Chapter 4
1047 Words
That wait lasted from deep night until the first pale light of dawn.
The number of viewers in the livestream did not fall. Instead, it kept climbing, as if everyone was staying with Faye, waiting for an ending.
A: [It's almost dawn. Where is John?]
B: [Didn't he say he would be there soon? It's been ten hours!]
C: [Is he not coming at all?]
D: [Faye, you look terrible. Are you okay?]
Faye curled up inside the coffin as the sharp pain in her abdomen came in tighter and tighter waves, as if countless needles were twisting inside her again and again.
Her consciousness drifted between clarity and haze.
Ten hours.
That was enough time for him to reach her from any corner of the city.
But he never came.
When the first light of morning broke through the darkness, a shrill screech of brakes finally came from the distance.
Faye's heart seemed to be pierced by that sound, giving one faint beat of life.
But the person who appeared in her sight was not John.
It was his assistant, James.
James strode over. When he saw Faye lying in the coffin with blood staining the space beneath her, shock flashed across his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by professional coldness.
"Mrs. Ford," he said, standing beside the coffin with reproach in his voice, "this joke is not funny.
"Mr. Ford is still dealing with the aftermath of his car accident and injuries. What is the point of making a scene like this, other than worrying him?"
He pointed toward the car not far away. "Please come back with me.
"Once Mr. Ford finishes handling Ms. Jean's situation, he will naturally come home to see you. Please don't make this any more embarrassing."
Embarrassing?
Faye wanted to laugh, but she no longer had the strength to even lift the corners of her mouth.
So in the final wait of her life, what came for her was not her husband's repentance, but his assistant's condescending "advice."
She looked up at the gray-white sky, her voice so faint it almost scattered in the wind.
"James, please tell John something for me.
"I choose divorce. From now on, whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me."
James frowned. "Mrs. Ford..."
Faye ignored him and slowly closed her eyes, using the last of her strength to endure the pain raging through her body.
After another hour of stalemate, the familiar sound of an engine finally approached from far away.
John had come.
He strode over quickly, his face filled with exhaustion, but even more with suppressed rage.
He did not even notice the coffin she was in, nor the blood beneath her. He bent down, grabbed her arm, and yanked her out of the coffin.
Faye had no strength left. She was practically dragged upright by force.
Before she could steady herself, his iron-like hand clamped down on her shoulder with so much force that her bones ached.
But the pain in her body was not even one ten-thousandth of the pain in her heart.
"Faye," he said through gritted teeth. "You want a divorce?"
His eyes were bloodshot, like a trapped beast whose authority had been challenged.
"I'm telling you, not unless I'm dead!"
Faye looked at his furious face and only found it absurd.
She stopped struggling. With the last of her strength, she threw the diagnosis report she had carefully pieced back together after he tore it up straight into his face.
"Someone as important as you can't die.
"The one who deserves to die is me, the orphan with no father and no mother.
"Uterine cancer. Late-stage. The doctor said that with active treatment, maybe I still have a month."
Her voice grew softer and softer, like a candle flame on the verge of going out.
"Now, am I allowed to die?"
John's gaze finally fell on the torn pieces of paper. He saw the words printed on them, and the red stamp from the hospital.
His movements froze. The color drained rapidly from his face.
The hand holding the fragments of the diagnosis began trembling beyond his control.
He looked up and stared hard at Faye, as if trying to find some trace of a lie on her face.
Only after a long time did he manage to force out a dry, hoarse voice.
"You're... lying..."
His Adam's apple bobbed, and he hardened his tone. "All because of a few videos, you're making such a..."
His words stopped abruptly.
Because he saw dark red blood winding down the side of Faye's pale leg, dripping onto the dusty ground and spreading into a shocking pool of red.
"Blood... Why is there blood?"
John's voice suddenly changed, filled with panic he himself had not noticed. "Faye! Stop trying to scare me on purpose!"
He stared at her as if, by staring hard enough, he could deny everything before his eyes.
Faye met his gaze and felt nothing but exhaustion. She pulled out the faintest smile.
"Yes, I'm lying."
The tension in John's face had just begun to ease when she continued.
"The truth is... I don't even have a month.
"Maybe I'll die in the next second."
The words made John's body sway violently.
For the first time, the eyes that were always filled with coldness or anger clearly reflected panic and regret.
"No... impossible..." he murmured, his hand tightening unconsciously. "This isn't real..."
Just then, the phone in his pocket rang.
That specific ringtone sounded like a death warrant.
John seemed to snap awake. He glanced at the caller ID, then at the barely breathing Faye, his eyes struggling violently.
In the end, he still answered the call.
Whatever the person on the other end said made his face turn even uglier.
After hanging up, he looked at Faye with a complicated gaze. There was a trace of pleading in it, but even more impatience.
"Faye..." He gripped her hand tightly, his tone carrying a strange attempt at comfort. "Lily is in trouble. She's hemorrhaging. The baby didn't survive... and now her life is in danger!"
He paused, then spoke with difficulty.
"The hospital's blood supply is running low. Her blood type... is rare Rh-negative.
"Only you... only you can save her."
- Writer
