Chapter 5

Listening to her effortless accusation, I could only manage a bitter smile.

Losing his patience, the leader raised his hand and lunged at Chloe. "Shut up, you bitch!"

I instantly threw myself in front of Chloe.

The heavy blow landed squarely on my face, sending me crashing to the floor. Ignoring the spinning in my head, I quickly transferred the money to them.

Once the transaction cleared, the thugs left, fully satisfied.

At that moment, the red light above the emergency room went out. The doctor stepped out with a sigh of relief. "The patient is out of danger, but he needs to be moved to the ICU for a couple of days for observation."

Chloe didn't even spare me a second glance. She immediately followed Lucas’s gurney to the ward.

I, on the other hand, was helped by a passing nurse to get my face bandaged.

I sat alone in the hospital hallway until dawn, ultimately deciding not to tell my parents about this.

I still couldn't understand why Lucas had fallen from the building again in this life, but at least he survived this time.

When the morning sun filled the hallway, my phone buzzed with a reminder that my flight was boarding in four hours. I stood up, rubbing my numb legs.

As I looked up, I saw Chloe walking toward me.

She was holding a thermos of freshly made soup, and the moment she saw me, she instinctively hid it behind her back.

I knew the soup wasn't for me.

She walked over to me, perhaps feeling a bit guilty, and spoke in a much softer tone than usual. "Why are you still here? Go home and get some rest. I’ll watch over him."

"Also, thanks for driving those people away yesterday. But we can't just let this go. Once Lucas wakes up, I’ll find out from him who actually owed that million dollars."

Simply put, she still refused to believe that her perfect golden boy was rotten to the core.

I nodded in silence, but my legs were too numb for me to take a step.

Seeing this, she came over to support me.

"Come on, I’ll drive you home first."

Looking at her lowered eyes, a wave of bitterness washed over me. Suppressing my emotions, I spoke quietly. "Chloe, if you had the chance to choose your husband again, would you still choose me without hesitation?"

She answered almost instantly, "What is wrong with you today? Why are you talking nonsense? We’ve been engaged for twenty years. Who else would I marry?"

I forced a smile and wiped away a tear when she wasn't looking.

Just as I was about to push her hand away, a nurse ran over in a panic. "The patient who fell last night is awake! Quick, get the doctor!"

A spark of joy lit up Chloe's eyes. She didn't even look back at me.

"Ethan, go home first. I’ll talk to you later."

Watching her sprint toward the ward, the emotions in my heart slowly turned to stone.

Only when her figure completely disappeared from the hallway did I whisper to the empty air.

"Goodbye, Chloe."

"This time, I'm the one letting you go."

I turned around, left the hospital, and hailed a cab to the airport.