Chapter 3

Jerald was wearing a bathrobe. When he saw Cathleen standing at the door, her face ashen and her whole body trembling, a hint of panic flickered in his eyes. "Cathleen? What's wrong?"

"Jerald..." Cathleen's voice was faint as she raised her feverish hand to grasp Jerald's sleeve. "I have a fever. I feel terrible... Can you take me to the hospital?"

Jerald reached out to touch her forehead. The scorching temperature made him furrow his brows tightly.

"It's severe." His tone was tense as he turned to get the car keys. "You should have told me sooner."

At that moment, Evelina emerged from the bedroom, wearing Jerald's shirt, the hem slumped suggestively over her thighs.

She insisted on going to the hospital with them. "Jerald, you're a man. How could you possibly know how to take care of a girl? I'll go with you."

With that, Evelina quickly changed clothes and affectionately wrapped an arm around Cathleen as they headed out.

Halfway to the hospital, Evelina's phone suddenly rang.

She glanced at the screen, and her face immediately turned anxious. "Yes? What? What's wrong with Snowball? ... Okay, I'll be right there!"

Hanging up, Evelina clutched Jerald's arm urgently. "Jerald, my cat is sick. The vet said it's serious. Can you take me there?"

Jerald frowned, looking between the pale and trembling Cathleen and the anxious Evelina, his gaze wavering between the two.

Cathleen's heart sank deeper.

She slumped weakly against the icy car window, looking at Jerald, her voice tinged with tears. "Jerald, I feel so awful..."

Jerald's eyes fell on her fever-flushed face, his throat moved as if he wanted to say something.

But in the end, he just took a deep breath, avoiding her gaze, his tone apologetic. "Cathleen, get out of the car for now. I'll have a friend come pick you up and take you to the hospital."

Cathleen looked at him in disbelief, tears instantly blurring her vision. "Jerald, are you really going to take her?"

Jerald didn't answer, just pulled out his phone from his pocket as if to make a call.

At that moment, Cathleen felt her world completely collapse.

She watched the man who once cherished her, choosing to abandon her in her most vulnerable moment for another woman. Her heart felt as if it was being torn in half. That moment was no less painful than when she was trapped in the raging fire that year.

"No need." Cathleen suddenly smiled. "Jerald, go ahead. I can manage on my own."

She got out of the car and hailed a taxi.

Each step felt like walking on shards of glass, the pain almost causing her to pass out.

She knew that from this moment on, things between her and Jerald could never return to the way they were before.

A cold realization swept over her, chilling her to the bone.

Cathleen felt her consciousness growing increasingly faint.

It seemed as if she was once again back in her childhood, in the midst of that blazing fire, crying out for Jerald as he rushed through the smoke to hold her tightly.

Back then, he promised to protect her forever.

But now, for the sake of Evelina's cat, he left Cathleen burning with fever on the roadside in the dead of night.

The next moment, Cathleen slipped into darkness.

The hospital's disinfectant smell was overwhelming.

Cathleen had been afraid of hospitals since she was a child.

After a while, her eyelashes fluttered.

She opened her eyes to see an IV drip dangling above, the clear liquid slowly dripping down the tube and into the back of her hand.

A chill ran through her.

"You're awake?" A familiar voice sounded by her ear. Cathleen turned her head to see Jerald sitting in the chair by her bed, his brows knitted, his eyes bloodshot.