He Loved Me, Then Hurt Me, I Said No

Chapter 3

At the beginning, things between Zane and me were not like this.

He used to be kind.

Back then, I was working five part-time jobs by myself just to pay my grandmother's medical bills.

Because I was juggling work and school, one day, on my way to the hospital on my electric scooter, I failed to see the traffic light clearly and crashed into Zane's car.

My scooter broke down on the spot.

I was so obviously struggling that even Zane could tell.

Before I could fumble through an apology, he spoke first.

"Let me take you to the hospital first."

In the car, I asked nervously, "How much do I owe you for the damage?"

Zane shook his head.

"You don't have to pay. Things are clearly hard enough for you right now."

After I finished my CT scan and a few other exams, we were waiting for the results when I hesitated and said, "I need to go see my grandmother first."

Shock flashed through Zane's eyes for a second.

"I'll go with you. We can come back for the results afterward."

The second my grandmother laid eyes on Zane, she turned to me. "Well, now. Does my Ren have herself a boyfriend?"

My face turned bright red, and I hurriedly shook my head.

"He's not—"

But Zane answered before I could finish.

"Yes. Ren is a very sweet girl."

My face grew even hotter.

It was not until I went to pay the bill later that I realized someone had already put money into my grandmother's billing account.

I stared at the balance in disbelief.

"$100,000...

"Was that you?"

I turned back to look at him.

Zane nodded.

He said, "I really like... Ren. So I just did what I could."

Because he did not know my name yet, he simply followed my grandmother and called me by my nickname.

Being called by my childhood nickname by someone other than my grandmother made me feel a little embarrassed.

So I told him softly, "My name is Wren Lynn."