Chapter 15
Soren woke up drenched in cold sweat, his face pale and his pajamas sticking to his skin. Beside him, Zoe jolted awake and quickly turned on the bedside lamp.
“Soren. Soren, are you feeling sick?” she asked, her face filled with panic as she took in his ghostly complexion.
She immediately woke the housekeeper and called 911. Before long, the paramedics arrived and loaded Soren into the ambulance.
The siren’s piercing wail seemed to cut through them, and Zoe kept crying as the paramedics checked Soren’s vitals.
“It’s too noisy…”
Soren grimaced, forcing his eyes open only to see Zoe’s tear–streaked face. For some reason, he felt nothing but irritation as he stared at her frantic expression.
“No… no…” he muttered.
“Soren! Soren, what’s wrong? Talk to me!” Zoe urged, her tears dripping from her chin and onto his face.
Then, a cold, mechanical voice echoed in Soren’s mind. “Warning. Warning. The male lead is deviating from the plot. Immediate compliance measures are
required. Immediate compliance measures are required.”
The bright red emergency room indicator flashed in Soren’s vision, causing his head to spin.
The male lead? The plot? And compliance measures for whom?
Soren was wheeled into the emergency room, and the cold white doors swung shut behind him, leaving Zoe outside. The last thing he saw was her face, twisted
with sorrow.
“Sylvie…”
Before Soren blacked out, he let out a weak groan, but no one heard it.
7/2
Hours later, Soren blinked his eyes open to the glaring brightness of the hospital ceiling above him.
“Soren! Soren!” Zoe had been sitting by his bedside, and the moment she saw him wake, she flung herself into his arms.
“Zoe…” Soren held the sobbing woman weakly against him and gently calmed her.
“Soren, you’re finally awake…” Zoe lifted her tear–streaked face and gazed at him with deep worry.
“Don’t cry, Zoe.”
Soren wiped away her tears with his cold fingers. But as he looked at her, all he felt was a hollow ache in his chest.
There was someone important he’d forgotten, yet no matter how hard he tried, the memory just wouldn’t come back. A throbbing pain pulsed in his forehead, and al! he wanted was to be alone.
“Zoe, stop worrying about me. You should hurry home and get some rest.”
”
Zoe hesitated. “You don’t want me here, Soren?”
He’d always been the one who held onto her, who couldn’t stand being apart!
“I’ll be okay, Zoe. I just need to stay in the hospital for a bit. But you’ve been up all night with me. I’d only feel worse if you wore yourself out because of me.”
After gently persuading her, Soren finally got her to go home.
As Zoe’s figure vanished beyond the door, he sank onto the plush mattress of the bed in the VIP hospital room. He shut his eyes and strained to recall the person he seemed to have forgotten yet felt important to him.
Gradually, he slipped into a dream.
“Soren.”
A little girl with an oval face appeared before him, grinning at him with a gap in her front teeth. She looked so familiar. He desperately reached out to grab her wrist, but his hand closed around nothing.
“Soren,” said a lovely young woman in a sundress as she draped a coat over his shoulders. “I’ve cleared all your debts. You don’t have to live like this anymore.”
Soren wanted to seize her and demand answers, but she faded into thin air.
“Goodbye, Soren.”
The woman before him was frail, her lengthy hair whipping in the wind. Soren frantically tried to pull her into his arms, but she turned away without hesitation, just beyond his grasp.
“Sylvie!” Soren’s eyes flew open as he shouted hername in shock.
The white bowl in Zoe’s hands, filled with pumpkin soup, hit the floor with a sharp crack and broke into pieces. Shards of porcelain and hot soup splattered everywhere.
“s–Sylvie? Sylvie?” She stared at Soren in disbelief, then stumbled back.
“Zoe, look out!”
But Zoe didn’t care about the broken pieces or the spilled soup. She covered her face and dashed out the door.
“2004”
Soren ripped the IV needle from his hand and ran after her, not even stopping to put on his shoes.
Chapter 15
“Zoe…” He drew her close. “No, Zoe, just hear me out…”
Zoe’s eyes were bloodshot, her voice thick with tears. “Then tell me what’s going on!”
2/2
“It’s not what you think.” Soren hastily wiped her tears away before pulling her flush against his chest. “You’re misunderstanding everything!”
When he raised his head in despair, another woman flashed through his mind–Sylvie.
The cold, mechanical voice blared in his mind again. “Warning. Warning. Failed to maintain character compliance. Failed to maintain character compliance. The male lead is deviating from the plot. The male lead is deviating from the plot.”
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