Chapter 501

Willow said with a playful squint, "It stopped hurting ages ago. Don't you remember I have..." She paused, then continued with a knowing smile, "As for why I'm not resting at the hospital... wasn't it your idea to send me back to the village today?" If she hadn't overheard Soren and the others whispering—and if they hadn't insisted on rushing her back to Five Gate Village—she wouldn't have panicked over Aiden's safety. For a moment, she had genuinely believed he was about to face execution. Just thinking about how foolish she must have looked earlier made her wish she could vanish into thin air. But Aiden's voice was rough with emotion as he murmured, "Yet I was happy, Willow. You can't imagine how much it meant to me when you said, 'In life, we share a blanket; in death, we share a grave.'" "Stop talking!" Flustered, Willow clapped a hand over his mouth, glaring fiercely. "I'm warning you—not a single word about what happened today leaves this room. Or I'll never speak to you again."