Chapter 4

The footsteps faded down the hall.

I walked over and checked the window.

Third floor. Jumping would be suicidal. They were going to open the door by morning anyway, and I wasn't going to risk my neck for a twelve-hour delay.

I pulled out my phone, rescheduled my flight to tomorrow afternoon, and crawled under the covers.

At first, the blanket provided some comfort.

Soon, however, it felt like wrapping myself in a sheet of ice. I curled tighter into a ball, shivering uncontrollably.

Within two hours, the freezing chills morphed into a raging fire.

A scorching fever took hold. My vision blurred, my teeth chattered violently, and every joint in my body ached with deep, throbbing pain. That was when I realized the central air was blowing arctic air into the room.

I dragged myself up to turn off the thermostat, only to hear the vents roar even louder.

Someone had set it to the lowest possible temperature and locked the panel.

Cracking the window didn't help against the relentless blast of AC.

My stomach churned violently, acid rising in my throat.

My legs gave out. I collapsed over the edge of the bed and dry-heaved repeatedly. First came bitter bile, then ragged, raw coughs that brought up streaks of blood.

There was no medication in my room. I tried to stand, intending to go downstairs for aspirin, only to collapse on the rug as I remembered the locked door.

I lay on the floor panting for what felt like hours until I gathered enough strength to grab my phone and dial Ethan.

It rang for a long time before he finally answered.

Ethan's voice was full of irritation.

"What do you want?"

My voice was barely a rasp.

"Please... come back and open the door. I think... I have a severe fever."

Ethan didn't believe a word. He scoffed, convinced it was another ploy.

"Are you seriously playing the sick card over being grounded for one night?"

"Do you have any idea that Chloe is hooked up to an IV at the clinic right now because of you?"

My throat felt like it had been shredded by glass.

Every breath tasted of copper, but I forced the words out.

"I'm not lying. I really can't breathe."

"Ethan, please. Come unlock the door. I can't stand up."

Ethan let out a cold laugh through the speaker.

"Now you know how to beg? Where was this attitude earlier?"

"Fine. I'm handing the phone to Chloe. Apologize to her, and I'll drive back to let you out."

Rustling sounds came through the line.

"Hello? Brooke?"

Before I could part my lips, Chloe's shrill sobs exploded through the receiver.

"Brooke, why are you screaming at me?"

"Please, don't tell Mom and Dad to kick me out! I was wrong! I'll apologize to you, okay?"

She sobbed hysterically, putting on a masterclass of fabricated victimhood.

The next second, Ethan snatched the phone back.

He unleashed his fury on me:

"Brooke, have you completely lost your mind?"

"I gave you a chance to apologize, and you use it to verbally abuse her? To think I almost bought your sick act!"

I fought through the dizziness to defend myself.

"I didn't... I didn't say anything to her. I swear—"

"Bullshit! I don't have time for your drama. If you're really dying, call 911!"

Ethan slammed the phone down.

When I tried to call back, the line went dead. He had blocked my number.

My vision went dark, spots dancing across the glowing screen.

With trembling fingers, I tapped 911.

The call connected, but before the operator could finish her greeting, the phone slipped from my limp fingers. My eyes rolled back, and I collapsed into total darkness.

In the void, I felt like I was being roasted over an open flame, only to be buried under an avalanche of snow the next moment.

A splitting headache. Nausea.

Then, absolute silence.

The last thing I registered was a violent crash as someone broke through the bedroom door. Hands lifted me onto a gurney.

Faint voices echoed around me:

"In here! She's the one who dialed 911! Her phone is on the floor!"

"Severe septic fever! She's in hypovolemic shock! Prep for resuscitation! Move, move!"

"Hello, are these the parents of Brooke Vance? Your daughter collapsed from a life-threatening fever. She's in the ER right now. The address is..."

...

Meanwhile, Chloe had insisted on getting an IV bag at the clinic, only to complain that the saline drip was running too fast and making her uncomfortable.

A single bag of saline dragged on until sunrise before she let the nurse remove the needle.

Leaving the clinic, she pulled Ethan toward a high-end brunch spot.

"Even though Brooke yelled at me last night, I don't hold grudges. She probably hasn't had breakfast. Let's eat and pack some pastries for her. Then we can go let her out, okay?"

Chloe chattered on.

When she looked up, she noticed Ethan hadn't touched his coffee. He was staring blankly at his phone.

"Ethan? What are you looking at?"

Ethan didn't answer.

After several seconds of internal conflict, he unblocked my number and dialed.

No answer.

He dialed again. Still nothing.

A knot tightened in his stomach. He abruptly stood up and walked toward the exit.

"Ethan! Where are you going?"

"Aren't you going to eat? Ethan, come back!"

Chloe yelled after him, but Ethan had already sped away in his car.

When he threw open the doors of the Vance estate, he didn't expect to find my parents sitting in the living room.

Even more shocking, his own parents were there as well.

The moment Ethan walked in, his mother crossed the room and slapped him hard across the face.

"You reckless bastard! Do you have any idea what you did? You locked Brooke in her room with a life-threatening fever! At four in the morning, paramedics were performing CPR on her in an ambulance!"

"A fever that high could have killed her!"

Ethan froze, his mind screeching to a halt.

"Which hospital? How is Brooke now?"

My mother wiped her tear-stained eyes in silence.

It was my father who finally spoke, his voice heavy with cold finality:

"I promised Brooke that once her birthday passed this year, I would let her walk away. From this moment on, she is no longer the Vance family's heiress, nor is she your fiancee."

"She's gone. The moment her fever broke, she headed straight to the airport."