Chapter 3 The Snowy Mountains
739 Words
It was a delicate silver bracelet, and Bella might even have been moved by it if the box hadn't been labeled complimentary.
Since she had already decided to leave, Bella got rid of everything connected to Xavier.
She listed every gift he had ever given her on resale sites, except for the painting she had already burned.
She deleted the video of his confession with a single tap.
She fed all ninety-nine of his love letters into the shredder.
When she was done, all Bella felt was even emptier than before.
Xavier walked in holding a tube of ointment and stopped when he saw the shredded paper in the trash. "What's all this?"
Bella shook her head. "Just garbage."
Her wounds needed to be cleaned and medicated regularly, but the ointment the doctor had sent her home with had been yellow. The one in Xavier's hand was white.
Bella glanced at it. "Are you sure that's the one for me?"
Xavier didn't even look up. "Sophia made it for you herself. Why would there be anything wrong with it?"
Bella tried to stop him. "I'm not using that, Xavier, don't..."
Before she could finish, Xavier had already torn off her bandages and smeared the ointment over her wounds.
Bella screamed. A searing pain shot through her wounds, and she crumpled to the floor.
Right before she blacked out, she thought she saw Xavier lunge toward her in panic, but she rejected the thought just as quickly. She couldn't make herself believe he still cared whether she lived or died.
When Bella woke again, she was back in a hospital room. Her arms and legs burned with pain, and all of her wounds had been bandaged again.
She barely lifted one arm before a sharp, tearing pain shot through the wound and nearly made her gasp.
Then she heard Sophia crying outside the door. "This is all my fault. I thought the realgar powder was an anti-inflammatory ointment, and I ended up reopening Bella's wounds and infecting them all over again. Xavier, am I going to jail?"
Then Bella heard Xavier's low, reassuring voice. "No. You're not."
She heard him go on. "And even if this turns into something serious, I can sign a statement on her behalf and keep this from going any further. Sophia, I'm not letting anything happen to you."
Alone in the hospital room, Bella let out a bitter smile. She had never cooked a meal in her life, and growing up, she had never even had to mop a floor. One time, when the housekeeper had the day off, Xavier got drunk and threw up on the floor. Bella cleaned it up herself, and Xavier had looked more upset by that than she had been.
He had pulled Bella into his arms and held her fingers as if they were made of glass. "Bella, don't ever do that again. Let me handle it. What if your hands get rough?"
Back then, she had laughed and told him he was being ridiculous. All she'd done was mop the floor.
Now Bella lay in that hospital bed, covered in fresh injuries, while Xavier stood outside talking about how to keep Sophia out of trouble.
Bella laughed and cried at the same time, and when fresh blood began to seep through the bandages, she didn't even bother calling for help.
Her injuries should have kept her in bed for days, but she was discharged after just one night.
Xavier practically bundled her up and put her on a plane himself. "Sophia wants to see the snowy mountains, and I know you've always wanted to go too, so we might as well do both at once."
Bella really had wanted to see the snowy mountains. Back when they first started dating, Xavier had promised he would take her there someday, but he got busier and busier, and every time, he said he didn't have the time.
Later, Bella had nearly forgotten she had ever wanted it at all. Now that the dream was finally coming true, it brought her no joy at all.
After they arrived at the mountain resort, Xavier and Sophia walked ahead while Bella dragged herself after them, one painful step at a time.
She was bundled into a heavy snowsuit, and every small movement tugged at the wounds beneath it. She had barely gone a few steps before the pain stopped her in her tracks.
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