That night in the underground parking garage, as soon as Heidi overheard the call, Emma grabbed her and pulled her into the car.Heidi screamed and struggled, but afraid of attracting attention, Emma had no choice but to silence her with a wrench. She went down so easily. Emma hadn’t even hit her that hard, yet she collapsed right away.She even had to haul “her” into the trunk and wipe the blood clean. How infuriating. Even in “death,” Heidi was still such a hassle! On the way to dispose of the body, Emma came up with the perfect plan. She drove back home and carefully wiped the burner phone clean with alcohol. Then, putting on disposable gloves, she stripped Heidi’s clothes off and put them on herself. Fixing her hair, she returned to the hospital parking lot and drove off in Heidi’s car. Halfway to her destination, she stopped in an area without surveillance and “picked up” Heidi. Then, she drove all the way to an isolated riverside in the outskirts. She changed
“Alright, since you can handle it yourself, I won’t interfere. I still have patient rounds to do. I’ll take Helen with me and get back to work.” With one hand pushing the medication cart, Zac took Helen’s hand with the other, leading her out of the room. Helen yanked her hand free. “If you’re busy, go be busy. Why are you dragging me along? I need to stay with my sister!” Her voice trailed off as she was pulled out the door. “Zac, are you trying to create opportunities for those two?” Helen suddenly realized in the hallway. Seeing that she had caught on, Zac shook his head in denial. “Of course not. Your sister still hasn’t fully recovered, and you never stop talking all day. It affects her rest. One person keeping her company is enough.” “But that person shouldn’t be Justin! If I can’t take care of her, we can hire a nurse.” “That’s just a waste of money. Didn’t Justin wrong your sister? Let him play nurse and make up for it. He can’t just get off scot-free, can h
That evening, Zac drove Helen home after dinner. The car pulled up on Mistletoe Street, and Helen unbuckled her seatbelt, ready to get out. “Bye-bye. Don’t forget to pick me up tomorrow morning.” “Got it.” She stepped out of the car and headed inside. The moment she pushed open the door, she stopped in her tracks. Seated on the living room couch were four men—Wilfred, Richard, Chase, and Alex—all sitting upright with tense expressions. The atmosphere was heavy, especially with the pressure radiating from Wilfred. Helen walked over. “Wilfred, you’re home early today.” Wilfred explained calmly, “Work wasn’t too busy today.” Richard, however, scoffed. “Oh, please. You’re practically living at the hospital these days. Do you even care if our brother gets off work early or not? I bet you’re ready to make the hospital your new home.” Helen swung her purse at him. “What do you mean ‘my home’? I’m staying there to take care of my sister, keeping her company at the
“The first article and everything that followed were all paid for by Emma. She hired the media to write them. As for the comments smearing my sister, aside from a few people jumping on the bandwagon, ninety percent of them were bots. The accounts funding those bots also had direct financial transactions with the people writing the hit pieces.” “Emma!” Helen gritted her teeth in fury, clenching her fists. “I knew it was her from the start! I called it!” “I wasn’t the one who uncovered this. It was Chase—he was the first to notice the unusual activity online.” Richard shifted his gaze to Chase, who was sitting quietly to the side. “Well done,” Wilfred praised. Chase pursed his lips, his cheeks flushing slightly as he lowered his head. Compliments still made him a little shy. “Look into Emma Xander. Dig into her connections and go through every detail of her bank records.” Wilfred’s expression darkened. He never dismissed conflicts between women as trivial. When jealousy
Early the next morning, two figures—one large, one small—lay sprawled across a soft, pink bed, fast asleep.The annoying ring of an alarm echoed through the room, relentlessly urging Helen to wake up. Still half-asleep, she lay slumped across the bed, eyes shut, blindly reaching around for her phone. “Hello?” Her voice was groggy and thick with sleep. “Babe, time to wake up. I’m about to head out to pick you up.” Zac, wide awake and full of energy, stepped out of his house and headed toward his car. “Okay, I’m getting up now.” “Wake up properly. I’ll be at your place in twenty minutes. You probably won’t have time to eat at home, so I’ll bring breakfast.” “Got it.” As soon as the call ended, Helen flipped over and buried her face in the pillow, stealing a few more minutes of rest. Meanwhile, Alex—whom she had carried into her room last night—woke up before her. Sitting up on the bed, he rubbed his sleepy eyes with his hands. Seeing his aunt still asleep, he
Zac quickly apologized, coaxing her, “It’s my fault. I’ll find a chance to get rid of him one of these days.” “That’s more like it.” Helen, satisfied with his response, dropped the issue and reminded him again, “And don’t you dare tell Justin about Alex!” “You can trust me. My lips are sealed.” This wasn’t something he should be the one to reveal. If anyone was going to tell Justin, it had to be Haley herself or Justin would have to figure it out on his own. Zac had no intention of meddling in their affairs. At most, he would offer a little assist from the sidelines. When they arrived at the hospital’s underground parking lot, the two grabbed their things and headed upstairs. Inside the director’s office, Zac and Helen sat on the couch, eating breakfast. “Mmm, this bun is really good. How many did you buy?” Helen asked, enjoying the taste. Then, suddenly remembering her sister, she quickly retied the plastic bag. Haley probably hadn’t eaten yet. She should take
Elena took in the scene before her, her hands unconsciously clenching inside the pockets of her white coat. “Zac is with this woman? Why?” she wondered. Didn’t he have a severe obsession with cleanliness? How could he be sharing utensils with her? Elena had just returned from a medical conference out of town when she heard rumors that Zac had a girlfriend. At first, she didn’t believe it. But now she had seen it with her own eyes. Their families had been close for generations. For as long as she could remember, she had known Zac. As a child, she used to run after him, calling him ‘big brother.’By the time she reached her teenage years, her feelings for him had deepened. In her mind, she and Zac were childhood sweethearts. She had followed in his footsteps every step of the way—both in academics and career. Wherever he studied, she worked hard to get into the same school. When he went abroad for university, she followed. But sadly, while she longed for love, h
“Helen, did you hear what your husband just said?” Helen shot a glare at Zac. How dare he throw her under the bus? Zac leaned in close, lowering his voice to whisper in her ear, “All the negative online posts have been taken down, and related keywords are blocked. It’s fine now.” “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Helen frowned. She had just been worrying for nothing. “I’ve been too busy and forgot to mention it.” “Ahem!” Haley suddenly coughed loudly, interrupting their hushed conversation. “Whatever you two lovebirds are whispering about, save it for when you’re home. It’s broad daylight—have some shame.” “Hehe…” Helen chuckled awkwardly before slipping over to her sister and linking arms with her. “Sis, Zac and I just got our marriage license not too long ago. The wedding hasn’t even been planned yet, so we were thinking… we’d love for you to design our wedding rings.” She had meant to bring it up before, but between the art exhibition and the car accident, she ha
Haley shook her head quickly, flustered. “No… I mean—no.” Then she realized how that sounded and corrected herself. “Actually, yes. I’m just hot.”Helen blinked in confusion. “Hot? The classroom has air conditioning. Was the sunlight from the window hitting her seat?” Helen wondered.Without missing a beat, she rushed over and tugged the curtains tighter, making sure her bestie didn’t get “sunburned.” She still needed Haley to hold onto that top spot. Otherwise, she would lose her excuse at home for going out to “study” with Zac.The pressure and tension of senior year finally came to a close. On the day of the college entrance exam, when everyone stepped out of the test hall for the last time, their faces lit up with genuine smiles—relaxed, free, and full of relief.Haley tossed aside her textbooks. Her summer break was filled with makeup shopping trips with Helen or third-wheeling her and Zac on their study-dates-turned-real-dates.That routine came to an end the d
Haley’s eyes shifted as she thought quickly. “But… I don’t really like guys who rank higher than me on exams.”She gave a light shrug and continued, “I mean, I think we should be focusing on school right now. Relationships can wait until after we get into college, right? What if we don’t even end up at the same school? Long-distance never works, and after a while, we’d probably drift apart. Don’t you think?”Was that a gentle rejection? It seemed like it. Haley wondered if she had been too blunt. Had she left him any dignity at all?They still had a whole year of high school left together. She didn’t want things to get awkward between them. A harsh rejection would only make everything more uncomfortable.Justin furrowed his brows, thinking for a long moment before giving a single reply. “Okay.”Then he slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked off.Haley stood there, completely confused.“Okay? What did he mean by that?“Did he understand what I was trying to say?
Emma and her little clique of schoolyard mean girls had Justin completely surrounded.“I’ll ask you one more time,” she said, smug and unbothered. “Will you be my boyfriend or not?”“No,” Justin replied coldly, his face unreadable.“Hey!” one of Emma’s loyal followers stepped forward, cracking her knuckles and getting way too close. “Do you even know who our Emma is? She’s the heiress of the Xander Corporation. She’s giving you a chance, and you should be grateful. You better say yes.”“What, you want us to beat you up before you agree?” another girl sneered.Justin didn’t flinch. His icy stare locked onto the girl who spoke, completely unbothered by the threat.Emma waved a hand to hold her crew back, pretending to be generous. Then she turned to Justin again, cocky and bold.“I like you way too much to have anyone rough you up,” she said sweetly. “But I heard you’re trying to get into Altiplano University in the capital. Here’s the deal—if you go out with me, I’ll have my dad
As soon as Justin sat down and pulled out the textbook for the next class, a hand suddenly reached out from beside him.“Hey, I’m Zac White,” Zac said.Justin glanced up with a cold look, then went right back to pulling out his notebook and pen—completely ignoring the extended hand.Zac awkwardly pulled his hand back, speechless.“Man… this guy’s seriously cold. What a show-off,” he thought to himself.The class flew by. When the bell rang, signaling the end of the period, Haley and Helen linked arms and headed off toward the bathroom. Zac immediately trailed after them.“Where are you two going? Take me with you.”“You planning on going into the girls’ bathroom, you perv?” Helen smacked his hand away, not wanting their classmates—or worse, their teacher—to get any ideas about the two of them dating.Zac scratched his nose. “Fine, I won’t go in the girls’ room… but I can go to the guys’ one, can’t I?”“Hmph!” Helen huffed, scrunching her nose playfully.Zac clutched his chest
At a top-ranked high school in Lincourt City, the bell rang.Students still lingering in the hallways or restrooms were urged to hurry back to class.Outside, the summer heat simmered, accompanied by the steady buzz of cicadas. Inside, the air-conditioned classrooms offered a much more comfortable escape.In Class 2–1 of the junior year, students hurried back to their seats. Just as the final chime faded, the homeroom teacher walked in, holding a stack of freshly graded exam papers.“For this round of mock exams,” she announced, loud and clear, “the top score in the entire grade once again goes to our very own Haley!”A wave of murmurs and applause followed. “Let’s all work hard and try to catch up to her next time!”She began handing out the papers in order, from the highest score to the lowest.After Haley got her paper, the next few went to her seatmate, Helen, and the student sitting behind them—Zac.“Work hard and catch up?” Helen muttered as she slid back into her seat, s
But what did it matter, even if she still loved him? The pain he caused her in the past was still there, lingering beneath the surface.They had loved, they had hurt, they had been entangled for years. But not every love story had to end with forgiveness and reconciliation.Haley couldn’t pretend the past hadn’t happened. She couldn’t smile and pick up where they left off, as if nothing had ever gone wrong.She would always remember that street in Merika State, when Justin turned away, picked Emma up in his arms, and left her standing there alone.Even if he had mistaken someone else for her, the pain he caused and the love he failed to give were real.And that wasn’t something she could ever forget.She could make peace with the past, but she could never erase it.Her heart ached, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she turned and walked away.*Years later, Haley passed away peacefully in her bedroom at the estate.That same day, Justin had gone out to the grocer
It was just a shame that life rarely worked out the way people wanted it to.*Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.Chase and Alex had grown taller and older. Haley’s once-small jewelry brand had not only found its place in the industry—it had grown into a globally recognized luxury label, known for bespoke, high-end pieces.As for Justin, he split his time between Haven State and Merika State. Whenever he wasn’t busy, he would shamelessly camp out at the estate, claiming he was just there to “see the kids.”Eventually, no one even bothered to call him out on it anymore.One day, Haley had a business meeting with a potential partner—a widowed single father. Somehow, Justin caught wind of a rumor that the man had feelings for Haley and was actively pursuing her. Word had it that she was interested too, and they were currently having dinner together at a restaurant.The second Justin heard that, he canceled a company meeting, boarded his private jet, and flew straight to Mer
As soon as Haley stepped into the room, Justin followed right behind her.It was the first time he had ever set foot in Haley’s room—the space where she lived in Merika State.“Get out!” she snapped.“Haley, I just wanted to see you. Please don’t make me leave, okay?”His eyes scanned the room. The walls, the shelves—everything was filled with Haley’s photos. There was even a custom-built glass display case, clearly made with love, housing her pictures from childhood to adulthood. It was something Evelyn had put together just for her, and it overflowed with affection.There were portraits of her alone, family pictures, and right at the top—photos of Chase and Alex.Justin looked at each one carefully, as if he were trying to piece together a life he hadn’t been part of, but desperately wished he had been.Then his gaze landed on a particular photo: Haley in her teens, wearing a soft pink-and-white hoodie with little bunny ears on the hood. Her pale skin, big round eyes, and brig
“Haley…” Justin’s voice was weak. There was so much he wanted to say, but he didn’t even know where to start.“I heard you’re sick?” Haley said.“I… I’m fine. I’m not really sick, I just—”“Take care of yourself. Heart problems aren’t like other illnesses. Just look forward. Let go of the past. Meet someone new. Live your life.”Justin fell silent. His head dropped, and the phone pressed against his ear was clenched so tightly in his hand that his knuckles turned white. He wrestled with the words for a long moment before finally managing to force out.“Okay.”But he knew. He wouldn’t meet someone new. Without Haley, what kind of life could he possibly call “living”?The call ended. Life went back to its quiet rhythm. Justin no longer clung to Haley or tried to find her. After one more day in the hospital, he threw himself back into work and took over the reins of RC Corporation.They had truly managed to part on peaceful terms.After returning to Merika State, Haley d