Chapter 8
Ling bit down hard on her lip, tasting blood.
So, just to keep Kylie from embarrassment, she had to swallow all this pain herself?
“I’m calling the police,” she said, her voice shaking.
Bruno went quiet for a moment, then suddenly pulled out his checkbook. “If you’re set on pressing charges, I’ll pay for them,” he said. The scratch of his pen across the checkbook seemed unbearably loud in the hospital room, each stroke like a fresh cut to Lina’s heart He wrote down a number. She didn’t take it, just bit her lip harder, the metallic taste spreading in her mouth.
Thinking she was hesitating because it was too little, he tore up the check. Then he wrote another. And another. The numbers kept rising. When he finally handed her a check for one hundred million, Lina suddenly remembered a stormy night three years ago.
Back then, they were crammed in a tiny rental apartment. He’d come home from overtime at three in the morning, soaked to the bone, but still managed to smile as he pulled her into his arms. “Lina,” he’d whispered, “one day I’ll make a hundred million, so you’ll never have to struggle again.”
He’d kept his promise–but not in the way she’d ever wanted.
Now, he could write a check for a hundred million without a second thought, but it was just to pay off the people who’d trampled her.
A hundred million. Is that enough? He held the check out to her again.
Her hands trembled as she took the slip of paper. Out of nowhere, she laughed.
She laughed until tears rolled down her cheeks and splattered on the check, the ink blurring into a dark stain.!!
“It’s enough,” Lina rasped, her voice nothing like her own. “Bruno, your promise finally came true.”
He paused, his brow furrowing, like he didn’t understand what she meant
How could he?3
uffer, was long gone.
The Bruno who used to hold her tight in that shabby apartment, promising to eam a fortune so she’d never have to suffer, Gone so completely, there was nothing left of him at all.
After that day, Bruno never came back to the hospital.
But every moming at ten, his assistant would show up right on schedule, carrying a carefully wrapped box of health supplements. Today it was bird’s nest. Yesterday, cordyceps. The day before, imported collagen.
“Mr. Morris asked me to tell you he’s been very busy with work,” the assistant said politely, standing at her bedside, voice distant and formal. “He hopes you recover soon.“!
Lina nodded, her eyes drifting to the growing pile of untouched supplements on her nightstand.
The gold logo on the packaging sparkled in the sunlight–just like Bruno’s new, dazzling life.l
After the assistant left, Lina checked her phone and saw a new update from Kylie.
In the photo, Kylie was leaning against Bruno’s shoulder, the turquoise sea of the Maldives behind them.
The caption read: “Thank you for making time for me, even with your busy schedule~”
Lina stared at the photo until her eyes burned.
So this was what he meant by “too busy“-busy vacationing in the Maldives with Kylie.
Just as she was about to put her phone away, a message popped up.
Dear Ms. Knotts, your visa application has been approved. Your passport will be ready tomorrow. Please bring your ID to the office during business hours.
Lina read the message three times, then suddenly started laughing.
She laughed until tears fell again, blurring the words “application approved” on her screen.
Finally, it was over
No more waiting for him to come home, counting each tick of the clock. No Mrs Moms’s disdainful glances.!!
Most importantly
o more eating cold leftovers alone at night. No male enduring
She could finally let go of the part of herself that y
was trapped in memories, torn between holding on and letting go.
The next afternoon, Lina signed the discharge papers, then went straight to the vis
visa office to pick up her passport and ticket.
When she returned to the villa, she saw Bruno and Kylie chatting in the living room while the bodyguard carried suitcases to the guest
foom.
They both looked up when she walked
Bruno lowered his eyes and explained, “Kylie’s parents are traveling abroad. She’s afraid to stay home alone, so she’s going to be here for a while. The Morris and Hudson families have always been close, and our companies work together. It’s only right I look after her.” He didn’t need to explain.
Because after today, there would be nothing left between them.
Lina nodded and turned to head upstairs.
“Oh, Lina,” Kylie called after her, “we’re going to a musical later. W
Want to come with us?”
Lina hadn’t even answered before Bruno cut in, “She’s still recovering. She should stay home and rest. Besides, musicals aren’t really her thing
the stam
Lina paused on the stairs, forcing a pale smile. “Yeah, I wouldn’t get it anyway.“!!
After they left, Lina’s bags were finally packed.
She stood in the middle of her bedroom, taking in the space that had once held so many of her hopes. Now it
. Now it just felt e
felt empty.!!
On the coffee table sat a framed photo–Bruno’s gaze in it was so gentle, as if she was his whole world. Lina brushed her fingers over the glass,
ss, then placed the frame face down.
At the door, she left her keys on the side cabinet and quietly closed the door behind her.
Three years ago, on a night of pouring rain, she’d found a bloodied boy at the end of an alley–like a fallen star she’d picked up off the ground.
Now, three years later, she quietly wheeled her suitcase away as the lights of the villa faded behind her, as if that star had never shone in her life at all.
