Chapter 4

I sat with that piece of paper until the sun came up.

May woke up once, asking if it was raining outside.

I told her no.

She whispered, "Then why are your eyes so wet?"

I turned my face away.

At 7:00 AM, Julian finally showed up at the hospital. He was still wearing the same shirt from yesterday.

Chloe followed closely behind him, her hand wrapped in heavy gauze.

When Julian saw the document in my hand, his expression shifted.

"I didn't tell them to stop the consultation."

I pushed the signature line right in front of his face.

"This is your handwriting."

He stared at it for a long time, as if finally recalling something.

"Chloe was hysterical yesterday. The hospital asked me to sign a bunch of caretaking and transfer papers. I didn't read them closely."

Chloe leaned against the doorframe, her voice raspy from crying.

"Audrey, Julian isn't a doctor. It was just a couple of papers. May is so old, she should be treated with caution anyway. Don't blame everything on Julian."

I glared at her.

"Shut up."

She laughed.

"Why should I shut up? Audrey, you are so good at playing the victim. You know damn well that as long as May needs the Sterling family's help, you won't dare to actually break up with him. You're only making a scene today because you want Julian to beg for your forgiveness."

Julian frowned. "Chloe, go wait outside."

For once, Chloe didn't obey.

"No! Audrey talks about her stupid countdown every day like she's some kind of chosen one. But even if your countdown is real, did it ever tell you that your man would get sick of you?"

I raised my hand and slapped her across the face.

The hallway fell dead silent.

Chloe clutched her cheek, tears instantly streaming down her face.

Julian immediately stepped in front of her, shielding her.

"Audrey!"

Then his voice softened. "I'll get the consultation rescheduled. I'll deal with Chloe too. Just don't push things to a point where we can't fix them."

"What do you mean by 'can't fix'?" I asked him.

"Was what you did in the dressing room fixable? Or was signing the papers to suspend May's treatment fixable?"

Julian choked on his words, unable to answer.

Suddenly, the door to May's ward opened.

She was leaning against the headboard, her voice incredibly weak. "Audrey, come inside."

When I walked in, she handed me a small cloth pouch she kept by her pillow.

Inside was the savings she had scraped together over her lifetime, along with an old, vintage silver bracelet.

"Let's transfer hospitals," she said.

I shook my head. "May, the waitlist for another specialist is too long."

"Then we will wait," she said, gently stroking my hair.

"Don't stay in a place that makes you cry just for my sake."

I couldn't hold it in any longer. My tears fell onto the back of her hand.

That afternoon, Julian came back with some soup. I was the only one left in the room.

He set the soup on the nightstand.

"Audrey, I just talked to the doctors. The consultation is back on for this afternoon. As for Chloe, I'm having my team send her back to her aunt's place."

He reached out to touch me.

I flinched away.

Pain flashed in his eyes.

"You never used to flinch away from me."

"And you never used to make me feel so dirty."

Julian's phone buzzed.

It was a voice message from Chloe, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

"Julian, I don't want to live anymore. If you throw me away too, I really have nowhere left to go."

Julian looked at me.

I said, "Go ahead."

He stood there, frozen.

His face was pale, but eventually, he bolted out of the room.

A second later, my phone vibrated.

Chloe had sent me a video.