Chapter 6

Elara's POV

He quickly withdrew his gaze and looked at me, his tone returning to calm. "Don't take what happened earlier to heart. As long as I like you, that's what matters. I'm going to make a call."

He hurried after her.

I stood there, looking at the empty doorway, tried to twist my lips into a self-mocking smile, but couldn't even manage that.

I couldn't stay at this birthday party another moment.

I turned to leave. Just as I reached the curb by the hotel entrance, a figure blocked my path.

It was Serena.

Her eyes were still a bit red, but her expression had already been adjusted, carrying a condescending scrutiny.

"Mrs. Sterling, leaving already?" Serena looked at me, her tone soft but her words barbed. "The birthday girl leaving early isn't very appropriate, is it? Or are you upset seeing Ethan chase after me?"

I didn't want to entangle with her and moved to walk around her.

"Don't go." Serena reached out to stop me. "Let's chat. About Ethan, about your ridiculous marriage. I think you need to know some things..."

"Move." My voice was cold.

"What, feeling guilty? Knowing you're occupying a position you shouldn't?" Serena didn't shut up. She even stepped forward and grabbed my wrist. "Let me tell you, Ethan doesn't even..."

"Let go!" I tried hard to shake her off.

We struggled on the curb.

Serena was wearing heels. Her foot seemed to slip. She screamed, her whole body falling backward, and she gripped my arm tightly.

She pulled me off balance too.

"Ah!"

The sharp sound of brakes and impact came almost simultaneously!

In the chaos, I only felt a huge force strike me. I was thrown, my forehead and cheek experiencing unbearable pain. Warm liquid instantly blurred my vision.

Serena's scream was right in my ear.

Intense pain and dizziness consumed me. My consciousness blurred. I felt people gathering around, chaotic voices, the ambulance siren...

In my haze, I seemed to see Ethan's hurried figure. That usually calm, cool face showed clear panic for the first time.

Then I heard fragments of conversation, as if from far away.

"Mr. Sterling, both patients are severely injured and need surgery urgently, but there's only one operating room available. Mrs. Sterling's face is injured with a deep wound. Without immediate treatment, she may be disfigured. Miss Hayes injured her hand. Without immediate treatment, it may affect her piano playing."

Then I heard Ethan's voice.

"Save Serena first. She still needs to play piano."

"But Mrs. Sterling..."

"Don't worry about her. Appearance doesn't matter to her anyway!"

Doesn't matter.

Those words were like a knife, stabbing through my heart.

Yes, because I'm ugly, it doesn't matter...

My vision went black. I completely passed out.

When I woke up, I was in a hospital room.

No one was beside me.

I touched my face, wrapped in thick bandages.

The door opened. Serena walked in with a group of friends.

Her hand was also bandaged, but she wore a smile.

"Elara Winters," she walked to the bed, looking at me with contempt. "I heard you were badly hurt, your face all torn up. I thought you would definitely be disfigured this time. I didn't expect the doctors the Sterling family found would be good enough to fix you."

"Though even fixed, it can't hide your original ugliness. Those thick bandages match your bangs and glasses nicely, equally hideous."

The men and women behind her let out low laughs.

I closed my eyes, not even bothering to look at them.

"Get out."

Before Serena could speak, a girl next to her in a pink suit with curled hair shrieked first. "What's your attitude? Serena came to visit you out of kindness, and you dare tell her to get out? Being ugly is bad enough, but your manners are terrible too. So disgusting."

I opened my eyes, my gaze coldly sweeping over that girl, then looking at Serena. "Take your dog and get out. You're not welcome here."

"Who are you calling a dog?" The pink-dressed girl's face flushed with anger. She rushed forward to hit me, raising her hand to slap my face.

My face was injured and my movements hindered. Just as that slap was about to land.

"Hey, Emma, it's not good to hit a patient." A man in a floral shirt stopped the pink-dressed girl. He looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with lecherous eyes. He looked me up and down on the hospital bed, a malicious smile on his lips. "So you're Mrs. Sterling? Quite the temper. But I have a method that cures all kinds of disobedience."

He took two steps forward, approaching the bed, his gaze sticky and presumptuous. "I've seen plenty like you, not much to look at but full of attitude. Women like you just need to be put in their place by a man. No matter how proud you are, you'll behave after being with enough men."

As he spoke, he actually reached out to pull back my blanket.