Chapter 3

Seeing me walk out, Logan panicked. He rushed over and blocked the door.

"Hey, come on, we're bros. Don't be like this. I'm almost ready. Besides, if you go alone, who's going to take care of you?"

It was 10:45 PM. I stumbled back into the bathroom. There was even more blood in the toilet. I could barely stand. My phone rang again—it was Emily.

"Ethan! Why aren't you down yet?! The hospital just called again. If you aren't here by 11:00, they said the tissue will die! Every minute counts!"

The pain was so intense I couldn't even form words.

Martha snatched the phone from my hand.

"Emily, it's not that we don't want to leave. Someone is blocking the door. I don't know what kind of sick game they're playing."

"I'm coming up with Dad right now!" Emily roared through the speaker.

When my dad stormed in, Logan was still in front of the mirror, casually spraying cologne.

My dad controlled his rage and looked at Chloe.

"Chloe, I believe our family has treated you incredibly well. We paid the down payment on the house, bought you a brand-new car, and got you a gorgeous engagement ring. All we asked was for you to take care of my son. And now, you're risking his life just to wait for another man to get ready? Do you think this is acceptable?"

Emily stormed in right behind him, her eyes wild with anger.

"Chloe, what did you promise our parents when they bought this place? You said you would cherish Ethan forever. He fought with us for the first time in his life just to protect you, and this is how you treat him?"

"But... Ethan was the one who invited Logan," Chloe stammered, looking defensive. "Logan only came because of him. I'm just trying to be a good host."

"Yeah," Logan chimed in. "Ethan told me to make myself at home. I didn't mean any harm."

They were playing off each other, trying to make it look like I was the villain.

My mom finally snapped. She had always told me to be gentle with Chloe because she was younger, but now, her voice shook with pure fury.

"Do you two have no sense of urgency?! The host of this house is bleeding and in agony, and the guest doesn't even have the decency to step aside? Are you telling me my son has to wait for this vanity-obsessed parasite before he can go to the hospital?!"

It was the first time my mom had ever yelled like this.

Chloe lowered her head, looking slightly guilty. Logan, now fully dressed, stepped in front of Chloe to shield her.

"Auntie, that's not fair. What do you mean 'parasite'? Going to the hospital means waiting in line anyway. Why don't you go yell at the doctors instead of me? And Ethan, if you hadn't invited me, I wouldn't even be here. Now everything is my fault? Fine! I shouldn't have come!"

With a dramatic huff, Logan stormed back into the guest room and slammed the door so hard the walls shook.

Another wave of sharp pain hit me, and my vision blurred. I nearly collapsed to my knees.

My dad and Emily immediately stepped forward to lift me up.

But Chloe still wouldn't budge. She blocked the doorway, her voice filled with stubborn resentment.

"Ethan, you're such a mama's boy. You have absolutely no backbone. You invited Logan here, and now you've insulted him like this. Go apologize to him right now! If you can't even handle a small issue like this, don't even think about us getting married!"

She was threatening me. She was using our marriage to force me to apologize to Logan.

Fine. If that was the case, I would just get a new fiancée.

After all, ever since I had sent that text message to Harper, my phone had been blowing up with notifications.

The latest message from Harper read: “You better be at the hospital, you idiot. I'm almost there.”

It was 10:50 PM. My phone rang again. It was the hospital.

"Where is the patient? Do we need to dispatch an ambulance? Based on your symptoms, the risk of tissue necrosis is extremely high. If you do not arrive immediately, we will not be held responsible for the outcome."

My mom's voice was shaking. "Did you hear that? It's dying! Move out of the way!"

Inside the guest room, the sound of Logan's video game blasted through the door.

"Just go, Chloe!" Logan yelled from inside. "Don't worry about an outsider like me. I'll just starve to death in this city where I don't know anyone."

Chloe panicked. She turned to the guest room door and shouted, "Don't worry, Logan! If you're not going, I'm not going either!"

The room went dead silent. Everyone's face turned pale with disbelief.

It was 10:52 PM.

Ignoring the pain, I looked at Emily. "Emily... pack up all my credit cards, my passport, and my documents."

Seeing me pack my bags, Chloe's patience finally snapped.

"What are you doing now? Is it really that hard to just go and apologize? If you walk out that door, don't you dare come back!"

The pain was reaching its peak. I pushed her out of the way with all the strength I had left.

"I told you, I am going to the hospital. Move."