Chapter 2

When I woke up again, I found myself lying on the couch at home, still terrified from my experience. Liam came out of the kitchen with a slice of cake, making me jolt in shock.

To my surprise, I found that the stab wounds all over my body had disappeared. I wasn't in pain, either. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

Liam looked at me, gentle as ever. "Are you that stunned by the surprise? Hurry up and eat your cake. You were clamoring about wanting this, remember? I went to line up outside the store early this morning. Happy birthday, my gorgeous Izzy. I hope every day of your future will be as happy as today."

I broke out in a cold sweat when I saw his uninjured arm. It looked like I'd been reborn on the day of Liam's accident. The bloodiness of my past life was still vivid in my mind, and I wanted to flee despite having a high fever. I had to get away from Liam, who was a monster!

He didn't understand what was happening and thought he'd done something wrong to upset me. He followed me out of the residential area, still holding the slice of cake. The faster I ran, the clearer my mind became. Slowly, I stopped.

It was my birthday today and the day of Liam's accident. However, nothing had gone wrong yet. Our initial plan was to head to an art workshop in the afternoon—as long as I didn't ask for that drink and let Liam leave my sight, as long as the tragedy didn't happen, we would still be the same!

The memories of our relationship and our love flashed in my mind. I realized that I still loved him. And so, I decided to change this!

I turned to look at him as he approached me, his forehead covered in sweat. I forced out a smile. "I prepared a surprise for you, too. What do you think?"

He bopped me on the nose tenderly. "You're so playful even now—as expected of my mischievous little thing. If you scare me like this again, I'll… I won't let you have any of my cakes anymore!"

He swiped some of the cream from the cake and fed it to me. It was so sweet that it made me feel a little bitter. It was great that he was still my perfect lover and the outstanding young man I knew him to be.

…

After lunch, I used my birthday wish as an excuse to make him stay with me all day. That way, he wouldn't need to leave the house. We snuggled on the couch as we watched a movie.

As the seconds ticked by, my anxiety levels rose. Once the clock passed 6:00 pm, I sighed in relief.

Liam looked at me oddly. "Why do I feel like you're going to war? Why are you so nervous? Is it because you have to present your dissertation soon? Don't worry, okay? I'm here, and I'll make sure you graduate."

I smiled at him, feeling reassured.

"Oh, right. Do you want something to drink? You mentioned that your favorite coffee shop has released a new flavor. I'll go and buy it for you," Liam said.

My heart leaped to my throat, and I grabbed him anxiously. "No, I don't want it! I don't want coffee today."

When I saw him eyeing me like he thought I was sick, I said coquettishly, "It's a rare day off, and I just want to spend time with you. Don't tell me you don't want that."

He caressed my head dotingly. "What are you talking about, silly? It's your day, so we'll do whatever you want."

We continued like this until 8:00 pm. I figured the fated hour had passed, so I headed to the bathroom to wash up. Then, I heard Liam's phone ring. He answered it, and I vaguely heard him say, "Yes, sir. I'll be right there…"

I called through the glass door, "Are you going out?"

He quickly put on his jacket and scarf. "Our advisor said a renowned artist from abroad has dropped by for a visit—he wants us to bring our graduation projects over. It might help us get opportunities to study abroad! Where's yours? I'll bring it over with mine."

For some reason, I couldn't help feeling anxious. Still, I told myself the fated hour had already passed. Besides, the place where Liam's accident had happened was in the opposite direction of the campus.

I still felt anxious after he left, though. I called him every ten minutes and reminded him to come home earlier. An hour later, when I couldn't reach him anymore, I knew something had happened.

I ignored my wet hair and threw on some clothes before heading to campus. However, I was told that Liam had left an hour ago. I ran along the street, hoping against hope that I could stop the tragedy from happening. I was too late, though.

Amidst the screaming and the streetlights' dim glow, I saw the car repeatedly crushing Liam's arm as it had done in my past life. The goriness of the scene made my blood run cold.

"The driver's a rookie who just got their driving license—they didn't expect something like this to happen. They've offered to pay five million dollars as compensation, so you should settle this privately," a police officer told me as we stood outside the ICU.

I slapped him like a mad woman. "Settle this privately? How can we possibly do that? He's an artist! How do you expect him to ever paint again without his right hand? You haven't just taken his hand away—you've taken his life away! You've taken my life away!"

My best friend, Joey White, grabbed hold of me. "Don't be like this, Izzy. Liam needs to be treated, so we need that money. We can think of something after he's lost his arm, but what are you going to do if he dies? How will you explain this to his parents?"

I was on the brink of a mental breakdown. "Give him my life, then! I don't want him to be like this—I want him to go back to normal! I want him to have his right hand!"

Joey slapped me hard. "Wake up, Isabel Court! The accident has already happened. What else can you do about the situation? Liam's life is now hanging by a thread, and he's waiting for you to make the call to save him. Yet you're here complaining about how this affects you. What's the point of that?"

I collapsed on the floor, allowing the iciness of the tiles to suck away every bit of warmth in my body. In that instant, I felt like a walking zombie waiting for the devil to take me away.

Terror filled me, but Joey kept telling me there was still hope as long as Liam was alive. I slumped against her shoulder and cried my heart out. She didn't understand that all hope was already lost.