Chapter 4

On the way home, Leo was in high spirits and insisted on driving. I sat in the passenger seat, while Riley sat in the back.

“It’s chilly out, and your skirt is too short.”

Leo took a blanket from the glove compartment and handed it back to Riley. I looked down at my own thin top but said nothing.

A sharp blast of a car horn erupted from the left. Hearing this, Leo’s shoulders went rigid.

A muffled groan escaped his throat as he jerked the steering wheel hard to the right. The front of the car slammed into a tree by the roadside.

With a loud crash, my vision went black, followed by the sensation of warm liquid trickling down from my head. The windshield shattered completely.

Riley began to sob intermittently in the back seat. I glanced down at my hand. The back of my right hand had split open from the impact, and blood was gushing out.

A police patrol car pulled up beside us. The motorcycle officer ran over. “Are you okay?”

Leo looked up; there was no blood on his face, only a shallow scrape. His pupils contracted the moment he saw me. Then, his gaze shifted to the back seat; his brows furrowed, his eyes filled with worry. “Save her first!”

The officer glanced at me. “This lady is more seriously injured; both her head and hand are hurt.”

“Save the person in the back seat first!” Leo shouted again, his voice frantic. “She’s a violinist; she can’t afford to be injured.”

After saying that, he looked at me in the front seat. “She’s just a caregiver; her hands aren’t that precious.”

Hearing that, I froze for a moment. A wave of pain, laced with a biting chill, washed over my entire body.

Even though I had long known how that web of deceit would end, hearing Leo speak his true feelings aloud in that moment, I still couldn’t suppress the heart-wrenching agony rising in my chest.

The officer hesitated for two seconds before pulling Leo and Riley out first. Leo looked down at me, his voice tinged with a mix of guilt and an attempt at reassurance.

“Hang in there, the ambulance will be here soon. Riley can’t wait. I’m taking her to the hospital first.”

With that, Leo cradled Riley and straddled the motorcycle.

I sat on the crushed, deformed seat. I tried to curl my fingers, but I couldn’t move them. As the air in my lungs ran out, I lost consciousness completely.

***

An hour later, I woke up in a hospital bed. Thick bandages wrapped my head and right hand. They throbbed painfully with the slightest movement.

My phone buzzed beside me. A bank notification said that the payment for the house had arrived. The buyer had paid the full amount in advance.

Then came a message from the real estate agent: [Miss, the buyer wants the place cleared out by 5 PM tomorrow.]

I picked up the phone with my left hand and sent a letter of authorization to the agent, mandating the move-out. Then, I rescheduled my flight for the next day.

Early the next morning, I removed my IV and left the hospital. There was no one home when I arrived. Leo was likely still at the hospital, keeping watch over Riley.

My phone rang. “Layla, are you at the hospital?”

I paused for a moment. “Mm-hmm.”

Leo, on the other end of the line, seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

“I’ll come see you later; Riley needs someone with her right now. I took a look at that villa you recommended; the location and layout are both great. I’ve signed the purchase contract and paid the three-million deposit. You need to hurry up with the remaining balance.”

Leo was moving fast. It seemed he didn’t want to spend another day in his current home.

“Okay.”

After hanging up, I sent a message to Sam at the orchestra: [The list for the state-sponsored study abroad program can be made public now.]

Then, I uploaded the surveillance footage from the practice room to social media. I set it to publish at a scheduled time.

I shouldered my instrument case and gathered all my sheet music. I hailed a ride-share car and headed straight for the airport.

That afternoon, Leo returned home with Riley, who had a few minor scrapes. He saw a real estate agent standing at the doorway, directing the moving crew.

“Move everything out; the original owner has entrusted us with disposing of this furniture.”

Seeing this, Leo hurriedly took out her phone, intending to ask me about the rest of the payment for the villa.

But then, a piercing scream from Riley rang in her ears.

“How did Layla end up on the list for the state-sponsored program?!”