Chapter 6
The city lights had just flickered on, and I was standing outside, shivering from the evening chill. Suddenly, I remembered that Collin had said he skipped dinner yesterday because of a meeting, and his stomach had been bothering him.
Without thinking, I rushed to the pharmacy and picked up some stomach medicine. I figured by now, Jean should have already left. And even if she had not, worst case, I would just act like a housekeeper.
I returned to the villa.
The house was quiet.
I hesitated for a moment, then decided to quietly place the medicine by his bedside so he would see it when he woke up in the morning.
I tiptoed up the stairs. However, just as I reached the bedroom door, I froze. From inside came the soft, unmistakable sounds of a man and woman.
I stood there, paralyzed.
Yet, the voices did not stop.
“Collin, do you miss me?”
“Every day… I think about you every day…”
“I’ve been regretting things, too. Is that woman really a housekeeper? She doesn’t look like one at all.”
Chapter 6
“So what if she is, or isn’t? What does it matter? I only brought her back because she reminded me of you.”
“What a coincidence… Even her name sounds like mine…”
It was like the world caved in around me.
The bottle slipped from my fingers and hit the floor with a sharp clatter. Inside, the voices cut off instantly.
“Who’s there?” Collin’s low voice asked. He still sounded breathless.
I did not bother to wipe away the blood on my chest. I grabbed the bag and stumbled into the guest room down the hall.
I heard his footsteps as he opened the door.
“No one,” he said after a second. “Probably just the cat. She likes keeping strays around.”
I covered my mouth, my tears slipping down uncontrollably.
Not long after, I heard Collin’s voice, “Why don’t you go back?”
Then Jean’s soft, teasing tone followed, “Already tired of it after just one taste? You weren’t like this before…”
The moment the door clicked shut, I ran out of the villa.
I stumbled down the street, dazed, numb, lost.
I was not even aware I had stepped onto the road until I heard tires
screech.
A pair of strong arms yanked me back just in time, and I crashed into someone’s chest.
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Chapter 6
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“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” a man’s voice snapped above my head.
I looked up in a daze and met a pair of concerned eyes that were slightly upturned at the corners. He wore a simple, tailored suit, and his brow was creased with worry.
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“Thank you,” I mumbled, not even registering the blood running down my leg.
“You’re not okay,” he said, frowning. “You need to go to a hospital.”
I shook my head, but he had already flagged down a cab and gently but firmly helped me into it.
At the hospital, while the nurse cleaned the scrape on my knee, I finally managed to pull myself together just a little. Something about the man beside me felt familiar.
“Don’t recognize me?” he asked, raising an eyebrow with a faint smile. “I was in Collin’s office last month.”
The memory clicked. He was there when I went to drop off lunch for Collin that day.
I had carved a few small carrot flowers as decoration, and he noticed.
Collin had waved it off, saying something like, “She’s always wasting time on this kind of thing.”
I felt a little embarrassed, but this man said seriously, “Turning everyday things into beauty is a rare skill.”
Those words had warmed a quiet corner of my heart.
I also remembered Collin introducing him as an important business
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Chapter 6
partner.
Sadly, I had forgotten his name.
“Sean Mallarkey,” he said with a sigh.
I nodded numbly.
And then, without warning, the tears came again.
He looked surprised but did not pry. He just handed me a tissue, then quietly sat beside me in the hospital corridor, keeping me company until the night grew deep and silent.
“Want me to take you home?” he asked in a soft whisper.
I shook my head.
That place did not feel like home anymore.
After a slight hesitation, Sean brought me to a luxury hotel. He checked
in a room, handed me the card and his business card, and said softly, “If you need anything at all, call me. Get some rest, okay?”
