Chapter 4

"Let go of me!"

I struggled backward, gripping the doorframe tightly to shake her off.

Seeing that the facade was completely shattered, Austin stopped pretending.

"Chloe, stop being selfish! Tiffany's grandmother is dying! Out of respect for our relationship, she is your elder. Isn't it your duty to save her life?"

In the distance, several of the Vance family's burly bodyguards were already running toward us.

His yelling made my temples throb with pain.

"A duty? Austin, do you even believe your own words? She has been in the ER for three hours. Even if you drain every drop of blood from my body, it won't save her!"

"If I let Tiffany drag me in there, do you really think I'll come out alive?!"

Austin's face darkened at my question.

A flash of guilt and panic crossed his eyes, but he quickly hardened his expression again.

"I promise you won't die. At worst, your health will take a hit. Chloe, everyone said you were the company's biggest contributor. Now that we are at a critical moment, you can't just abandon me!"

"Don't worry. Even if you end up paralyzed or brain-damaged, I won't leave you! Wasn't your biggest dream to be with me forever? I'm giving you what you want, okay?"

His face was pale, his eyes filled with a tense anxiety.

As he spoke, the bodyguards grabbed me, lifting me up and throwing me onto a gurney!

"Austin! My dad is richer than her dad! He's on his way! If you do this, you will regret it for the rest of your life!"

As if unable to bear watching my desperate struggle, he turned his head away.

Tiffany let out a screeching laugh. "Hahaha, what a joke! Who in New York is richer than my dad? If your father were rich, would you have lived like a peasant all these years?"

"Chloe, stop daydreaming! If you try to lie to seduce Austin again, I will rip your mouth apart!"

"What are you waiting for? Push her in!"

My wrists and ankles were bound tightly to the gurney with leather straps, cutting into my skin.

Dad, where are you?!

The bodyguards pushed the gurney rapidly. I was wheeled into the elevator, and then slammed through the doors of the emergency wing...

Austin stood frozen in the hallway, his eyes blank.

Tiffany dragged him along, but suddenly, she gasped in delight. "Dad! You're back! And this is..."

Before her father could reply, a powerful, middle-aged man in a tailored suit glared at Austin. "Where is my daughter!"

Austin blinked.

It was Richard Sterling. The man he had spent years trying to get an introduction to---the richest man in New York. Austin couldn't even get close to his inner circle, which was why he had resorted to sucking up to the Vance family.

"Mr. Sterling..."

"Where is Chloe! If she has a single scratch on her, you and the entire Vance family are finished!"

Austin's entire body shook. "Chloe is... your daughter?!"