Chapter 6

For the next three days and nights, Ariel burned with relentless fever, slipping in and out of consciousness. In her delirium, she kept dreaming of the 18-year-old Keith. She dreamed of his rain-soaked shoulders, the way he always walked on the traffic side of the road to shield her, and the eyes that once reflected her every smile. But in every dream, the warmth would always fade into nothingness. The 28-year-old Keith kept choosing Natalie, and their silhouettes faded farther and farther away as they walked side by side. Ariel tried to call out to him, but no sound came from her throat. When she jolted awake from the nightmare, Keith's furious voice echoed in her ears. "Why isn't she awake yet?" Through her blurry vision, she saw him standing at the hospital door, shouting at the hospital director with bloodshot eyes. "If she doesn't wake up soon, you'd better shut this place down! I want you and your crappy doctors out of Zexville!" Upon noticing Ariel's stirring, Keith instantly rushed to her bedside. "Ariel, you're awake?" Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his voice was rough and low. "Why didn't you call for help?" A tremor rippled through Ariel's chest. For a moment, she thought back to when they were younger. Keith used to sit by her bedside when she had a fever, anxious yet gentle. But that fleeting warmth was quickly shattered by the memory of what happened before she blacked out. Struggling to sit up, she hastily signed, "Natalie ordered her bodyguard to kidnap me. I want to call the police." "I know," Keith replied grimly. "But it was just a childish prank she took too far. She already knows she was wrong. She even asked me to apologize to you on her behalf." His tone was calm and casual, as though he was talking about nothing more than a harmless spat between children. Ariel's eyes reddened with fury. Her movement grew so frantic that she nearly ripped out the IV, blood flowing back into the drip bag. "What if I insist on pressing charges?" "I've already punished her." Keith frowned unhappily. "She acted out of line, so I confined her for a day to reflect." Ariel froze for a moment. Then, a quiet, bitter laugh escaped her lips, making every wound on her body ache. She signed, "She threw me into a vat of corrosive chemicals. My entire body is burned, and you're telling me the culprit gets one day of confinement? Is that a punishment? Or are you just protecting her from me?" Her signing was frantic, like a trapped butterfly beating its wings in anguish. Something in Keith's eyes flickered with guilt. He reached out and caressed her head gently. "Stay in the hospital and behave. Don't make trouble." But there was a hint of warning in his voice. "If I give the order, no one in the country will dare to take your case." Ariel clenched her fists so tightly that her nails cut into her palms, blood pooling in her hands. He was blindly defending Natalie again. Just then, Keith's phone buzzed. Ariel glanced at his screen and saw a flood of unread messages. She didn't need to guess to know who they were from. "There's an emergency at work. I'll come back later," Keith said flatly. But the flicker of desire in his eyes betrayed him as he turned to leave. As soon as the door shut, Ariel smiled bitterly. The last trace of light in her eyes faded completely. She checked her phone. Only three days remained until her fake death. Natalie's latest post on her Instagram was uploaded three minutes ago. It was a series of snaps flaunting expensive gifts. The caption read, "It feels so good to have someone to rely on. Thank you for your endless love." In every photo, her hand was intertwined with a man's. Their matching wedding rings were gleaming for all to see. Ariel knew the man was Keith and also understood that Natalie had posted it to show off. The ring on Natalie's finger was identical to hers. She stared at the diamond on Natalie's ring for a long moment. To complete this charade, Keith had even commissioned two of the same wedding rings. Perhaps his love had been divided between two women from the start. It was just that one got more while the other got less. Ariel's mind drifted back to the day Keith had knelt before her. She remembered the words he had said to her. "Ariel, will you marry me? I'll love you with all my heart, for the rest of my life. It turned out that the promise only lasted five years. Her smile hardened. She slid off the multimillion-dollar ring and tossed it into the medical waste bin like it was nothing. She was done with Keith Ford for good.