Chapter 4

As soon as the treatment option was devised, Leon, Zane, and Steve immediately went for a donor compatibility test. The results were out very soon. As it turned out, Leon's kidney was a perfect match for Giselle. When the doctor walked in with the consent form for the surgery, Leon immediately grabbed a pen and signed his name on the line before walking into the operating room. Seconds ticked by, then minutes, then hours. Just as everyone was at the height of their anxiousness, a new problem presented itself. A nurse ran out, her tone panicked and urgent. "We have a shortage of blood in the hospital. The patient needs a lot of blood for transfusion right now." Zane and Steve, who had been waiting at the door, immediately rolled back their sleeves and said, "We have the same blood type as Gigi. We can donate blood to her!" "But the patient has already lost a lot of blood. Neither of you will be able to give enough blood. It's better if you can gather more people to help." "There's not enough time to find other people. Both of us are enough. Take as much blood as is needed as long as Gigi is saved!" The nurse couldn't win over their arguments. So, she could only lead them into the blood transfusion center. The red light outside the operating room kept flashing nonstop, blurring Cheryl's vision. She had witnessed everything from the moment Giselle's health had acted up until the part where Zane and Steve went to donate blood on the spot for her. Her mind was currently drawing a blank. In her past life, Cheryl hadn't been at the scene when both Leon and Zane lost their lives. She only found out what had happened to them afterward. At the time, she had been deeply grief-stricken. She just couldn't understand why they would be so willing to give up their lives to save Giselle. But now, after everything that had happened, Cheryl finally understood why. It was simply because they were in love with Giselle. They were so deeply in love with her that they were willing to give up everything for her. It didn't matter if it was their marriage or their own lives at stake—they had rushed in without hesitation as one event happened after another. That was why Cheryl had never been able to beat Giselle at her game. Luckily, in her second life, Cheryl had already made up her mind to give up on them. She refused to be stuck in their pitiful love quadrangle anymore. The red light outside the operating room finally stopped flashing and went out. The doctor finally came out through the doors, wiping his sweat away. "Are you family? The operation was a success, and the patient will wake up soon. However, the person who donated his kidney needs to stay in the ICU for a while longer. The two people in the transfusion room have also passed out after donating too much blood. Are you able to take care of all four of them?" Cheryl shook her head. Her lips were dry and chapped as she said in a hoarse voice, "I have no relations whatsoever to the four people involved. But I can inform their family members about this. They'll be here very soon." Right after that, Cheryl sent a text message to the Kingsleys, the Thomsons, the Laurents, and Aaron, informing them of the operation. She was just about to leave when she heard a few nurses gossiping about her. "No relations to them whatsoever? Please. I thought she was the wife of one of the guys inside." "That's impossible. She can't be the wife. Who'd take it if their husband nearly threw his own life away for another woman? I bet those three young men in there are in love with the patient. Otherwise, they wouldn't be fighting each other to save her life!" Cheryl listened to them quietly and smiled silently. She couldn't help agreeing with them in her heart. They were right. Leon, Zane, and Steve had been in love with Giselle from the very start. And Cheryl would never let herself become the wife of either of them anymore. … Cheryl dragged her sore and painful body back home after that and saw her parents waiting for her in the living room. They frowned when they saw the cuts and wounds on her body. Cheryl didn't want them to worry, so she quickly thought up an excuse and fibbed her way through. It wasn't until they were told that the cuts would soon fade quickly that her parents relaxed. Then, they pressed a box into Cheryl's hands. "This is the marriage token the Sterling family has given you. Take good care of it. Dylan has also already received the marriage token that we sent over to them. "Earlier, Samuel, Alicia, and Benjamin called us asking about the marriage alliance. They even brought Giselle up, saying that their sons were just being kind to her but still truly loved you," Meredith said. "I don't know what happened between you all, so I didn't comment on it. Can you solve this by yourself? You're an adult now, and you also have your own opinions and know where to draw the line. So, your dad and I won't be interfering in this matter anymore." Cheryl never wanted her parents to worry about her anyway, so she promised them that she would settle this by herself. Over the next two days, Cheryl got someone to collect all the information they could find about Dylan and his family. She wanted to get to know them better. After getting an overall gist of the Sterlings, she then went to the local mall and started buying gifts for each family member according to their likes and preferences. These gifts were meant to be courtesy gifts for the family when she visited them for the first time. Cheryl shopped for an entire day. When she finally brought home a mountain of gifts in a large box, she saw Leon, Zane, and Steve waiting for her at her door. They had also brought a lot of gifts with them, nearly taking up all the space in the living room. When the trio saw the suspicious look on her face, they exchanged gazes with each other and started explaining themselves. "These gifts are from our family. They told us to personally apologize to you. But you saw the situation with your own eyes that day. Gigi's life was at stake, and she was only hospitalized again because of what you did to her. That was why we overreacted and caused you to get hurt. "Cheryl, the next time you want to get mad at someone, just do it to us. There's no need to involve our parents. And you also shouldn't blame Gigi for anything. After all, she's the true victim here." It was only then that Cheryl realized that the three young men had been forced to apologize to her by their own families. Also, she had an inkling that they were here to explain things to Giselle. Cheryl just wasn't in the mood to argue with them. So, she answered politely, "You can take your gifts back. I don't need them. I'd also never cause trouble for Giselle over such a trivial matter. I'm tired, so I'm going to bed." Then, she rubbed her eyes and took her phone out of her bag. Suddenly, the box holding the Sterlings' marriage token for her dropped out of her bag and landed by Leon's feet. He bent down to retrieve it. "What's this?" Zane and Steve turned to look. However, the moment they saw the box, their expressions immediately froze. "The marriage token box? You've already made your choice? Cheryl, who did you pick?"