Chapter 8 Gossip

The church was still quite crowded, and everyone was waiting to hear Bruce's answer.

After flashing them a cold smile, Bruce grabbed the bridal bouquet from Ivanka's hands and threw it on her. "Yes, I do," he hissed.

Ever since that day, people gossiped about Ivanka and her marriage. Although she was rich and had everything she could ever want, people believed that she did not have the thing that was valued the most in a woman's heart-her husband's love.

Hence, she became a joke to the most wealthy and popular people. Some sympathized with her, but others believed that she deserved what she got. Ivanka's life had turned into an endless pit of doom ever since that day.

She looked out the window and saw the bright moon glowing in the sky. The moonlight illuminated the room, including the photos of the woman smiling awkwardly in the room. She neither cared about the past nor wanted to think about it.

As she glanced out the window, a sudden chill crept over Ivanka's spine. Hopelessness and despair crashed through her heart, engulfing it.

The Xu family had abandoned her, and no one needed her anymore.

She stood up and walked towards the wall that was decorated with framed pictures.

At the same time, Liam was watching her on the surveillance monitor. 'What the hell is she doing?' he wondered. All of a sudden, he had a feeling that something bad was about to happen and quickly sat up straight.

He saw Ivanka walk up to a photo and take it off the wall. She was staring at the wall as though she was lost in thought. As Liam watched, his expression turned grim.

On the screen, he could see Ivanka lift her hand and wipe the wall with it, over and over again.

Something suddenly occurred to him. He immediately got up and rushed to the room where Ivanka was.

Inside the room, Ivanka kept rubbing her wrist over the now exposed sharp nail upon which the photo had been hanging. She was pale and her eyes were glassy. It was as though she was not feeling any pain at all. About a few seconds later, the nail slashed her wrist, and a stream of blood gushed from it. The pristine white wall was now stained red with Ivanka's blood.

She had locked the door from the inside, so no one could enter regardless of how hard they tried. She slumped on the ground and did nothing as the blood continued to gush out of her hand. All of a sudden, she heard a loud knock on the door, but she did not react. She just stared out the window blankly. She squeezed her eyes shut and tears started to pour down her cheeks.

"Ivanka, open the door, now!" Liam roared from the other side of the closed door. He kept banging on the door, begging her to open it, but she did not move an inch.

Liam turned red with rage. 'How dare you, Ivanka?' he thought to himself. She had left him nine years ago without saying goodbye and now, she was leaving him forever.

Liam could not let that happen. Even if she wanted to kill herself, she had to ask him for permission first. After all, her life was in his hands now. He was unwilling to let her die, no matter how badly she wanted to.

"Open the damn door, Ivanka!" Liam roared. Seeing Liam kicking and banging on the door fiercely, Tim walked over to him. "Open the door for me!" Liam ordered with a grim expression.

Tim gave him a nod and said something over the intercom. Within seconds, a group of guards rushed over and kicked the door open.

The minute the door was open, Liam could smell the blood in the room. His heart shattered into pieces as he rushed inside.

"Tim! Turn on the lights!" he yelled. There was a pain in his voice that reflected the pain in his heart.

As soon as the lights were turned on, the room became as bright as a summer's day. Liam saw Ivanka sitting in a corner of the room with her eyes closed. She was unconscious and there was a pool of blood around her.

Liam's heart twisted into a knot as he lunged forward and carried her in his arms. "Doctor! Somebody call Dr. Wu!"

His loud voice shook the whole room. Ivanka felt weak. Her body felt as light as a feather in Liam's arms. She was hallucinating. She saw herself walking on a bed of fresh snow, without any pain or injury. However, she seemed to be lost and wandering around mindlessly. Ivanka was confused and did not know where she was.

She heard the faint sound of someone calling her and tried to listen more carefully.

"Wake up, Ivanka!"

The familiar voice came again. Although she was certain that she had heard it somewhere, she could not make out who it was.

At the same time, Liam placed her on the bed. The walls were all white and smelled of disinfectant. A doctor was on his phone, anxiously talking to someone.

Liam sat next to the bed, looking at Ivanka's pale face with tears in his eyes. Her breaths were very shallow and her lips were starting to turn pale. The blood from the IV bag kept flowing into her body through the drip. Her wrist was wrapped in gauze.

"Wake up, Ivanka!" Liam screamed, looking at her unconscious body. He felt a strange sense of pain in his heart. Was he going to be separated from her again? If he had let her go, things would have been much better. But now, she was as fragile as a thin sheet of ice. He could not bear to lose her again.

"Don't you want to leave, Ivanka? Open your eyes! Wake up... I'll let you go! If you wake up, I will let you go, okay?" Liam said, slowly stroking her face.

However, Ivanka's eyes were closed shut and she looked lifeless.

"Mr. Xiao," Doctor Wu said as he walked over. Liam figured that he was about to give him some terrible news.

"What's the matter?" Liam asked, his gaze still fixed on Ivanka.

"Mrs. Xiao's blood is very rare to come by. I have asked several hospitals and clinics all over the city, but none of them have any," Doctor Wu said with a heavy sigh.

"I don't care! Find it somehow. Keep looking. Find out every person who has ever donated her blood type, call them up and tell them that they will get a hundred thousand dollars for every 200CC of blood they donate. I am giving you fifteen minutes to get this done," Liam said in a stern voice.

Doctor Wu nodded and continued to talk to people over the phone.

Fifteen minutes later, he got off the phone, walked up to Liam and informed, "There are five donors who are willing to give blood at XH Hospital. We need to take Mrs. Xiao there right now."

Liam gave him a nod and said, "Get the helicopter ready!"

XH Hospital was located in the central area of B City. It was almost 1700 kilometers away from A City.

However, they had no choice but to get there as quickly as possible.

A beautiful mountain range surrounded the XH Hospital. The medical staff were prepared with a stretcher and all other equipment necessary to receive Ivanka.

The loud noise of the helicopter's propeller made all the doctors and nurses close their ears. However, they did not care about the wind or the dust. They were only concerned about Ivanka, the patient.

Once the helicopter landed, several men dressed in black suits helped push Ivanka's wheelchair out. The doctors and nurses saw a girl's deathly pale body, covered in a blanket. They instantly understood that the situation was much worse than they had anticipated.