Chapter 6

Jocelyn Reed’s POV

The snowstorm outside the car window grew stronger and stronger, the goose-feather flakes nearly blotting out my vision.

Temperatures plummeted to ten below zero Fahrenheit.

I sat in the broken-down car, every breath I exhaled turning into white mist.

The wounds left by the straight pins had already scabbed over, but under the freezing wind pouring in, they turned purple from the cold.

In the upper-right corner of my phone screen, the battery flashed a glaring red 1% warning.

I took a deep breath and called Theodore.

“Beep… beep…”

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.

What came from the other end was not Theodore’s voice, but Lily’s sweet, flirtatious laugh and the elegant sound of violins in a French restaurant.

“Ms. Reed? Did you get the salad? I’m really sorry. I suddenly felt that place’s salad was too bland, so I pestered Theodore into taking me out for French cuisine.”

Lily’s voice carried unconcealed triumph. Then, faintly, Theodore’s low voice came through the phone. “Who is it? Eat the foie gras first. It’ll taste fishy once it gets cold.”

My fingers tightened around the phone until my knuckles turned white.

I had gone to the southern suburbs on this blizzard night to buy salad.

And they were already sitting in a warm, luxurious restaurant, enjoying French cuisine.

“Where’s Theodore?” My voice was strangely calm, without a trace of resentment. “My car broke down on the South Ring Elevated Road. There’s a blizzard outside, and the temperature is too low. I need help.”

The other end went quiet for one second. Then Theodore took the phone.

His tone was full of obvious impatience. “Jocelyn Reed, if your car broke down, call a tow truck yourself. I’m still having dinner with Lily. I don’t have time to deal with you.”

“I can’t get through to the towing company. The snow is too heavy. They may not be able to come out.” I stated the facts calmly. “My phone has almost no battery left. Theodore, can you come pick me up? Or send your driver.”

Theodore gave a cold laugh on the other end.

“Jocelyn Reed, once is enough for a self-inflicted pity act. The South Ring Elevated Road is thirty kilometers from the restaurant. You want me to abandon Lily and run over there for the sake of your car?”

“Figure out a way to get yourself back. If you really think it’s cold, get out and walk back.”

“Beep—beep—beep—”

The call was hung up without mercy.

The next second, my phone screen went completely black.

The temperature inside the car had already dropped until it was almost no different from outside.

If I kept sitting in the car, I would definitely freeze to death tonight.

System Alert: Countdown: 24 days. Vital signs are declining. Host, please take self-rescue measures.

I silently glanced at the black phone screen.

Then I made up my mind, pushed open the car door, and stepped onto the elevated road against the raging snowstorm.

The South Ring Elevated Road was more than thirty kilometers long. There were no streetlights and nowhere to take shelter from the wind.

All I had on was that thin shirt and a light trench coat that could not keep out the cold at all.

I took my first shaky step onto the ice-slick pavement, wind slicing across my cheeks like razor blades.

My heels slipped on the ice. I fell countless times, my knees bruised purple, my hands scraped open by the rough ice and snow. Blood mixed with icy water and froze on my fingertips.

I did not know how long I walked. The blisters on the soles of my feet burst and were rubbed raw, then burst again. Every step felt like I was treading on knife points.

But even that could not compare to the despairing pain I had felt when Ethan Cole’s heart stopped in the emergency room.

For Ethan, I could endure anything.

Four full hours.

When I limped to the gate of the hillside villa, the sky had already begun to lighten.

The villa was brightly lit.

I pushed the door open and walked into the living room with the cold and the scent of blood clinging to me.

Theodore was sitting on the sofa, holding a cup of hot coffee. When he heard the movement, he looked up at me, and his entire body suddenly froze.

He looked at the woman before him, soaked through from head to toe, leaving bloody footprints on the carpet with every step, and his brows drew tightly together. A flash of shock crossed his eyes.

I knew what he was shocked by.

He thought I had said the car broke down to act spoiled. He thought I had said my phone was out of battery as an excuse.

He thought I had taken a taxi back long ago, that I had merely found somewhere to hide outside so he would feel sorry for me.

He had never imagined that I would really walk for four hours through a blizzard.

“Are you insane?” Theodore abruptly stood up, a trace of panic in his voice that even he did not notice. “Jocelyn Reed, did you really walk back the whole way? Didn’t you know to find a convenience store and ask for help?!”

I stood where I was and did not take a single step closer to him.

My purple, frozen lips curved slightly. My eyes were empty and calm as I looked at him. “Theodore, you forgot. There are no convenience stores on the South Ring Elevated Road.”

“You told me to figure out a way to get myself back. I got myself back.” My voice was very soft, yet it struck Theodore’s heart like a heavy hammer. “As long as the wedding happens as scheduled, it doesn’t matter even if I die on the road.”

Theodore’s pupils suddenly contracted. He parted his lips, just about to say something.

But a cry of surprise came from the stairs.

“Oh my god! Theodore!”