Chapter 5
1234 Words
A: [Is this thing even human?! He wants a late-stage cancer patient to donate blood?!]
B: [I'm shaking with anger! John, you have no heart!]
C: [So Faye really does have cancer... I thought earlier...]
D: [Even now, the only person he's thinking about is that mistress!]
E: [That bastard will never regret it in his life!]
The livestream completely exploded.
For a split second, John looked dazed.
But his panic was not because of Lily. It was because of the look in Faye's eyes, an utterly dead, hollow emptiness, as if what he had just said was the final straw that crushed her.
A sharp wave of terror seized his heart.
A: [Faye's face is as white as paper!]
B: [She's about to pass out!]
C: [Get her to the hospital! John, are you blind?!]
John saw the comments, and he also saw Faye's swaying body. He instinctively reached out to steady her and began explaining incoherently.
"Lily was pregnant. The baby didn't survive... She's in danger now. That's a life. I know you've always been kind..."
"That's a living, breathing life. I know you're kind..."
A more urgent ringtone cut him off.
John hurriedly answered the call and accidentally switched on the speaker.
Lily's weak, aggrieved sobs came through clearly.
"John... Don't make things hard for Faye... I'll be fine..."
She sobbed, her voice barely more than a thread. "Anyway... the baby is already gone... There isn't much point in me living either..."
"It's my fault... I shouldn't have appeared and made Faye misunderstand you..."
Her crying was so mournful and pitiful that anyone who heard it would have felt sorry for her.
John frowned tightly. "Stop talking nonsense! Nothing is going to happen to you!"
He looked up at Faye and blurted out, "Faye has agreed to give you..."
The final word, "blood," got stuck in his throat.
Because he saw Faye slowly crouch down as if all strength had been drained from her body. Her hands pressed hard against her lower abdomen, and her entire body would not stop trembling.
At that moment, the terror in John's eyes was fully exposed before a million viewers.
Faye watched it all, and absurdly, a tiny flicker of expectation rose in her heart.
Even the fans in the livestream held their breath.
A: [This time... he should finally see Faye, right?]
B: [That Lily sounds so fake! She's still acting even now!]
C: [I'm a doctor! Faye's condition could be cancer-related hemorrhage. She needs emergency treatment immediately, or she could die within minutes!]
Faye saw that comment.
She wanted to ask for help. She wanted to tell John that she needed a doctor too, that she was bleeding too, that she was dying too...
But on the other end of the phone, Lily suddenly let out a pained moan.
"Ah... it hurts..."
John's gaze immediately left Faye, and all his attention shifted to the call.
"Lily! Lily, what's wrong? Don't scare me! Hold on! I'll arrange it right away!"
Warm, sticky liquid kept pouring from beneath Faye's lower abdomen, soaking through her clothes.
She collapsed weakly onto the ground. The pool of blood beneath her spread rapidly, barely hidden by the hem of her skirt.
Just then, John picked up the bloodstained diagnosis report from the ground and crouched down in front of her.
"This time..." He took a deep breath, his voice low. "I was wrong."
He... was apologizing?
Faye's vision blurred until she could barely see his expression. She only felt her eyes grow hot.
So he was not completely unmoved after all? He still cared?
But his next words froze that tiny warmth the moment it appeared.
"We'll go to the hospital first. Maybe it's just a misdiagnosis. If it's really... I'll find the best experts in the world to cure you."
His gaze swept over the blood beneath her, then quickly moved away. His tone hardened.
"But before that, you have to save Lily first. With your blood."
Ten years of devotion, five years of marriage, and the pain of losing three children. In the end, none of it was worth a single tear from Lily.
If not for this face that resembled Lily's, would she not even have been qualified to be used?
"You want me... to save your mistress?" Faye's body trembled violently. "John... you make me feel... sick..."
She looked at him and spoke each word clearly. "You make me feel like these ten years were filthy from beginning to end."
Her words were harsh and ugly. John's face darkened instantly.
"Lily is innocent! She didn't do anything wrong!"
"Then what about me?!" Faye abruptly lifted her head, tears breaking free. "Do I deserve to die?!"
"Those 1,999 steps on Mountain Landon... I nearly lost half my life climbing them to pray for your safety charm, and you turned around and gave it to Lily!"
"On my birthday, you said you had to work overtime. But in truth, you took her and her child camping on a mountain to watch the stars!"
"When I had my second miscarriage and nearly bled out on the operating table, Lily merely cut her finger, and you stayed by her side all night. You never even came to see me once!"
By the end, Faye's voice had gone hoarse with collapse.
"Tell me, John! What exactly did I do wrong?!"
"Is it just because I'm her substitute that I deserve to be trampled on by you like this?!"
"I'm tired... John, I'm done!"
"I'm about to die right now... and you still won't let me go?"
Using the last of her strength, she took several bank cards from her pocket and threw them hard at him.
"You can have all the money... The password is our wedding anniversary... I'll leave with nothing..."
"I only beg you... let me go..."
"You... You knew all along?" John's eyes dodged violently, and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to explain.
Just then, James ran over, panting.
"Mr. Ford! The blood bank has been contacted!"
"There isn't much Rh-negative blood being transferred over. It's only enough to save one person in an emergency, but it should be enough to stabilize Ms. Jean's vital signs!"
Almost instinctively, John let out a long sigh of relief.
That sigh made Faye close her eyes.
Then he suddenly turned his head, and his gaze landed on the glaring pool of blood beneath Faye, which could no longer be hidden.
His pupils contracted sharply. All color drained from his face.
"Faye!"
The fear in his voice could no longer be concealed. He bent down, swept her into his arms, and rushed toward the car.
"Hold on! We're going to the hospital right now! Hurry! Drive!"
A: [That bastard finally noticed Faye is bleeding too!]
B: [My heart is breaking just listening to this... John, if you don't love her, then let her go!]
"Why didn't you tell me sooner... that you had lost so much blood..."
John's voice carried a sob. His hands trembled nonstop as he held her, covered in her blood.
Faye leaned against his chest, feeling his heart pounding violently from the run, but she only felt cold.
She pulled out a faint smile and reminded him in a breathless whisper.
"But the blood... is only enough to save one person."
The air inside the car froze instantly.
John's arms around her went rigid.
- Writer
