Chapter 22
“Olivia, you’ve been asleep for a month. Why won’t you wake up? I miss you so much…” Ethan murmured, holding her hand tightly.
Suddenly, he felt the faintest movement in her fingers. He froze, forcing himself to calm down and
staring intently at her hand.
She moved. She really moved.
Overcome with joy, Ethan quickly called for the doctor. After a flurry of activity, Olivia finally
regained consciousness. She was still weak, though, and drifted back to sleep soon after.
Ethan, overwhelmed with relief, didn’t notice the fleeting, complicated look Olivia gave him the
moment she woke up.
In the following days, Ethan never left her side. He helped her with rehabilitation, stayed with her
around the clock, and only left when absolutely necessary.
But since waking up, Olivia had been unusually quiet. She spent most of her time staring into space, barely acknowledging Ethan’s constant chatter.
He noticed something was off, but assumed it was just part of her recovery and didn’t press her.
A few days before she was fully recovered, Olivia began finding small excuses to send Ethan away.
At first, he worried that she’d disappear the moment he stepped out. But each time, when he
returned, she was there waiting for him like nothing had happened. Gradually, his guard dropped.
That day, Olivia once again told Ethan she was craving chicken noodle soup from Maplewood and
Sticky Toffee Pudding from Sunmere. Without thinking too much of it, Ethan grabbed his keys.
“Be good and wait for me at home, okay? I’ll be back soon. If you think of anything else you want, just message me.”
But as he drove, a strange anxiety settled in his chest, eerily similar to the feeling he had the day of her accident. His heart pounded uncontrollably. Instinctively, he pulled out his phone and called
her.
“We’re sorry. The number you dialed is currently powered off,” said the automated voice.
The moment he heard it, dread seized him.
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He made a sharp U–turn and sped home, running red light after red light. When he arrived, he didn’t even turn off the engine. He leapt from the car and rushed inside.
The house was empty.
Room by room, he searched the villa, but no sign of Olivia anywhere.
The unease that had been gnawing at him all day now turned into full–blown panic.
On the coffee table in the living room sat Olivia’s phone and a letter.
With trembling hands, Ethan picked it up and unfolded the page.
Ethan,
I had a long dream.
In it, you were just like Sebastian and the rest of my family.
You only had eyes for Lillian.
Even because of a few words she said, you tortured me endlessly.
The dream ended with me jumping into the freezing river, no struggle, no hesitation, no regrets.
After waking up in the hospital, it took me a long time to accept that this reality was different from
the dream.
But even so, I still couldn’t accept it completely.
I couldn’t pretend none of it ever happened.
I know you had the same dream too. That’s why you’ve been so afraid of losing me.
There are so many things I want to say, but at the same time… maybe there’s nothing left to say.
I hope your life from now on is peaceful and healthy.
Just without me in it.
As Ethan finished reading, everything that had felt off over the past few weeks suddenly made
sense.
She had been reborn too.
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Tears fell from his eyes freely.
The sorrow became unbearable, and just before he lost consciousness, he heard the beeping of
machines and urgent voices around him.
Pain shot through his body. When he opened his eyes again, he was in a hospital emergency room,
dazed and confused.
It was just a dream.
But why even in the dream couldn’t it have a happy ending?
Olivia, do you really not want to forgive me?
I’m coming with you.
As the last tear slipped from the corner of Ethan’s eye, the heart monitor let out a piercing flatline.
The once–steady rhythm on the screen was suddenly yanked straight, like an invisible hand had pulled the pulse out of his body until only a blindingly straight line remained.
