Chapter 7
Puzzled by Albert’s request, Melanie eyed him oddly and asked, “Why?”
Albert bit out glumly, “Because I don’t like it.”
She stared at him questioningly but didn’t press further. Lowering her head, she sighed. She looked up again and said calmly, “Alright. I won’t bring Leon up again in the next seven days.”
“Why seven days?” Albert asked, frowning.
“Because we’ll be divorced in seven days.”
However, Melanie’s words were once again drowned out by Vivienne’s voice. The latter opened the door, sounding aggrieved as she whined, “Albert, are you done talking to her yet? I miss you. I can’t believe you punished me because of another woman. I’m hungry!”
In a rare show of anger, Albert snapped, “Vivi, that’s enough.”
Vivienne pouted as fresh tears welled up in her eyes. “Fine! If you don’t love me anymore, I’ll leave!”
With that, she ran out of the room, crying. Albert watched her leave with no small amount of frustration before glancing at Melanie. “I’d better go check up on her.”
Melanie hummed in response and watched as he went after Vivienne. She was about to get out of bed and pour herself a glass of water when she heard a loud crash outside. Her heart leaped to her throat, and she hurried out of the room to check on the noise.
She froze when she saw Vivienne lying in a pool of blood outside the villa. A car was idling beside her. The driver got out frantically to inspect the damage while Albert, who crouched next to Vivienne’s unmoving form, blanched.
“Vivi, don’t scare me like this!”
His voice trembled as he clumsily scooped Vivienne into his arms and eased her into his car. After that, he got into the driver’s seat and sped off toward the hospital.
Melanie froze. She’d never seen Albert lose control like this. Worried for his safety, she hailed a cab and told the driver to follow Albert.
Vivienne was immediately wheeled into the emergency room, but it wasn’t long before the doctor emerged and said grimly, “The patient lost a lot of blood and needs a transfusion. There isn’t enough blood in the hospital blood bank. We need to come up with a plan right now!”
“Take my blood! We have the same blood type,” Albert offered immediately, rolling up his sleeve.
The nurse quickly led him into the operating room. But after she’d drawn a pint of blood from him, they realized it wasn’t nearly enough to save Vivienne.
They were about to stop and reassess their next option when Albert gripped the nurse’s arm, pleading hoarsely, “Keep going.”
“No, we can’t,” the nurse replied.
“I said, keep going!” Albert roared.
The nurse hesitated before turning to Melanie. “Ms. Olsen, please talk some sense into Mr. Palmer. He won’t be able to cope with losing another pint of blood.”
Melanie had no idea how she could convince Albert to listen to reason, so she asked, “Albert, do you love Vivienne more than you care about staying alive?”
Albert looked grim as he answered without thinking, “Yes.”
Melanie was silent for a moment, then turned to the nurse and said, “I can’t change his mind, so do as he says.”
The nurse was beside herself with panic and disbelief, but seeing as neither Melanie nor Albert protested, she continued drawing blood from the latter.
Having lost two pints of blood, Albert looked as pale as a sheet and could barely stand on his feet. But that didn’t stop him from waiting outside the operating room, and he refused to budge.
Terrified that he would collapse and die in the corridor, Melanie walked up to him and offered, “I’ll wait here while you get some rest.”
He shook his head, his red-rimmed eyes trained on the doors of the operating room. “No, I can’t rest until I know for sure that Vivienne is all right.”
Melanie said nothing more after that and merely stood by the side, staring at the operating room’s doors.
It wasn’t until the doctor emerged and announced that Vivienne’s condition had stabilized that Albert heaved a sigh of relief. His body swayed, and unable to keep himself upright any longer, he passed out.
