Chapter 3
1085 Words
I woke up in a hospital room.
When the nurse noticed my eyes were open, she let out a long, audible sigh of relief.
"Miss, you're finally awake. We've sent out critical care alerts over and over these past three days. The doctor said if you hadn't woken up soon, you might have slipped into a permanent coma."
She fell silent after that, but from the way she looked at me with pity, I understood exactly what she meant.
I moved my gaze slowly around the quiet, empty room, and when I spoke, my voice felt dry and rough, painful to produce.
"During these three days… did any man by the name of Remington come to see me?"
The nurse hesitated for a moment, her eyes darting away before she answered in a soft, low tone.
"Mr. Remington stayed right outside the emergency room the day he brought you in. But later, he received a call. His sister said there were worms inside the house, and she was crying out of fear, so he hurried back home immediately."
I closed my eyes, and a sharp, bitter taste rose up in my throat.
While I lay here fighting for my life, he had rushed home to chase after imaginary bugs for his so-called blind adopted sister.
My heart had felt dead for so long, yet I realized with a fresh, stinging pain that I had still been foolish enough to hold out hope for something different.
"Please bring me my phone," I said.
When I opened my eyes again, my tone was steady, so calm it even surprised me.
I dialed the number listed in the job offer email and spoke directly into the receiver.
"Hello, this is Lily. If possible, I would like to start work earlier than planned."
The voice on the other end sounded surprised at first, but quickly replied that the arrangements could be adjusted.
I looked out the window at the gray, heavy, overcast sky and continued in that same unwavering voice.
"As a gesture of goodwill, I will bring the firm its first major asset... all the core data and client resources belonging to Remington Enterprises."
There was a brief pause on the line, followed by a tone filled with barely contained excitement.
"Mrs. Remington, we look forward to welcoming you in three days."
After I was discharged, the hospital transport drove me back to the house.
I was guiding my wheelchair into the living room when Violet came toward me, her hands outstretched as if feeling her way around, holding a glass of juice.
"Lily, you're back at last. Drink this… it's good for you, full of vitamins."
The liquid inside looked cloudy and murky, not like any juice I had ever seen, but I took the glass and took a small sip anyway.
The moment the liquid touched my throat, Violet suddenly leaned in close, and I heard her voice drop into a cold, mocking whisper.
"Did you like it? I made it especially for you."
Following the direction, she gestured with her head, my eyes landed on the shelf behind her.
There sat the urn holding my parents' remains, its lid was off, and it stood open and exposed to the air.
A cold chill ran straight from my spine up to the top of my head, and in the next instant, it was replaced by a burning, overwhelming rage that flooded every part of me.
I raised my hand and struck her hard across the face. The sharp c***k of the blow rang clearly through the room.
Violet immediately collapsed to the floor, clutching her cheek, and began to wail and cry loudly.
Just then, Sylas hurried in from outside and saw exactly what happened.
He stepped forward and grabbed my wrist, his grip so tight it felt as though he was trying to crush my bones.
"Lily! Have you gone too far this time?!" he shouted, his face twisted with anger and disappointment.
Violet quickly felt her way across the floor and pressed herself into his arms, burying her face against his chest.
"Sylas, I only squeezed fresh juice for her out of kindness, and suddenly, she hit me!"
My eyes burned as tears welled up, and my voice shook so badly I could barely force the words out.
"Ask her! Ask her what she mixed into that drink! It is the ashes of my mother and father!"
Sylas froze for a split second, then his brows drew together into a deep, skeptical frown.
"What nonsense are you talking about? How could Violet ever do something like that?"
I looked past him to Violet.
Her head was still tilted down, but when she lifted her face, she stared straight into my eyes... no squinting, no groping, no hesitation.
Her expression was twisted with open hatred and triumph.
That look was exactly the same as before she had supposedly lost her sight... back when she used to follow Sylas around, always watching me with sharp, jealous eyes.
I remembered those days clearly.
Back then, Sylas had disliked Violet intensely.
I had seen him roll his eyes and heard him say more than once that she was reaching for things way out of her league.
Everything changed after that hiking trip when we got separated from the rest of the group.
Violet had claimed she sucked poison from a snakebite on his leg, and afterward, she said her vision had faded completely.
From that day on, his whole attitude toward her shifted.
No matter what Violet did to hurt or upset me, it was always me who was labeled unreasonable or the one making trouble.
But what Sylas always seemed to forget was that my parents had also died during that same trip.
They had died trying to bring him back safely.
When he collapsed from exhaustion because of his injured leg, and when Violet slipped and fell along the steep slope, my father had jumped without hesitation to catch him, and my mother had rushed to grab hold of Violet's arm.
The moment all four lost their footing, I saw my parents use the last of their strength to push Sylas and Violet toward the narrow, safe ledge.
My parents themselves fell into the deep valley below.
Only scattered remains were ever recovered.
Violet had supposedly lost her eyesight.
But I had lost the parents who gave me life and raised me... and the man I loved, who had once treated me as his whole world.
- Writer
