Chapter 4

The nurse was too terrified to breathe. I reassured her and told her to step outside.

I turned back to the furious man before me.

His clothes were perfectly coordinated, his hair meticulously styled.

Even his leather shoes were the finest handcrafted alligator leather from Italy.

He looked utterly different from the disheveled man who had been by my side.

It seemed that woman had taken very good care of him.

I felt a quiet sense of relief, but my words remained sharp.

"So what if you have a few dirty bucks? Who do you think would want your money?"

Liam's breathing became ragged again, as expected.

A flicker of something—was it disappointment?—passed through his eyes, almost imperceptibly.

I didn't dwell on it, just bent down with difficulty to pick up the scattered bills.

"Even if I don't want your money, who would turn down free cash?"

My last money, meant for my funeral, I gave to him as a wedding gift.

I desperately needed money to save my life. If this hospital wouldn't take me, there were others…

I gritted my teeth, clutching handfuls of cash, when a gleaming leather shoe suddenly crushed down on my hand.

"How dare you, Scarlett? What right do you have to speak to me like that?"

In an instant, I was drenched in cold sweat from the pain.

A searing ache, like my bones were shattering, blurred my vision.

I instantly lost all strength and collapsed to the floor.

Before completely losing consciousness, I actually saw a look of panic in Liam's eyes.

How could he possibly be worried about me?

I gave a self-mocking laugh, then heard the urgent shout of the attending physician.

"Quick, get her on a ventilator! Now! The patient's brain oxygen levels are critically low; don't exacerbate her condition!"

I felt my body grow so light, as if I were floating.

Flashes of fragmented memories with Liam flickered before my eyes.

Ten years ago, a fifteen-year-old Liam and I met at an underground fight club.

I was only there out of curiosity, but my gaze was drawn to the boy in the corner, his head bleeding profusely.

He was covered in bruises, his face battered.

Even so, his eyes held a tenacious spirit.

When he met my gaze, there was no fear in his eyes.

He simply looked at me and said,

"Miss, do you want to choose me?"

At the underground fight club, if a customer picked a fighter, and they won, they would receive a huge prize.

Here, life and death held no meaning, only the brutal fight for money.

I looked at the fighters clashing in the ring in the distance, unable to imagine what fate awaited this frail boy.

A flicker of compassion stirred in my heart; I didn't want him to be hurt.

So I mustered my courage and extended my hand to him:

"Do you want money? Then come protect me. I'll pay you, and you won't get hurt anymore."

The boy's originally murky, lifeless eyes slowly brightened.

"What… what do you mean?"

"I mean… I'll hire you as my bodyguard, to stay by my side always."

I turned to my Dad, begging him to let me buy Liam.

But the fight club owner refused. In his eyes,

Every fighter was a cash cow; as long as customers placed bets, it was an endless stream of money.

Why would he let him go so easily?

But I didn't care. I threw a tantrum, stomping my feet until Dad agreed to pay his ransom of a million dollars to buy him out.

After that, Liam became like my constant shadow.

Wherever I went, I brought him along.

If someone bullied me, he would instantly shield me.

If I clashed with others, he would fight relentlessly to win.

With my knight by my side, I couldn't control the flutter in my heart.

I once saw him carefully keep the good-luck charm I'd embroidered for him.

I also saw him tend to the gardenia bush I'd abandoned until it bloomed.

I thought it was a secret shared love, a mutual crush.

But it wasn't until I heard another girl's name from his lips

That it hit me like a bolt from the blue, and I couldn't accept it.

Perhaps that's when Liam and I began to drift further and further apart.

As my consciousness drifted, I seemed to hear that voice that filled me with disgust.

"Scarlett! Scarlett! Wake up, please!"