He Remembered, But No One Else Did

Chapter 4 What Was Left of Love

The tiny snow crystals slashed across Eveline's cheeks like a thousand little knives.

"Brenton… how could you do this to me?"

The metallic taste of blood filled her throat so thickly that she wondered if something inside her had ruptured.

She leaned against the icy wall for what felt like forever until she finally scraped together enough strength to dial for help.

While waiting for rescue, Eveline tried calling Brenton on video.

For the entire three years they had been together, because he had pretended to be deaf and mute, every single conversation had been a video call where she spoke, and he watched.

She desperately needed to know how he would react if her face appeared on his screen.

As expected, he did not answer.

In the old days, she would have told herself he was simply busy and stopped trying, knowing he would call back the moment he saw the missed call.

But not anymore. She was done being the fool who believed every lie.

She kept dialing over and over, refusing to give up.

Finally, on the tenth ring, he hung up abruptly, and a short text popped up.

Brenton: Busy. Do not disturb.

Eveline's fingers shook so badly that it took her forever to type a reply.

Eveline: Brenton, I am so cold.

The ambulance siren grew louder in the distance, but the chat window stayed painfully silent.

She rested against the frozen wall, her numb lips twisting into a bitter laugh, when the rescue team's voices suddenly rang out in alarm. "She is severely hypothermic! Pupils are dilated, get the ECMO ready now!"

*****

The red light above the operating room stayed lit while Eveline hovered above her own body, watching the doctors fight to save her. The whole scene felt strangely detached.

In the world of psychics, this state had a special name: walking soul, which most people simply called an out-of-body experience.

Her body had always been fragile, and now, with the blood loss and freezing cold, it was no surprise she had one foot already in the grave.

Suddenly, she wanted to know exactly what Brenton was doing at that moment.

The thought alone was enough. In the next breath, her soul drifted out of the operating room and into the hallway.

Brenton kicked over a metal bench with a crash. "Why is that scheming woman playing the victim? If she dies today, it is exactly what she deserves. And if she somehow survives, I will finish the job myself!"

The screech of the bench legs scraping across the floor was cut short when the head nurse burst out of a room. "The patient is in ventricular fibrillation!"

Brenton gave a cold snort of laughter. "Even if she's barely breathing, make her crawl over and apologize to Clare first."

The anesthesiologist pushed open the operating room door. "Hypothermia has caused multiple organ failure. We are preparing to…"

Brenton shot the door a freezing glance. "A woman with a heart like that deserves whatever the heavens decide to take from her."

"Brenton!" Clare appeared from around the corner, still wearing her hospital gown.

Brenton's whole face softened instantly from ice to pure worry. "Clare, why are you out of bed?"

He shrugged off his coat and pulled her into his arms. "Are you cold, baby?"

Clare shook her head and peeked toward the operating room. "Is that coach still being worked on?"

"Yeah, looks like she's not going to make it." Brenton sounded almost cheerful about it. "She should be grateful she's paying the price right now. Otherwise, I would have made sure she suffered even more."

Clare's lips curved into a small smile. "Frederick, let it go. I am perfectly fine anyway. She's already like this. If we keep pushing, people will think we're too heartless. Besides, my brother heard I got hurt, and he's losing his mind. We should head home tomorrow."

Brenton stroked her hair gently. "Clare, you really are the kindest, sweetest girl in the world."

His eyes swept past Eveline's floating soul and landed coldly on the glowing emergency light above the operating room. "Then I guess all I can do is wish that Vivian atones for her sins with eternal sleep."

Those words hit like the darkest curse, pinning Eveline's spirit against the pale tiles.

The world around her blurred into thick white fog. She saw her own reflection twisting and shattering into a thousand pieces inside the mist.

The pain was so sharp that her soul began to tremble violently.

"No…"

Eveline stared desperately at the two of them walking away, wrapped in each other's arms.

Every tender memory flashed before her like a broken film reel: his gentle touches, the way he had taken care of her, every sweet word he had ever signed against her skin. All of it had turned to poison.

In her mind, she heard his voice again, cruel and clear. "Eveline, you deserve this. You should just die."

*****

"No! It was never me who was wrong!" Eveline clenched her fingers into a hand sign and slammed her palm hard against the crown of her head.

A powerful force yanked her downward and dragged her straight back into the operating room.

The next second, she heard the doctor's joyful shout. "The patient has regained a steady heartbeat! We have her back!"