While I Slept Through Nights, They Raved In Flames

Chapter 2

The December sea wind hit like shattered glass, cutting straight through bone. The system's cold mechanical voice kept ringing in my mind.

"Countdown: 36 hours."

Another wave of searing pain tore through my lungs. I clamped a hand over my mouth, my body shaking uncontrollably. A metallic taste filled my throat. I didn't even have the strength to wipe the blood away, only a bone-deep, icy chill sinking into my marrow.

Footsteps echoed from the stairwell. Alexander appeared in a flawlessly tailored suit, stepping into the lower hold as if it were beneath his notice.

He was holding a document. At the sight of blood on the floor, he frowned and instinctively stepped back at half a pace in disgust.

"Stop putting on a show," he said coldly. "You bribed a cleaner down here to spill pig's blood. That's all it is, just a stain on the deck."

I raised my eyes to him. For 10 years, I had protected this man from poisoned drinks slipped in by rivals, taken the blows meant for him from the Brown family elders. And now, even the blood I coughed up was nothing more than a cheap act in his eyes.

I wiped the blood from my chin and forced myself upright.

"What do you want?" My voice was hoarse and frayed.

He threw the file at my feet. The papers scattered, the top page clearly read Inheritance Waiver Agreement.

"Sign it," Alexander said flatly.

I stared at it, not even strong enough to laugh anymore.

"And on what basis?" I asked.

"Because of what you pulled on the deck earlier, Chloe was badly shaken," he said, looking down at me from above. "She was so frightened she wouldn't even return to her room, convinced you might take everything she owns. Only if you sign this agreement and prove you have no claim on her can she finally feel safe."

I held his gaze without flinching. "She's the fake heiress. I'm the only true bloodline of the Romanov family. She stole my identity, and now you want me to renounce my inheritance just to calm her so-called insecurity?"

Alexander's face turned cold.

"Like bloodline matters at all? Chloe has lived with the Romanov family for 20 years. Her gentleness and kindness are something you'll never measure up to. I don't care what tricks you pull. Sign it now!"

A sharp cramp twisted through my stomach. With shaking fingers, I took out the crumpled sheet from my coat pocket. It was the terminal diagnosis I had gotten from the Royal Hospital two days ago.

I stepped forward and held it out to him. "Alexander, I don't have much time left. Can you at least leave me some money for treatment? I just need enough to go to Highmeria."

Alexander glanced at the thin paper, then gave a cold, derisive laugh, "Olivia, you really disgust me!"

He slapped the diagnosis out of my hand and ground it under his shoe twice, deliberately.

"Got caught faking medical reports at a private clinic last time, so now you've gotten clever and bought a forged Royal Hospital document on the black market? Just to avoid signing, you're even willing to pretend you're terminally ill."

I stared at the broken diagnosis report under his shoe. With it, everything I had built over the past ten years, my love, my loyalty to him, was crushed into dust.

I gave up explaining. It was useless. Once he had decided I was an evil liar, every word I said was wrong. I crouched down and picked up the inheritance waiver agreement. My fingers were still stained with the blood I had just coughed up.

I didn't take a pen. Instead, I pressed my blood-smeared thumb straight onto the signature line. A vivid red print bloomed across the white page.

"Here," I said, handing him the document.

Something flickered in Alexander's eyes for a split second. He recoiled from my bloodstained hand in disgust and lifted the paper between two fingers. "At least you know your place."

He turned away, no longer bothering to look at me. "The ship will dock soon. Don't let Chloe see you after you get off."

With that, he walked up the stairs. The ship's horn blared. It had reached port. Security in the lower hold had already been pulled away. I steadied myself against the wall and forced myself up the stairs step by step.

I walked through the harbor streets at dawn, my vision flickering into darkness. I couldn't go any farther. My knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the freezing asphalt.