Chapter 5

Before Julian could speak, I slid the bracelet off and placed it into Chloe's hands.

"No need to buy one. Consider it a gift."

Chloe froze. Snapping back to reality, she smiled as she slipped the bracelet onto her wrist, giving me a smug wink.

Pleased, my mother took my hand and patted it. "That's the spirit. Sisters ought to yield to each other. Nicole, if only you had been this sensible sooner."

I offered a faint smile without answering.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Julian's face darken.

I simply acted as though I hadn't seen it.

As the group exited the bridal boutique, Julian deliberately lagged behind by a few steps and grabbed my wrist.

Suppressing his fury, he demanded, "How could you give that bracelet away? You know perfectly well that it's—"

I cut him off. "It's just a bracelet. Chloe rarely takes a liking to anything, so I might as well indulge her. Our relationship couldn't possibly end just over a missing bracelet, could it?"

Choked by my words, his expression shifted several times before he finally let go. "Of course not. I'll get you an even better one to pass down to our children."

I smiled and said nothing.

A child was just the leash he intended to use to tie me down—a line I had already heard in the dashcam footage.

On the way back, Julian, Lucas, and I rode in one car, while Chloe, Sebastian, and my parents took the other.

Approaching an intersection, the car ahead braked abruptly. Our car failed to stop in time and rear-ended them.

My head slammed violently against the window. A wave of heat hit my brow, and blood began trickling down along my brow bone.

The second the car came to a stop, Julian and Lucas shoved their doors open and rushed out.

"Chloe!"

"Chloe!"

Neither of them looked back at me.

Sebastian had already carried Chloe out of the vehicle.

Seeing the blood on her arm, my mother broke into tears on the spot. "Call an ambulance quickly! Chloe's arm is bleeding!"

Turning around, my father glared furiously at me through the car window. "We never should have gone to try on that damn dress!"

Lucas immediately pulled out his phone to dial emergency services.

Kneeling beside Chloe, Julian coaxed her softly, "It's all right, Chloe, don't be afraid. It's just a small scrape on your elbow. The doctor will patch it up, and it won't leave a scar."

Looking toward our car, Sebastian asked Julian in a low voice, "How's Nicole?"

With all his attention fixed on Chloe, Julian didn't even look up. "Nicole is fine. She's completely okay."

Pressing a hand to my forehead, I felt the blood quickly seep through my fingers.

I had a blood clotting disorder. If a wound like this was left unattended, the bleeding wouldn't stop at all.

Julian knew this, and my family knew it too.

Yet not a single one of them remembered me.

I pulled out my phone and dialed emergency services myself.

I knew full well that no one would call an ambulance for me today.

Before long, the first ambulance arrived.

Looking at the tiny scrape on Chloe's elbow, the paramedics wore complicated expressions. One turned to Lucas and asked, "Are there any other injured passengers?"

In their eyes, an injury like this hardly warranted an ambulance.

Lucas Shaw pointed self-righteously at Chloe Miller. "Can't you see she's hurt? Take her to the hospital and run a full-body checkup!"

The ambulance drove off with Chloe inside.

Everyone followed them to the hospital. Not a single person remembered that I was still sitting in the car.

I pushed the door open, stepped out, and leaned against the car by the roadside to wait.

A passerby walked past, startled by the sight of blood all over my face. "Miss, you're bleeding terribly! Do you need me to call an ambulance for you?"

I thanked them. "No need, I've already called one."

At the hospital, the doctor went pale upon seeing my condition. "With this much blood loss, how did you come alone? Don't you have any family?"

I looked down at my phone. On the screen was a message Julian Foster had sent not long ago:

[Chloe is hurt. I'm taking her to the hospital to get checked out. Go home by yourself.]

I looked up. "My family is dead. I'm an orphan."

The doctor shook his head sympathetically and said nothing more.

My wound was stitched up, and after great difficulty, the bleeding finally stopped. The doctor made me stay overnight for observation before discharging me.

Lying in the hospital bed, I opened the family group chat.

Messages were pouring in one after another, every single one about Chloe Miller.

Clara Reed hadn't made it there in person, but every few minutes, she asked how the injuries were and whether she should come keep her company.

Julian Foster answered every detail meticulously, sending photos of the test reports and relaying the doctor's instructions.

Lucas Shaw texted:

[Where is Nicole Shaw? Chloe is hurt this badly, and she doesn't even show her face?]

My father followed up right after:

[Completely devoid of human empathy.]

Instinctively, I wanted to reply that I was hospitalized, but my finger paused before touching the keyboard.

How could I forget again? They wouldn't care at all.

I had to break this bad habit.

From now on, not a single one of them would hold a place in my heart.

I exited the group chat and laid my phone face down beside my pillow.

The next day was both my and Chloe Miller's birthday.

After she arrived at the Shaw family, my parents discovered she shared a birthday with me and called it destiny.

From then on, the birthday celebrated by the Shaw family every year belonged exclusively to Chloe Miller.

I ordered takeout and ate alone in the hospital room.

New photos kept coming in the group chat.

In the grand ballroom of the city's largest hotel, Chloe Miller wore a haute couture gown and a tiara, blowing out candles amid everyone's blessings, with gifts piled up like a mountain behind her.

Among them was a gift box I had seen a few days ago in Julian Foster's study.

Inside was a limited-edition necklace; at the time, I had assumed it was a birthday gift he had prepared for me.

After all, over the past four years, he had never missed my birthday.

This time, he forgot. My parents, Lucas Shaw, and Clara Reed had all forgotten as well.

I scrolled to the very bottom of the photos, yet felt virtually nothing inside.

Only then did I realize that I truly no longer cared about Julian Foster.

Toward evening, I was discharged and picked out a small cake from a nearby bakery.

Returning home, I placed the cake on the dining table. Just as I picked up the candles, the door lock clicked.

Julian Foster walked in, and when he saw the cake on the table, his expression shifted.

He remembered. Today was my birthday, too.

Looking guilty, he stepped forward quickly and tried to hug me. "I'm sorry, Nicole, today I..."

I sidestepped away, lit the candles on my own, and closed my eyes to make a wish.

He stood aside at a loss, not daring to make a sound.

Only after I blew out the candles did he speak in a placating tone, "Nicole, what did you wish for?"

"Nothing much."

My wish was to never have anything to do with any of them for the rest of my life.

Only then did he notice the gauze on my forehead. "Nicole, how did that happen?"

"From the car crash."

He was rendered speechless.

Moments later, he frantically grabbed my arm, barely able to form a coherent sentence. "I'm sorry, Nicole, I... I didn't see. I thought you were fine..."

I brushed his hand off and walked toward the bathroom. "It's nothing. I've already been discharged."

He froze. "Dis... discharged? It was that bad? You were hospitalized?"

I stopped at the bathroom door. "You forgot. I have a blood clotting disorder."

The bathroom door slammed shut.

When I finished washing and stepped out, he was still frozen in place.

Ignoring him, I went straight to the guest room to sleep.

Waking up the next morning, I saw Julian Foster sitting on the living room sofa, dark circles under his eyes, the ashtray on the coffee table overflowing.

He had sat there all night.

Seeing me come out, he stood up immediately and asked nervously, "Nicole, our wedding... it's still on, right?"

So that was what he was worried about.

He was afraid that if I refused to marry him, it would ruin Chloe Miller's marriage, wasn't he?

I looked at him nonchalantly. "Why? Do you not want to go through with it?"

He let out an obvious sigh of relief. "Of course not! Of course I want to go through with it. I want to marry you, Nicole. Please don't leave me."

He leaned down, burying his face into the hollow of my shoulder.

Outside, Julian Foster was always decisive and commanding, never showing weakness before anyone.

In the past, whenever he acted like this, my heart would instantly melt into a complete mess.

Now, seeing him in this state, my heart didn't stir with a single ripple.

Over the next two days, he reverted to his former self, attentive even beyond his past behavior.

Every morning, he got up early to make me breakfast. After work, he returned holding flowers I loved and headed straight into the kitchen upon walking in.

In the evenings, he hovered around me, cutting fruit and massaging my legs, meticulous in every way, doing it all without complaint.

He also showered me with expensive gifts—jewelry, watches, and the season's newest designer handbags.

Without exception, I resold them all while he was at work.

I continued sleeping in the guest room, while he took a blanket and slept on the living room sofa.

In the middle of the night, I woke up thirsty and got up to pour water in the living room.

Just as I reached the guest room door, I heard Julian Foster on the phone out on the balcony.