Chapter 3

Sophia's chest was heaving violently, her breath ragged, as if she'd been running hard.

She walked up to me, took a bank card out of her pocket, and held it out.

"Owen told me everything. He didn't do it on purpose—he just forgot to set his groups when he posted on social media."

"Grandma has always been in good health. This time she just got a little upset, that's all. Stop blowing everything out of proportion."

"There's three million on that card. Consider it Owen's compensation to you, plus repayment of the past five years of financial support, principal and interest."

"And stop holding your favors over him. He's sensitive—his pride can't take it."

I stared at the card in disbelief.

My grandmother was still in there, her life hanging in the balance, and he had actually come here to talk about buying out my debt of gratitude? To protect his mistress's pride?

I knocked his hand away hard, and the card slammed down into a far corner.

Sophia's face went ashen in an instant.

"Evan, you don't know a good thing when you see it!"

I looked at him coldly, my voice shaking with fury.

"Pride?"

"He's a parasite who only stays alive on my charity—what right does he have to talk about pride?"

"Where was his pride when he was crying and begging me to pay for his schooling?"

"Where was his pride when he was rolling around in bed with you on that island?!"

Owen looked as if his most tender wound had been struck, and tears spilled from his eyes.

"Evan, how can you insult me like this?"

"I know I owe you—if it comes to it... to it, I'll pay you back one payment at a time!"

Sophia pulled him behind her protectively, her eyes full of disgust as she looked at me.

"Evan, you are completely unreasonable!"

"You think you can buy out someone's whole life just by throwing money at it?"

"You're always so overbearing, never once considering anyone else's feelings. I've had enough of you a long time ago!"

"If you weren't always so aggressive, would I ever have fallen in love with Owen?"

"Would I have lost control and slept with him back when you were in the hospital with a stomach bleed?!"

Hearing that from Sophia, my mind went completely blank—I couldn't even get the words out.

"What...?"

Last week, to lock down the most crucial round of investment before her company's IPO, I drank three whole bottles of whiskey with the investor, and ended up vomiting blood and being rushed to the hospital.

I lay in that hospital bed in agony, and when I called Sophia her phone was switched off the whole time.

Afterward she held me with a guilty face and said she'd pulled two all-nighters at the office, that she was so exhausted she'd fallen asleep.

I believed her. I even felt sorry for how hard she was working to build her company.

So it turned out...

So it turned out that at that very moment, she was in bed with Owen, tangled up together!

My tears finally broke loose and came pouring down.

"Sophia, are you even human?"

I lunged at her like a madman, wanting nothing more than to tear this woman I no longer recognized to pieces.

Owen rushed up and grabbed my arm.

"Evan, don't hit Sophia!"

In the struggle, I threw my arm out hard.

Owen went down with it, dropping onto the ground, clutching his ankle and groaning in pain.

"It hurts..."

Sophia instantly threw me off in alarm and strode over to help him up.

When she turned to look at me, her eyes were ice cold.

"Evan, you are beyond hope! You can stay right here and think about what you've done!"

With that, she helped Owen up and turned and left.

I slid down onto the floor, staring at the direction they'd vanished in, unable to even manage a laugh.

Just then the door to the emergency room swung open, and the doctor came out, drenched in sweat.

"Who's here for the patient Magnolia?"

I scrambled over and grabbed the doctor's white coat.

"I am, I am!"

"Doctor, how is my grandmother?"

The doctor pulled off his mask and sighed.

"We saved her life."

"But her condition is still very serious. It could take a turn for the worse at any time."

"For now let's move her to a room for observation."