Chapter 6: A Fleeting Dream
When Emilia woke up the next morning, her whole body felt feverish, and her head swam with dizziness.
After a day of exhausting labor on an empty stomach, her burn had become infected again. Emilia touched her forehead and realized she might have a fever.
Stumbling out of her room unsteadily, she saw Timothy adjusting his cufflinks as he stepped out of the bedroom.
Timothy frowned. “You’re just getting up now? I let it slide yesterday, and now you’re pushing
luck?”
“Have I been too lenient lately, letting you forget your place?”
“Don’t forget, you’re a servant in the Stewart household! Your murderer father has two years left in prison. You don’t want anything to happen to him, do you?” Timothy’s icy gaze was sharp enough to cut.
Emilia’s head felt like mush, her mind unable to process his words. She looked up at him, watching his mouth move, but the words blurred into incomprehensible sounds.
Seeing her dazed expression, Timothy grew even angrier and stepped forward to grab her arm.
Before he could touch her, Emilia collapsed, falling heavily to the ground.
“Emilia, stop pretending! Get up right now!”
Bob, hearing the commotion, rushed over. Taking in the scene, he tried to defuse the situation with a nervous smile. “Mr. Stewart, maybe she fainted from low blood sugar? She didn’t eat anything yesterday.”
“Didn’t eat?” Timothy’s anger flared. “Why wasn’t she given food?”
Bob froze, stammering. You told her not to eat, sir.”
“I said that, and she actually listened? Is she stupid, and are you just as stupid? Timothy snapped.
Kneeling, he lifted Emilia off the floor. The moment his hand touched her forehead, he felt the alarming heat radiating from her skin.
Timothy’s frown deepened–she was burning up with a high fever.
Without hesitation, he scooped her up in his arms. []
“Bob, open the door. I’m taking her to the hospital right now!”
Just then. Timothy’s phone rang.
“Timothy, I’ve been in a car accident. What should I do?” Sarah’s tearful voice came through the line. I
“How did you get into a car accident? Are you hurt? Timothy asked, his tone concerned. U
Sarah sobbed, struggling to get her words out. She kept pleading for him to come to her quickly. ||
Timothy hesitated for a moment before setting
Chaprik & Foti
“Bob, you take her to the hospital. I have something to handle.”
As Emilia sank deeper into unconsciousness, she seemed to slip into a dream.
In her hazy vision, she was gravely ill, on the brink of death. Timothy stood before her, his piercing gaze cold and terrifying. I
“You should’ve died long ago. You and your father–go to hell and repent to my father.” []
Then he turned and left without looking back, walking toward Sarah, who waited nearby with a radiant smile, throwing herself into his arms.
The dream shifted, pulling Emilia back to their school days. Back then, the school had strict rules, but whenever her menstrual cramps hit, Timothy would sneak out to buy her painkillers and hot milk, watching anxiously as she drank.
When Emilia finally opened her eyes again, it was only Bob by her side.
I had all been nothing more than a fleeting dream. I
n the hospital
Emilia spent five days in the hospital. Timothy didn’t visit her once, with Bob explaining that Mr. Stewart had urgent matters to attend to.
Bob also confided that Sarah’s “car accident had been nothing more than a minor scrape, and she hadn’t been injured at all.
Emilia laughed bitterly. None of it mattered anymore.
Only one week left.
On the day of her discharge, Emilia returned to her small room and moved the boxes containing Timothy’s old belongings into the bathroom.
She lit a lighter, its flame casting a determined glow in her eyes.
Without hesitation, she tossed the lighter into the box. In an instant, flames roared to life, consuming everything inside.
Watching the memories burn to ash, Emilia softly whispered, “Goodbye, Timothy.”
