0.3
The biting cold wind made me cough uncontrollably. As I lay in bed, my body felt numb, and
it took a long time to recover.
My phone buzzed with messages from a part–time job group chat, offering various gigs. One caught my eye: dressing up as Santa and handing out candy for 100 dollars an hour.
If I work hard, I might even make enough to cover my medication for the next couple of days.
I fell asleep with a glimmer of hope, and the next morning, I showed up at the location… right in front of Elias‘ company.
Elias stepped out of the car, his arm around Vivian. When she caught my gaze, I quickly turned away.
After changing into my outfit, I bundled up tightly and got to work.
A group of kids suddenly appeared and swarmed me, eyes locked on the candy in my
hands.
The gifts were snatched away in seconds, and the kids behind me started causing a ruckus. Someone pushed me, and the whole group of us crashed to the ground.
I could barely move because of the pain in my legs when I heard Vivian’s mocking laughter in
the crowd.
A woman stormed over and slapped me across the face.
“Are you blind? You didn’t see my kid underneath you?”
I looked up and saw it was Elias‘ sister, Seraphina Sorrell.
Elias heard the noise and turned to look at me.
When Seraphina saw my face, she slapped me again, harder this time.
“Cressida Hale?! You’ve already disgraced my family, and now you’re trying to hurt my son?”
I was too weak to fight back, but Elias just stood there, coldly watching the whole thing.
The boss rushed over, pushing me onto the ground.
“You better apologize to this lady!”
I stubbornly refused. Vivian stepped forward, linking arms with Seraphina.
“If you don’t apologize, I’ll call the police.”
Hearing the word “police” broke me completely.
I didn’t want to end up dying in a police station.
Under everyone’s gaze, I was forced to bow. Seraphina wasn’t satisfied and insisted I kneel in
the snow for an hour.
- me.
Just when I felt like I was about to pass out, Lucian Duvall suddenly appeared and caught
“You people are insane!”
Lucian, my classmate and the other victim of the incident, rushed to my side.
After it all happened, he said he would take responsibility for me, but in my heart, there was no room for anyone but Elias.
Lucian and I both know we’d been drugged that nis
13:15 Fri, 27 Dec
But the video Vivian had provided, Elias believed it without question. Out of revenge, he used
his business connections to crush Lucian’s company.
Now, Lucian was drowning in debt, just like me.
He had pushed himself so hard to pay it off that he had injured his leg from exhaustion.
When Lucian helped me up, Elias‘ brow furrowed.
His face was dark as he stared at me.
“Pathetic. You’ll do anything for money, even put up with this just to treat his leg?”
My body felt frozen, and my legs were stiff.
Watching his angry expression, I managed to squeeze out a weak voice.
“So what? What does it have to do with you?”
My face burned with shame, and my whole body felt on fire.
Nosebleed after nosebleed, I tried wiping it away but only smeared it all over my face,
unable to stop it.
Seraphina gave me a disgusted look before dragging Vivian away.
Elias‘ gaze held more confusion and tension as he watched me.
He moved to approach, but Lucian stopped him.
“Stop bullying her!”
Lucian wiped the blood from my face, supporting me as we slowly made our way home.
In my feverish daze, I dreamt of Elias taking care of me, begging me to come back.
When I woke up, I realized it was all just a dream.
My forehead was burning, and I couldn’t stop coughing. Blood sprayed across the bed.
Lucian, who was making ginger tea, saw this and froze, his hands trembling.
“I’m so sorry. I’m taking you to the hospital now!”
I tried to speak, but the blood wouldn’t stop flowing.
He grabbed a towel to wipe it off and hurried me to the hospital.
After some emergency treatment, my condition was somewhat stabilized.
The doctor looked at me, hesitated, and sighed deeply.
“You need to rest. No more stress or emotional triggers.”
