Chapter 8

Margot lost consciousness before she knew if an ambulance had been called.

She lay on the ground for half an hour before Joey discovered her and rushed her to the hospital.

She finally regained consciousness after a day and a half only to find that her chest hurt terribly, as three of her ribs had been broken.

She felt so weak that she couldn’t summon any strength to sit up, and just breathing caused her excruciating pain.

Fred and Martha stayed by her bedside, their faces full of concern.

Charles repeatedly asked the doctor if there was anything that could ease her suffering.

Joey tightly held her hand, wiping the cold sweat that constantly formed on her forehead.

After the accident, it seemed as though everyone’s attention had shifted back to Margot. But only she knew that their concern wasn’t solely for her wellbeing.

“Margot, the doctor said the pain is temporary. Please bear with it, and you’ll start feeling better soon. May didn’t do it on purpose, so forgive her, alright?”

“It’s all my fault. I didn’t teach her properly, and she made a mistake. Gigi, if you want to be angry, be angry with me.”

“We’re all family, it was just an unfortunate accident. Don’t take it to heart, Gigi. Rest and recover, that’s what matters now.”

All morning, Margot heard a variation of those words countless times. They looked worried, but every word that left their mouths was just an excuse for Maisie.

It was unclear whether it was the physical pain or the aching in her heart that made Margot unable to stop her tears from falling.

The people in the room blurred into shadowy figures in the mist, their faces indistinguishable.

Perhaps it was a hallucination brought on by the pain, but her mind conjured up many vivid images.

Her parents, who used to call the doctor to dress a small cut on her hand; Charles, who knew she hated taking medicine and would always take it with her, no matter what it was, just to make her feel better; Joey, who would guard her every step when she sprained her ankle, ensuring she didn't walk a single extra step.

All of that was gone now.

When Joey saw her crying, his heart tightened, and he raised his hand to wipe away her tears. Just then, a nurse walked in.

“There’s a young girl outside the ward who fainted from emotional distress. Someone needs to go check on her.”

Upon hearing that Maisie had passed out, everyone immediately left to attend to her, rushing toward her room.

The once noisy ward instantly became empty, leaving only Margot in its silence.

Her tears, however, continued to pour uncontrollably.

She cried herself to sleep, and when she awoke, the room was still silent, and the pain in her body had not subsided.

The phone next to her pillow lit up intermittently. When she unlocked it, she saw a message from Maisie.

[You’re the one who’s hurt worse, but everyone is only concerned about me. You’re nothing but a joke, Gigi.]

Joey was gently blowing on a bowl of porridge before feeding it to her. Charles was racking his brain for all kinds of bad jokes, trying to make her smile. Fred and Martha were adjusting the blanket around her.

In the one-minute video, everyone gathered around Maisie as they comforted her.

“We know you didn’t mean it, May. Your sister won’t blame you. Please stop feeling guilty.”

“You’re upset, and it hurts us too. Don’t cry anymore, or your eyes will swell up. You’ll look worse.”

“Margot just needs to rest for a few days. It’s not serious. She’ll be fine. Please don’t worry.”

Each word felt like a knife, piercing Margot’s heart.

She tightly shut her eyes, barely managing to stop the tears, her nails digging painfully into her palms.

At that moment, one thought consumed her mind: On the day she left to marry, not a single one of them should come.

A week later, Margot was discharged from the hospital.

The doctor advised her to stay longer, but she shook her head, telling him she couldn’t wait anymore.

She was to leave for Northwatch to get married.

When she returned home, the villa was quiet, except for her phone, which kept vibrating with provocative messages from Maisie.

She ignored them all.

Later that morning, as she looked at a picture of Maisie having fun at an amusement park with their parents, smiling together on the carousel, Margot sat at the table and wrote a letter severing all ties with her family.

She then placed it in her parents’ room.

From now on, she would no longer be a daughter of the Johansons.

She no longer had parents or a brother.

At noon, when Maisie sent a video of Charles giving her a piggyback ride and promising to love and protect her forever, Margot called a few gardeners to dig up all the tulips in the backyard.

Charles had carefully planted all the tulips after learning that she loved them, and he had tenderly nurtured them for over a decade.

He had said that no matter where she got married, he would transplant the tulips there, as they symbolized his love for her.

But now, she no longer wanted his love.

That evening, when Maisie sent an audio recording of Joey setting off fireworks by the river and declaring she would always be the most important person to him, Margot took a box to the Griffins.

Inside it was the heirloom Joey had entrusted to her when he was seventeen.

Back then, she had joked about him giving her the heirloom so early, asking if he wasn’t afraid of what the future held.

However, Joey had only held her tightly, his eyes full of passion, and said, “Margot, the only person I want to marry in this life is you. If it’s not you, I’ll never marry at all.”

Now, she was getting married, and the groom was not him.

Suddenly she heard the sound of a car engine coming from outside.

Margot opened the door to find a middle-aged man in a suit standing there.

“Hello, Miss Margot. I am the butler from the Stewarts, Alfred Hampton. I’m here to take you to Northwatch.”

Margot nodded politely, grabbed the luggage from the side, and softly said, “Let’s go.”

Alfred took the luggage from her and glanced at the empty house.

“Don’t you need to say goodbye to your family?”

Veridian City and Northwatch were thousands of miles apart, and since she was marrying into a prominent family, it was unclear when she would be able to meet them again.

Margot shook her head and got into the car. “Drive, please.”

There was no need for goodbyes.

There would be no need for anything from now on because, starting today, she no longer had a family.

In the dark of night, the car slowly made its way to the airport.