Chapter 5
Everyone immediately lost their shit, painting fingers at Victoria:
“You’re such a slut, and now you’re trying to frame Sophia?”
“Exactly! That’s so fucking sick!“]
Through all the shouting. Kerian finally snapped: Everyone shut up and get the fuck out.
D
He told Sophia to wait in the car while he stayed behind with Victoria, who was covered in cuts and bruises.
Victoria was shaking like a leaf, staring at Kerian with hatred: “You saw the security footage… Why are you lying?”
Kerian’s jaw tightened: “Vic, Sophia’s just a kid. If this shit gets out, it’ll destroy her reputation”
Victoria almost started laughing, but her eyes were burning with tears. “She hired guys to beat me up and assault me, and all you care about is protecting her fucking reputation?
Kerian reached out to touch her, but she jerked away from him.
He sighed, his voice getting softer: “She didn’t mean it. She probably just got emotional…”
Victoria’s heart nuned to stone. She spun around to leave.
Kerian grabbed her wrist hard: “You’re fucked up bad. I’m driving you to the ER.
Don’t She
e tried to
yank free, but he held on tighter.]
“Stop being dramatic,” he said, trying to sound gentle. “Why are you losing your shit over some college girl?
He basically dragged her to the car.
Sophia was sitting shotgun, turning around to flash Victoria this smug linle smile
“Victoria, sorry a
about earlier! I was just messing around with you. Did I scare you?”
Victoria ignored her, staring out the window instead.
They were halfway there when suddenly this massive truck came barreling toward them in the wrong lane, headlights blazing right into the car!
“CRASH-
The impact was brutal–metal twisting, glass exploding everywhere. Victoria felt this crushing agony, then everything went pitch black.
Right before she passed out, she saw Kerian dive t
toward the passenger seat, wrapping Sophia up in his arms to protect her.
When she came to again, that awful hospital smell hit her nose.
Victoria struggled to open her eyes and caught the doctor talking:
Which
“Mr. Howard, we had a massive multi–car pileup on 1-95 tonight. The hospital’s swamped and we only have one OR available. W patient should we prioritize?”
Through her blurry vision, she could see Kerian standing nearby with bandages on his arm, holding Sophia close:
“Take Sophia first.”
1
The doctor looked confused: “Sir, this other patient has much more severe injuries…”
7 said Sophia goes first.” Kerian’s tone was final.[]
Victoria felt like someone had just stabbed her in the chest, the pain so bad she couldn’t breathe.
She flashed back to three years ago when her appendix nearly killed her.
had been i
Kerian had been in Europe closing some massive deal, but he’d flown back overnight the second he got the call.
Outside the operating room, he’d been white as a ghost, holding her hand so tight he was shaking: “Don’t be scared, Vic. I’m right here. If it hurts, just squeeze my hand.”
And now…
The pain hit her in waves, and Victoria started fading again.
She’d never doubted that Kerian had loved her once
But apparently love really can change.
When she woke up again/the room was completely empty]
Out in the hallway, she could hear nurses gossiping:
“That poor girl, beat up that bad and not a single person to look after her.||,
“The girl next door’s totally different–her boyfriend’s so sweet. Dude’s injured himself but the moment he heard she needed blood, he donated without hesitation. He hasn’t left her side…“]
Victoria listened quietly, gripping the bed sheets so hard her knuckles went white.
Her phone buzzed with a text from
Kerian:
[Vic, Sophia’s in rough shape and I can’t leave her alone. Try to get some rest
She stared at the screen for the longest time but didn’t reply.
A few minutes later, another message popped up–from Askhan:]
Just heard about your accident. How bad is it? I’m flying back to take care of you
Victoria’s fingers paused, then she typed back: [Don’t [|]
He called immediately. She declined, then g got another text [Vic, don’t be stubbom.
Reading hus message made her eyes burn with tears. Finally, she just wrote back
[Really, don’t Just focus on wedding prep. I’ll be there soon.]
