He Betrayed Me, I Exposed His Secret

Chapter 6

Inside the speeding car, the silence was deathly.

There was only the roar of the engine and Faye's breathing, growing weaker by the second.

John held the terrifyingly light body in his arms. Those hands, once powerful enough to control fortunes in the business world, were now covered in thick, sticky blood and trembling beyond control.

He kept urging the driver, "Faster! Go faster!"

Yet his eyes remained locked on Faye's paper-white face, as if staring at her hard enough could snatch her back from death itself.

A: [So... what about the blood? Is that little bit of lifesaving blood going to be used on Faye?]

B: [Does anyone know which hospital Faye is at? We'll go find her!]

C: [It's useless. Rh-negative blood is too rare. They won't be able to find a match in time.]

Faye was sent straight into the emergency room.

Or rather, John half-carried her in, stumbling the whole way.

He lost control and shouted at the doctors and nurses who had rushed over after hearing the news, "Save her! I don't care what it takes. Keep her alive!"

Then he was shut outside the cold doors.

The wait was endless.

John paced back and forth in the hallway, his fingers digging into his hair. His suit was still stained with Faye's blood, making him look both disheveled and deranged.

After an unknown amount of time, the doctor came out with a grim expression and said something to him. John's face turned even uglier, and he shoved the doctor aside almost roughly before rushing into the ward.

Faye was already awake. Or perhaps she had been awake the whole time, enduring everything in silence.

She lay on the hospital bed like her soul had been hollowed out. The steady beeping of the monitor only made her life seem even more fragile.

John sat down beside the bed and carefully took her ice-cold hand.

"The doctor will be here soon to give you a transfusion. You'll be fine." He repeated the words, though it was unclear whom he was trying to comfort.

With his other hand, he operated his phone and held it in front of her.

On the screen were vivid, colorful paintings full of life. At the end was an old surveillance video.

The footage shook. It was a rainy night. A thin, frail woman lay in a pool of blood, surrounded and beaten by a group of people. Her clothes were torn, and she was barely alive. When she was carried into the ambulance, her face was a bloody mess, but even through the blurry footage, the despair and brokenness in her eyes were impossible to miss.

That woman was Lily.

She looked completely different from the radiant, smiling woman in the private account.

"Those paintings were all done by Lily. She's a genius. But to save me, she gave me her retina."

He tightened his grip on Faye's hand until his knuckles turned white.

"For a painter to lose her eyes... and later to be... assaulted..." Each word seemed to be squeezed through his teeth. "She asked me for nothing. She only begged me to protect her and record proof that she had once existed..."

"So those videos..." He looked at Faye, his gaze complicated. "I only wanted her to know that there was still beauty in the world even after she could no longer see it. I owed her. I had to repay her."

He leaned down and looked at her almost pleadingly. "What I feel for her is only gratitude. You are my wife, so I..."

"So that gives you the right to sacrifice me?" Faye cut him off directly, her voice cold.

"You used my marriage, my love, and my life as offerings to repay your debt. If I hadn't found out, were you planning to use me for the rest of my life to honor your guilt?"

"I never thought that!"

John denied it urgently, but there was guilt in his tone. "Because you're my wife, you should understand me. You should support me..."

"Understand you while you ignore my safety again and again? Support you while you give the blood that could save my life to her at the moment between life and death?"

Faye's voice carried a bloody mockery. "John, have you ever, even once, put me first?"

She looked at him, her face growing paler with every word.

"Every year on my birthday, I wished for God to keep you safe and successful..."

"When you stayed out all night, I blamed myself for not being good enough and not being able to help you..."

"Even at your company party, when I accidentally fell into the swimming pool, you clearly saw it, but you went to save the dog Lily raised first..."

She coughed violently. Dark red blood sprayed onto the snow-white sheets, a shocking sight.

"Lily's dog... really was more important than me..."

"You've done... so much for her..."

Her breath grew weaker and weaker, and her gaze began to lose focus. "What about me... John... Did you ever... remember that I was your wife..."

Those calm accusations terrified John more than any hysterical breakdown ever could.

He looked at her dying face, utterly at a loss. "No... I..."

Just then, a small, tearful child's voice broke through the despair.

"Daddy!"

A three-year-old boy ran in crying and threw his arms around John's leg. He lifted his tear-streaked face and sobbed, "Daddy! Go see Mommy! She threw up so much blood! She's going to die!"

John suddenly stood up. He instinctively looked at Faye, whose face was bloodless on the bed, then looked down at the child crying his heart out. His eyes were filled with struggle.

He picked up the phone and roared, "Doctor! The blood! Send it to VIP Room 3 immediately! Hurry!"

A: [Enough already! Can't he see Faye is dying?]

B: [Just because Lily gave him a pair of eyes, does he have to repay her with his whole life?]

C: [Does John actually think he's noble?]

When the little boy saw that John was not moving, he cried even harder. "Daddy! Please! Mommy can't see again!"

The moment John heard that she could not see again, his body shook hard.

That was the switch of guilt carved into his bones.

He glanced at Faye, who seemed temporarily stable, then at the child who was crying so hard he could barely breathe.

In the end, he let go of Faye's hand.

He quickly instructed the nurse who had rushed over, "The doctor is coming to give her a transfusion. Watch her!"

Then he bent down and picked up the trembling boy.

"Faye, wait ten minutes for me."

"Just ten minutes. I'll come right back to stay with you!"

With that, he carried the child and rushed out of the ward without looking back.

Only the cold beeping of the machines remained in the emergency room.

Bone-deep pain swept through Faye's entire body. She jerked her head to the side and spat out another mouthful of blood, staining half the pillow red and splattering onto the livestream phone screen that was still lit.

The livestream burst into terrified screams.

A: [John abandoned her again!]

B: [Can Faye still hold on? Where is the blood?!]

Ten minutes later, Faye received a voice message from John.

"Faye, has the doctor arrived? Once the blood is transfused, you'll be fine. But Lily isn't doing well, so I can't come over for now."

Another ten minutes passed.

"The doctor said Lily almost went permanently blind."

Then another ten minutes.

"Faye, are you feeling better? Wait five more minutes. I'll be right back to stay with you."

The same familiar "ten minutes."

The same familiar excuses.

Faye listened to the voice messages and felt her life slipping away little by little.

Using the last of her strength, she replied into her phone.

"I'm not waiting anymore..."

"John... every one of your ten minutes has already told me... who matters most to you."

"Now I'm going to sleep forever... You can finally... give your whole heart... to your savior... without guilt..."

As soon as she finished speaking, someone knocked softly and pushed open the ward door.

A well-dressed man with a calm face stood in the doorway, holding a folder.

"Ms. Hayes, everything you entrusted me to prepare is ready."