Chapter 3

Scarlett's POV

That night, Adrian was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment due to a severe allergic reaction.

When his assistant called, I didn't go.

I sat in the villa's living room, sleepless through the night.

It wasn't until dawn that Adrian dragged his weakened body home.

He froze the moment he saw me.

I looked at his pale face, watched him harm himself for another woman, and felt only desolation.

I said nothing. Just like any night in the past three years, I helped him upstairs, poured him water, and changed his clothes.

The next day, Adrian had regained some energy, but made a request.

"Vivian has a personal photography exhibition at the art gallery. Come with me."

I didn't resist. I agreed.

At the exhibition, camera flashes sparkled.

Adrian spent lavishly, buying all of Vivian's works, attracting media coverage about his devoted love.

Vivian held his arm, basking in everyone's attention.

As she passed by me, she whispered in a voice only we could hear.

"See, Scarlett? This is how he loves someone."

I lowered my eyes without speaking.

Just then, the enormous crystal chandelier in the center of the exhibition hall suddenly emitted an ear-piercing creak.

The supporting steel cable snapped!

Screams instantly shattered the party's tranquility.

The scene descended into chaos. The crowd scattered in panic.

I was violently knocked to the ground by the rushing crowd. Sharp pain shot through my left arm-it seemed dislocated. Then my ankle was trampled by fleeing people. The pain was excruciating.

The pain made my vision go black. I struggled to get up from the floor.

But all around me were panicked legs. No one noticed me.

I lifted my head. Through flying glass shards and twisted, terrified faces, I saw a familiar figure.

It was Adrian.

He was fighting through the crowd.

In that instant, my heart skipped a beat.

Had he come back to save me?

I opened my mouth to call his name.

But the next moment, reality delivered its cruelest blow.

From his mouth came another woman's name, shouted in panic.

"Vivian! Vivian, where are you!"

His gaze swept anxiously over the chaotic crowd, searching for his only target.

His eyes passed over my direction without the slightest pause.

He hadn't come for me at all.

I lay on the cold floor, all strength drained from my body.

I watched him find Vivian, who had been pushed into a corner by the crowd, trembling with fear.

He immediately shielded Vivian beneath him, using his own back to block any falling debris. Then without hesitation, he scooped her into his arms and rushed out of the danger zone without looking back.

From beginning to end, he never once glanced in my direction.

Everyone around had fled.

The entire exhibition hall held only me, collapsed on the floor, and the shadow of death swaying precariously overhead.

I couldn't escape.

The severe pain in my ankle prevented me from standing. My arm was useless.

A massive chandelier component with metal supports, mixed with countless glass shards, grew larger in my pupils. With a shrieking whoosh, it plummeted toward my head.

When I woke again, I was in a hospital.

In the sharp smell of disinfectant, my best friend Riley sat by the bed, her eyes red and swollen.

"Scarlett, you're finally awake!"

Riley told me I had a mild concussion, my left arm was fractured, and wrapped in a thick cast.

Vivian had only suffered a fright.

Adrian had stayed by Vivian's side the entire time in the adjacent VIP room, providing psychological counseling.

Once again.

Once again, at a life-or-death moment, he'd abandoned me without hesitation.

I lay in the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, and finally cried.

Not from sadness, but from liberation.

I grabbed Riley's hand, my voice hoarse but carrying unprecedented determination.

"Riley, I got the offer from Zurich. Once I finish the paperwork, I'm leaving."

"I don't want him anymore."

The moment the words left my mouth, the hospital room door was slammed open.

Adrian stood in the doorway, radiating cold fury, his face terrifyingly dark.

He stared at me in the hospital bed, his voice as cold as ice.

"Who's leaving?"