even have less than two weeks left.”
The revelation made Hannah’s heart pound, but she reflexively shook her head.
“Please don’t tell William about this,” she whispered.
Rose sighed, but nodded anyway.
After all, it was never good to stress a patient, especially in her current fragile condition.
Once she left, William stepped back inside and folded his arms across his chest.
“Apparently, you’re well enough to go back home today. I’ll drive us all to the house, but I want you to get dressed after you arrive. There’s an important social event later tonight, and I won’t take no for an answer.” His lips curled into a mocking smile. “Be there so that everyone can see what the whore who ruined our marriage looks like now.”
With that, he turned and left.
Emma stayed behind in the room as William walked away, presumably to call the assistant healers to have Hannah discharged.
The moment William disappeared, the innocent, sweet smile on Emma’s face dropped, and she sent Hannah a condescending gaze.
“Ironic, huh, Hannah?” Emma said with a smirk. “Now I’m in your previous position. Do you have any idea how much I’ve wanted things to be this way? For years, I was jealous of you for having such a handsome, devoted boyfriend. I thought I’d never have a chance with him, but then you made my dream come true by seducing and sleeping with his brother!”
She laughed outright.
“From now on, I’m going to be the only one William cares about. The only one he’ll ever look at, and the one he’ll ask to be his new wife! And then he’ll throw you away, Hannah!”
With that, Emma’s eyes suddenly flashed golden. Her fangs grew, and her delicate fingers transformed into wolf-like claws.
Before Hannah could even react, Emma suddenly slashed at her face.
“Aaaaagh!!”
Emma’s scream caused William, who was already on his way back, to rush into the room.
When he took in the scene, he saw Emma clutching her face and sobbing wildly, while Hannah’s arm was outstretched toward her in mid-air, as though she had only been trying to help.
“I-I was just trying to help you get dressed, Hannah! How could you claw at my face when I only wanted to support you?” Emma wailed, blood mixing with her tears as they dripped down her chin.
Hannah was frozen in shock.
Meanwhile, William’s eyes blazed with anger. Without warning, he came up to her and slapped her hard across the face.
“Ah!” Hannah’s head snapped to the side from the force, her cheek burning from the impact. She could even taste blood in her mouth.
“I shouldn’t have expected much from you,” William gritted out. Behind him, Emma was smirking as her wounds slowly healed. “You’re indeed a monster, Hannah. How many more people are you going to hurt before you’re satisfied?!”
Hannah didn’t move. Rather, she couldn’t.
She no longer had the strength to do anything.
“I’m sorry” was all she could say.