Chapter 9
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The smell of disinfectant overpowered the cedarwood scent. I woke up when a young nurse was neatly bussing around me.
She seemed to sigh in relief before saying, “All’s well now that you’ve woken up.”
Before I could gather my thoughts, I caught sight of my left wrist and saw a foreign red band around it, next to the hospital wristband tag that marked my identity as their patient.
The red band was actually a slim bracelet with a cross pendant.
a
Someone walked in through the door to the ward. I turned to look at the newcomer. It
turned out to be Michelle.
She looked completely worn out, with dark circles shadowing her eyes. Her fringe was also
messy and stuck onto her face in odd spots.
The first thing she said was, “You won.” She laughed bitterly as unshed tears swirled in her
eyes.
“Did you know? From the moment you left, Herbie’s gastritis only worsened. That day when he called you? He was actually lying in a hospital bed in the emergency ward. He refused to let me tell you that because he didn’t want you to worry.
“When he heard that your plane nearly crashed, he couldn’t sleep all night. It wasn’t until the news came out later that the plane managed an emergency landing that he finally sighed in relief. But he insisted on getting discharged, saying he would go to a church in the
mountains to pray for your safe return.”
Michelle sounded like she was about to cry, as if she couldn’t hold out much longer.
She continued, “He can’t even stand properly on his own. Yet, he forced his way up the mountain for five hours. He reached the peak and got you this.”
She then pointed at the red bracelet around my wrist with a shaky finger.
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Chapter 9
“He said that you believed in it.”
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I recalled the first time he paid a visit to my perfumery. He accidentally found me praying
devoutly.
After I was done reciting my prayer, I nudged him forward, urging him to do the same.
Herbert’s lips fell open as he pulled me in. He said, “I don’t believe in that stuff.”
So, I was certain that I’d heard Michelle wrongly.
Did she just say that the same man who claimed he didn’t believe in gods had climbed a mountain to pray for my safety?
I looked at the bracelet. There wasn’t a clasp, so I couldn’t undo it.
I ended up pressing the nurse call button and asked the nurse who came in, “Can you please
do me a favor and cut this off for me?”
Michelle froze in place. She lifted her hand slightly, as if wanting to stop me. Yet, only a gargled sob left her throat.
The nurse was nimble with her actions, grabbing a pair of scissors from the low shelf
nearby and snipping off the bracelet at once.
en gave the snipped bracelet to Michelle and said, “Since he gave it to me, please help
eturn it to its rightful owner.
Michelle took it from me. She looked upset as she turned to leave.
I called out to her and said, “I didn’t win. But you didn’t lose either.”
She stopped in her tracks.
“You’ve had a better and more advanced education than I have. You also have the advantage of having come from a family of prestige. You’re Mrs. Fischer’s adoptive daughter after all, and you’ve been with the Fischers for over a decade. You’re the young heiress of the Fischer family, while I’m an independent perfumer with my own brand and
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line of perfumes.
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“I think that there’s no need for us to fight to our deaths for some man who’s not worth
our time. There’s no need for a victor in this situation. After all, love isn’t the greatest thing in our lives.”
I wasn’t sure if she would listen to me. She just left quietly after that.
However, I noticed her shoulders seemed a bit straighter than when she first arrived.
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