Never Failed, But I Chased Him Relentlessly

Chapter 3

Boundless pain seeped from deep within her bones. Valeria opened her eyes, her vision remaining blurred for a long time before finally coming into focus. She was greeted by a stark white ceiling and the sterile scent of disinfectant. As she tried to move, a sharp agony tore through her, forcing out a muffled groan. It felt as though her entire body had been shattered and forcefully pieced back together.

"Valeria?" a hoarse male voice sounded from beside her.

She stiffly shifted her gaze and saw Dominic sitting by the bed. Dark circles hung heavy beneath his eyes, his jaw was covered in unkempt stubble, and he was still wearing the same crumpled clothes from that day.

Memories came flooding back: the slap, the argument, the forceful kiss, the blinding headlights, and the deafening crash. Celeste had tried to kill her.

"Where is she?" Valeria asked, her voice as raspy as a broken bellows.

Dominic fell silent for a moment before replying, "In the next ward. She's emotionally unstable."

Valeria wanted to laugh, but the movement only tugged painfully at the corners of her mouth. She had almost been run over and killed, yet the perpetrator was merely "emotionally unstable"?

"Call the police," she spat out, every word dripping with hatred. "I'm going to press charges against her for attempted murder."

Dominic picked up a glass of water, placed a straw in it, and offered it to her lips. Valeria didn't move; she just stared at him with icy eyes. His hand paused mid-air before he quietly set the glass down on the nightstand.

"She didn't do it on purpose. She was too agitated at the time and mistook the gas pedal for the brake. The police have preliminarily ruled it an accident."

An accident? Valeria wanted to scoff, but the effort aggravated her wounds, making her draw in a sharp breath of cold air in pain. She glanced down at her left leg, which was encased in a cast and suspended high in the air, and then at her heavily bandaged chest and arms.

Dominic looked at her with a complex gaze swirling with inner struggle and a faint, imperceptible trace of pleading.

"Valeria, let's make a deal," Dominic said, his voice dry. "Your father was reported for suspected abuse of power and illegal manipulation of pharmaceutical distribution channels. He has already been taken away for investigation and is currently in custody."

Valeria's pupils contracted sharply as she whipped her head to look at him.

Dominic lowered his eyes, avoiding her stare of sheer disbelief. "The whistleblowing materials are extremely detailed, complete with both witnesses and physical evidence. Furthermore, it involves the illicit supply of controlled, imported special medication for Celeste. If they dig deeper, what your father faces won't be a trivial matter."

A freezing chill swept through Valeria's entire body as she glared at him intensely. "And? What are you trying to say?"

Dominic raised his eyes to meet hers. Within them lay the familiar, calculating calmness of a commanding officer weighing the pros and cons—a look that now made her feel as though she had been plunged into an ice abyss.

"I can find a way to minimize the fallout of this incident, spare your father some suffering, and perhaps even get him out. But the prerequisite is that you issue a Letter of Forgiveness for Celeste. Just state that this was an accident and that you will no longer pursue criminal charges against her."

"Ha..." Valeria began to laugh softly. The sound was wretched and desolate, yet no tears would fall. "Dominic, are you using my dad to threaten me?"

"It's not a threat," Dominic said, turning his face away as his voice grew stiff and unyielding. "It's an exchange. You sign the Letter of Forgiveness, and I will intervene in your father's case. Celeste cannot go to prison. Besides, she really was mentally unstable at the time. As for your dad, I will do everything in my power."

"Mentally unstable?" Valeria enunciated every single syllable, her teeth chattering uncontrollably. "Dominic, my dad used medicine to force you into marrying me, but over these past three years, have you paid a single cent for it? Did he reap any benefits? His only selfish motive was seeing his daughter in pain and wanting to grant her wish! He was wrong to use such underhanded tactics, but he never once harmed Celeste! Now, he is locked up because of this, and you are using it to blackmail me into forgiving a murderer who almost ran me over?!"

Dominic's jawline tightened, his lips pressed into a pale, thin line. "I know. I will make up for the cost of the medicine, and I understand your father's painstaking efforts. But Valeria, what's done is done. Celeste cannot go to jail. Please, I am begging you."

"Begging me?" Valeria stared at him, looking at the man she had once loved with such fierce, consuming passion.

At this moment, his face showed exhaustion and conflict, but there was an absolute absence of heartache for her near-fatal brush with death, or anger over her father's unjust imprisonment. He was simply calculating, with cold precision, how to protect the person he truly wanted to protect. It felt as if her heart had completely died at that exact moment. She couldn't even feel the pain anymore; all that remained was a numb, hollow void.

"Pen," she heard her own voice say, possessing a terrifying calmness.

Dominic froze for a second before hastily grabbing the pen and documents he had prepared in advance. With Valeria's arm immobilized in a cast, she couldn't move it. Dominic placed the papers in front of her, flipped to the signature page, and tucked the pen between the few fingers she could barely wiggle.

She stared at the thin stack of papers. The words "Letter of Forgiveness" stung her eyes sharply. She didn't even have the strength to read the specific terms. Gripping the pen with violently trembling fingers, she expended nearly every ounce of her remaining strength to scrawl the crooked letters of "Valeria" across the dotted line. Every stroke felt like a knife carving out a piece of her own flesh.

The pen rolled out of her grasp and dropped to the floor.

"Get out," she said, closing her eyes and refusing to look at him any longer.

Dominic picked up the document. Staring at the shaky signature on the page, his Adam's apple bobbed violently. He wanted to say something, but ultimately only managed a hoarse murmur: "Get some rest. I will take care of your father's..."

"Get out," Valeria repeated. Her voice was terribly light, yet it carried an unquestionable, glacial finality.

Dominic stood rooted to the spot for a few seconds before turning on his heel and leaving. His footsteps gradually faded down the hall, and the hospital ward plummeted back into a deathly silence.

Valeria lay with her eyes wide open, staring blankly at the pale ceiling. Tears finally slipped from the corners of her eyes, disappearing into her temples in a cold, silent stream.