mped my way to the hospital,
The moment I walked in, I heard my dad, lying in his hospital bed, weakly whisper my name.
That hadn’t happened in my previous life.
Back then, around this same time, the power had gone out in the hospital. Without his ventilator, my dad died in un- der a minute.
For someone in a vegetative state, even this kind of response was a good sign.
Maybe, just maybe, I’d live to see him open his eyes again.
Alice was sharp enough to quietly step out, leaving me alone to sit by his bedside, holding his hand.
“I’m leaving the Quinn’s residence. Those people… they have nothing to do with me anymore. I’m sorry I couldn’t pro- tect the lavender you gave me. Dad… can you wake up and tell me where you found those seeds…”
I lowered my head, letting the tears fall freely.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. So this is where you’ve been–mourning like someone died.”
Rachel strolled in, arms crossed, hips swaying.
She gave me a sidelong glance, smiling faintly.
I wiped away my tears.
“What do you want?”
Rachel lifted her leg and kicked the side of my dad’s hospital bed.
The connected machines immediately started beeping in alarm.
She raised her chin, full of arrogance.
“I heard from Mom you’re planning to marry that freak?”
I didn’t respond, just stared at her, guarded.
“Technically, I shouldn’t care if you marry a beggar. But I heard something else–that you know my secret?” she said.
“I’m not going to tell anyone.”
Rachel laughed like I’d just cracked the funniest joke in the world.
0.0%
08:36
Chapter 4
288 Vouchers
“And how exactly am I supposed to believe that? If you say a word, Leroy will drop me in a heartbeat!” Her eyes red- dened with rage.
“The only way I can feel safe is if you’re dead!”
As she spoke, a razor blade slid out from her sleeve, and she lunged at me.
Linstinctively leaned back, falling straight onto my dad.
Rachel didn’t look fragile at all–her fingers gripped the blade tight, ready to slash my throat.
But right then–a pale, withered hand shot out and clamped down on Rachel’s wrist.
At the same time, the monitors around us started blaring loudly.
The doctors had said that when a patient was about to wake up, the machines would sound the alarm.
I whipped around.
“Dad?”
His eyes were still closed, but his hand moved instinctively, stopping Rachel from hurting me.
“Don’t… touch… my daughter.”
I heard the sound of polished shoes approaching–someone coming down the hall.
In a flash, Rachel sliced her own fingertip with the blade and shoved it into my dad’s hand.
Tears streamed down her face like a faucet turned on full blast.
“Don’t kill me–please don’t kill me!”
The next second, she threw herself into Leroy’s arms like he was her lifeline.
“Leroy, Cecilia’s dad tried to kill me… I only came to check on Mr. Barrett because I heard he was waking up. Did I do something wrong?”
Rachel’s eyes shimmered with tears, and the blood dripping from her fingertip was all it took to set Leroy off.
He grabbed my wrist hard, and his other hand nearly crushed my jaw.
“You were going to kill Rachel again, weren’t you? I paid your father’s medical bills for years, and this is how you re- pay me?” he hissed.
I shook my head violently.
“No–no, it wasn’t me-”
Leroy’s smile looked like something straight out of hell.
“Right. Not you this time. It was your dad.”
24.1 %
08:36
Chapter 4
288 iVouchers
Panic surged through me. I dropped to my knees and started begging.
“No! It wasn’t my dad! He’s in a coma–he doesn’t even know what’s going on! It was Rachel–she tried to kill me!”
Rachel immediately jumped in.
“I didn’t! Leroy, you know I faint at the sight of blood!” She clutched her forehead for dramatic effect.
That did it. Leroy looked at her and saw exactly what he wanted to believe.
Then he noticed the razor blade in my dad’s hand. He clenched his jaw and nodded slowly.
“Fine. Very well…”
Without hesitation, he reached down and yanked out my dad’s ventilator.
Beep–the monitor blared like a piercing siren.
I scrambled to my feet and tried to plug the machine back in, but he shoved me to the floor.
a
“No! Leroy, please–I’m begging you! My dad will die in under a minute without the ventilator! Hit me if you want! Kill me if you have to! Just don’t hurt him!”
Leroy looked down at me with cold, cruel eyes.
“Death would be too easy. Do you think I don’t know a coma patient can go ten minutes without a ventilator? I’m not killing him. I’m punishing you.”
And with that, he called the hospital and ordered a private power cut to the room for exactly ten minutes.
Leroy held Rachel with one arm and glanced back at me.
“Tomorrow’s my wedding night. Be back here to warm the bed. If you’re not–just wait and see.”
I dragged myself to my dad’s bedside, sobbing as I tried to breathe into him, desperate to keep him alive.
But it was no use.
Ten minutes later, the power came back on.
The moment I reconnected the ventilator, the heart monitor flatlined.
My dad was gone.
The father who I let myself be treated like a dog in someone else’s home just so he could survive… died.
I curled up on the floor next to the hospital bed, hugging my knees. Then I heard footsteps again.
My eyes were swollen from crying, but I looked up.
“Do me a favor, will you?”
52.3 %
08:36
Chapter 4
***
288 iVouchers
For whatever reason, Leroy had thrown a wedding even grander than the one I’d seen in my dreams.
Rachel’s gown sparkled, encrusted with thousands of gemstones.
As they walked down the aisle, Leroy’s eyes instinctively swept the crowd. He didn’t see me in the seat where I was supposed to be.
Even after the vows, when the other 98 “blind box” women came forward one by one to toast him, he finally asked, “Where’s Cecilia?”
Number 25 thought for a second.
“You mean number one? Didn’t see her.”
Leroy’s brow creased.
“She has a name. She’s not just ‘number one‘.”
Number 25 blinked, then nodded awkwardly as Leroy walked away.
Then it hit him–technically, Elise was my mother too.
So he circled back around the venue and found her.
Elise was laughing, holding up her phone while chatting with Charlie.
“Elise, why haven’t I seen Cecilia today?” Leroy asked.
The moment those words left his mouth, Elise and Charlie exchanged a knowing, almost mocking glance.
Something twisted in Leroy’s gut.
And then, Elise turned the phone screen toward him.
In that dim glow, Leroy saw something he would never forget for the rest of his life.
81.9 %
