My Devoted Husband

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Julian's face paled. He rushed forward, scooped up the unconscious Sophia, and sprinted toward the hospital without a backward glance.

Eleanor stood frozen, her fingers curling slightly, but in the end, she followed.

Under the stark white lights of the hospital corridor, the light for the operating room remained on.

Julian stood outside the door, his suit still stained with Sophia's blood, a rare trace of anxiety on his usually calm and composed face.

Eleanor sat quietly to the side, saying nothing.

The operating room doors suddenly swung open, and a doctor rushed out: "The patient is hemorrhaging and needs an emergency transfusion, but she's Rh-negative, and the blood bank is running low!"

Julian's brow furrowed. Just as he was about to speak, Eleanor stood up: "I'm Rh-negative. I can give her my blood."

Julian whipped his head around to look at her, a flash of shock in his eyes.

Eleanor met his gaze calmly: "Saving her is what's important."

She followed the nurse to have her blood drawn. As 400cc of blood slowly drained from her body, her face grew paler and paler, but her eyes remained calm.

Julian stood to the side, watching the needle in her slender arm, and the strange feeling in his chest grew stronger.

Just how much... did she like him?

After giving blood, Eleanor walked out, with a cotton swab to her arm, and saw Julian still standing motionless outside the operating room.

She hesitated for a moment, then walked over and said softly, "Don't worry, she'll be okay."

Julian looked up at her, his voice a bit hoarse: "You're still here?"

Eleanor shook her head: "Ms. Reed has a misunderstanding about us. When she wakes up, I need to explain things clearly to her."

Julian stared at her pale face and suddenly asked, "Do you really like me that much?"

Eleanor froze.

Just as she was about to speak, the operating room doors opened again, and the doctor came out: "The surgery was a success. The patient will wake up once the anesthesia wears off."

Julian's tense shoulders finally relaxed.

Eleanor silently stepped aside and said no more.

A few hours later, Sophia woke up.

The moment she opened her eyes and saw Eleanor standing by the bed, her eyes instantly reddened: "Julian, did you bring her here again because you want my blessing for you two?"

Eleanor quickly took a step forward and explained softly: "Ms. Reed, you've misunderstood.

Julian really did have a meeting that day. Taking me shopping was just on the way, it wasn't a date, and he didn't lie to you."

Julian nodded as well: "We're just in a strategic marriage. There are no feelings involved."

Sophia bit her lip, tears falling: "Then how will you prove it?

Prove that you don't have a single shred of feeling for her?"

Julian frowned: "What do you want me to do to prove it?"

Sophia thought for a moment, then suddenly pointed out the window: "Throw her into the frozen lake."

Julian's expression changed slightly: "Sophia..."

"You're hesitating?"

Sophia's voice trembled, "You do have feelings for her!"

Julian was silent for a few seconds, then finally sighed and turned to wave at the bodyguards: "Throw her into the lake."

Eleanor's pupils shrank.

She knew Julian would do anything for Sophia, but she never imagined he could be this cruel.

But she couldn't fight back.

She had to endure it.

The bodyguards seized her and walked her outside. Julian stood still, his eyes dark and unreadable.

The water of the frozen lake was bone-chillingly cold.

The moment Eleanor was pushed in, she almost suffocated.

Icy water flooded her nose, numbing her limbs.

She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stay afloat, but her body sank uncontrollably.

The bodyguards by the lake watched her coldly, not one of them reaching out a hand.

Eleanor's consciousness began to fade. In a daze, she seemed to see herself as a child.

Abandoned by her parents in the countryside, with no warm clothes in winter, shivering from the cold, she could only huddle for warmth in the nanny's woodshed.

In her entire life, no one had ever truly cared about her.

After an unknown amount of time, Eleanor was finally pulled out.

Her body was freezing, her lips blue, and she had already lost consciousness.

In a daze, she felt someone wiping her body with a hot towel, the movements uncharacteristically gentle.

She subconsciously grabbed that hand and murmured, "Just endure a little longer... I can leave soon..."

The next moment, the hand fiercely gripped hers back, the force strong enough to nearly crush her bones.

"Leave what?!"

Julian's voice was as cold as ice.

Eleanor opened her eyes in pain, finding herself back at the Blackwood estate.

Julian was sitting by the bed, staring at her with a dark expression: "What did you just say about leaving?"

Eleanor's heart skipped a beat. She played dumb, her voice hoarse: "Leaving what?

I must have been delirious from the fever, talking nonsense..."

Julian watched her intently for a long time, seemed to believe her, and released her hand: "Why didn't you tell me you were on your period?

And you still soaked in the lake for so long."

Eleanor gave a weak smile: "If my going in could earn her forgiveness for you, I'd rather not have said anything."

Julian's expression was complicated as he asked again: "Do you really like me that much?"

Eleanor lowered her lashes.

It wasn't like.

She just needed to maintain the relationship between the two families. Once Alina returned, she could leave for good.

The door was suddenly pushed open, and Sophia walked in: "Julian, when are we leaving to go fishing?"

She saw Eleanor was awake and feigned surprise: "Ms. Vance, are you alright?"

Before Eleanor could answer, she added with a smile: "Last time, I was just angry when I told Julian to do that. I didn't think he'd actually throw you into the ice lake. I'm so sorry."

"I heard you were the one who donated blood for me?

Why don't we go fishing together? Consider it my apology to you."

Just as Eleanor was about to refuse, Sophia had already grabbed her hand affectionately: "Don't say no, I've already cleared it with Julian."

Julian glanced at her, signaling her not to be a killjoy.

In the end, Eleanor could only nod.

On the luxury yacht, the sea breeze was slightly salty.

Sophia stuck to Julian's side the entire time, laughing sweetly as she had him feed her fruit, apply her sunscreen, and even coquettishly asked him to carry her on his back to see the ocean view...

Eleanor stood on the deck, quietly watching the horizon as if none of this had anything to do with her.

It wasn't until Julian took a call and stepped away that Sophia walked over to her and suddenly said: "I really don't get you sometimes."

Eleanor turned to look at her.

Sophia narrowed her eyes: "Everyone in our circle says you're deeply in love with Julian, willing to do anything for him. But shouldn't love be about possession?"

"I framed you and made you apologize, you showed no emotion; he threw you into an ice lake, you showed no emotion; even now, watching him and me being intimate, you show no emotion..."

She leaned closer to Eleanor, her voice low: "Do you actually like him or not?"

Eleanor tugged at her lips. She had guessed right; she really didn't like Julian.

Before the words could leave her mouth, a giant wave suddenly struck!

"Ah—!"

The two of them lost their footing and were swept into the sea at the same time!

The icy seawater instantly submerged them, the metal edge of the yacht cutting long gashes into their arms, and blood immediately bloomed in the water.

"Someone's overboard!

Save them!

Hurry, save them!"

The deck erupted into chaos. A rescuer quickly jumped into the sea, but he resurfaced just as fast, his face grim: "Mr. Blackwood, their blood will attract sharks soon!

And they're drifting in opposite directions. To be safe, we can only save one of them first!"

Julian's face changed drastically, his eyes frantically scanning the surface of the water.

On one side was Sophia struggling desperately; on the other, Eleanor was being pushed further and further away by the waves...

"Save Sophia first!"

He practically roared the words.

By the time Eleanor heard those words, she had already choked on several mouthfuls of salty, bitter seawater.

She watched the rescuer swim toward Sophia, watched Julian's anxious face, and with a bitter smile, slowly closed her eyes.

She should have known.

In his heart, she was always the one who could be abandoned.

Water filled her lungs, and her consciousness began to fade.

In a daze, she saw a dark shadow rapidly approaching.

It was a shark!

A sharp pain shot through her leg. Her last conscious thought was the image of the azure seawater being stained red, bit by bit, by her blood...