Chapter 4
At Annabelle’s words, Nathan’s muddled nerves suddenly cleared for a moment. He opened his eyes and saw her. She looked visibly upset. His heart jolted, and he abruptly sobered up.
He knew he’d just spouted a lot of drunken nonsense, but he wasn’t sure what exactly he’d said. He could only say, “Bells, I was drunk. Please don’t take what I said to heart.”
The next moment, someone outside the private room called for Nathan. He kissed Annabelle a few times in a comforting manner before staggering back inside.
After watching his figure disappear into the room, Annabelle silently got up and went to the restroom. She stood there alone for a long time.
It wasn’t until her legs went numb and there were sounds of approaching footsteps that she snapped out of her thoughts.
Just as she was about to push the door open, she heard her name being mentioned.
“Where did Annabelle go? Did she leave halfway? Evie, she can’t have gotten jealous because Nate took the shots in your place, can she?”
“Who knows? And who cares, anyway? I know Nate. He can’t possibly fall for an old hag like her.”
Annabelle’s fists tightened when she heard the disdain in Evelyn’s tone. The people outside weren’t aware that Annabelle was in there, and they continued commenting about her brazenly.
“I heard that she’s not only Nathan’s sister’s best friend, but she’s also been dating him all these years. But don’t you worry, Evie. Nate’s only with her to gain some relationship experience. He’s just playing around. That woman’s almost 30. How shameless can she be to date a younger man?”
“Of course I know that. Nate took a stab from a gangster trying to protect me back then. He almost died. And the first thing he did after he woke up was comfort me. He loved me so much that he was willing to die for me. That old hag is nothing.”
“So what do you think? I heard that Nate spoke to some of his friends about throwing you a birthday party after he sent you home yesterday. If he confesses to you at the party, will you say yes?”
Evelyn scoffed arrogantly. “We’ll see.”
The sound of running water followed, and then the two women walked away as they laughed.
Looking at the deep crescent marks in her palms, Annabelle forced a bitter smile. She hailed a cab back home after leaving the bar.
The next morning, she submitted her resignation.
When her supervisor saw her reason for resigning, he was surprised. “You’re going back home to Ivory Bay? Didn’t you say that you were going to marry your boyfriend and settle down in Vexford? Why did you suddenly change your plans and decide to return home?”
Annabelle lowered her gaze and made up an offhanded excuse. Her mind was a mess.
She recalled her time in Vexford. She’d spent four years in college and three years working there. In that time, she’d spent five years in a relationship.
She’d had countless opportunities to return to Ivory Bay, but she’d given them all up to stay with Nathan.
Now, it was time to leave. She’d return the position of Nathan’s girlfriend to its rightful owner.
…
Nathan seemed to have disappeared off the face of Earth for the next three days. There was no news of him at all. But through photos and videos his friends shared online, Annabelle knew he was with Evelyn.
Nathan and Evelyn had attached a love lock on a bridge, they’d avoided the crowd and taken a stroll on the beach, and they’d held each other’s hand as they took a roller coaster ride.
The two of them instinctively leaned closer to each other in all of their photos. Though they didn’t seem as intimate as lovers, there was an unmistakable atmosphere of mutual affection between them.
Annabelle swiped through the photos, then expressionlessly turned off her phone and pulled out a suitcase.
After packing some essentials, she was about to head out for dinner when a call came from one of Nathan’s friends.
“Annabelle! Hurry over to the hospital now! Nate’s had an accident!”
Annabelle hesitated for quite a while, but eventually, she grabbed her keys. He was, after all, Daphne’s brother. Now that Daphne was traveling abroad, Annabelle decided that she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
When she rushed to the emergency room, she saw Evelyn and Nathan lying on stretchers, covered in blood, as doctors worked to save them.
Nathan’s friends were panicking. They talked over each other as they explained.
“We were planning to watch the sunset on the mountain tonight, but Evie said that she hadn’t driven in a while, so she wanted to try.
“Nate let her take the wheel, but she mistook the accelerator for the brake and lost control of the car, crashing into the mountain. Both of them were impaled by steel bars, and now, they need surgeries to remove them!”
Another friend said, “But the steel bar is very close to his heart. There’s only one doctor in the entire city who can perform the surgery. No amount of money can get anyone else.
“Nate was in the passenger seat, so he’s more severely injured. Evie’s condition isn’t as bad. She isn’t in a life-threatening situation. We’ve been convincing him to get the surgery first, but he simply won’t listen! Please talk to him, Annabelle!”
Annabelle felt her heart clench when she heard their words.
She walked up to Nathan and saw his ghastly pale face along with the gruesome wound that still had blood seeping from it.
Her lips trembled as she spoke. “Get into the operating theater right now, Nathan!”
He put in a great deal of effort to open his eyes and shook his head feebly. Then, he forced out the words in a weak voice, “S-save Evie first. I-I don’t want anything to happen to her.”
Annabelle could no longer rein in her emotions. “Are you out of your mind? She’ll be fine even if she doesn’t have the surgery now. But you’ll die if you don’t! How will your parents take it if anything happens to you? How will Daphne take it?”
“D-don’t worry about me. As long as Evie’s safe, I… I’ll hang on.”
The lights in the emergency room flickered on, and a nurse hurried over with a form for deferred treatment.
When Nathan saw that Annabelle wasn’t signing it, he mustered the last of his strength, grabbed a pen, and signed his name.
Was he really willing to risk his own life for Evelyn’s sake?
Annabelle couldn’t believe it. She tried to snatch the piece of paper away, but Nathan tugged on her sleeve with his blood-stained hand.
“You’re… you’re not my family. You have no… no right to interfere with my choice.”
