Chapter 7

Three days before the wedding, Lawrence paid all the fees for the sky burial. On the same day, the news of Aaliyah and Jason's upcoming wedding made headlines in all the news outlets. Aaliyah and Jason's wedding would be held by the sea, and all the wealthy people in the city would attend. The celebrities in their circle also posted on Instagram to congratulate them, with more than a dozen trending topics. Two days before the wedding, Lawrence booked a flight to Sunset City. On that day, Aaliyah spent millions to set off a grand fireworks display across the city to celebrate in advance. Under the dazzling fireworks, everyone congratulated her and Jason on their happy marriage and wished them a lifetime of love. On the day before the wedding, Lawrence packed a box and set it ablaze, burning everything inside to ashes. Inside were the gifts Aaliyah had once given him, all the memories he shared with her, and the treasures he cherished most while in prison. But now, with his life nearing its end, these items held no meaning left. The Aaliyah he deeply loved would walk down the aisle with the man she loved, hand in hand. He thought she would be happy, they would have several children, and they would live happily ever after. Just like they had promised each other back when they were still together. The flames danced before his eyes, reducing all their memories of love to fragments, which vanished bit by bit with the flames. That evening, at the restaurant, Jason noticed Aaliyah’s distracted expression and felt a strange unease. “Aaliyah, are you still thinking about Lawrence?” Aaliyah snapped back to reality, took his hand, and spoke softly, “No.” “Jason, I’ve completely let go of him. Trust me, I’ll love you well from now on.” “From this day forward, you are the most important person in my life.” Jason finally smiled and nodded contentedly. After finishing their meal, the two planned to return home to prepare for tomorrow’s wedding. But just as they were about to leave, the chandelier above suddenly fell, striking Jason on the head. Blood gushed out instantly, and he collapsed unconscious on the spot. Aaliyah’s face turned pale as she rushed him to the hospital, where he was admitted to the emergency room. The doctor said he was bleeding heavily and needed a blood transfusion immediately, but the blood bank was running low on RH-negative blood. Someone had to donate enough blood to save his life. Aaliyah was frantic with worry and immediately ordered her assistant to search the entire city for someone with the same blood type as Jason to donate blood. The assistant conducted an urgent search and finally found the name of the person in the blood bank. Lawrence! He rushed to Aaliyah and reported, “Miss Bailey, there is only one person whose blood type matches Mr. Cox's, but he is...” Before he could finish, Aaliyah interrupted him. “I don't care who it is, we must save Jason, even if it means draining that person's blood. No matter the cost, do you understand?” The assistant said no more and hurriedly arranged for someone to bring Lawrence to the hospital. At that moment, Lawrence was holding his ticket, preparing to go to the airport, when he was suddenly taken to the hospital and forced into the blood donation room. He had no idea what was happening and struggled violently. The nurses couldn't proceed, so they had to go fetch Aaliyah's assistant. Upon seeing Lawrence, the assistant's face betrayed nothing but disgust. He had been by Aaliyah's side for many years and knew everything that had happened over the years, so he had no goodwill toward Lawrence. “Mr. Reed, bringing you here was Miss Bailey’s idea. Mr. Cox suffered a severe hemorrhage, and only your blood type matches his.” “Miss Bailey said that as long as it can save Mr. Cox, she wouldn’t hesitate to drain every drop of your blood.” “This place is filled with our people. I advise you not to struggle. Besides, you already owe Miss Bailey your life, don’t you?” As the words fell, Lawrence froze, and his struggles grew weaker. Yes, he already owed Aaliyah his life. And whether he donated blood or not, he was going to die sooner or later. It was just a matter of dying sooner or later. Thinking this, he gave up struggling completely. The needle pierced his vein forcefully, and he watched as his blood flowed out drop by drop, his face growing paler and paler. 400ml 600ml 800ml 1000ml... As more and more blood was drawn, the alarm from the machine sounded, and his vision grew blurry. He closed his eyes helplessly, feeling his life slip away with the blood. Aaliyah, this time, it's really goodbye... The alarm grew louder and louder until it finally became a straight line. The nurse screamed in horror, quickly pulled out the needle, and ran down the hallway. “The blood is gone. He... he's no longer breathing!”