Chapter 4
The injuries combined with severe blood loss had me shaking all over.
I forced myself to stand up, wanting to go to the bathroom to splash some water on my face.
Just as I reached the door, I heard the hushed whispers of nurses outside:
“Ugh… that Ms. Maya is totally fine. Her blood work is completely normal…”
“Shh, keep it down… Mr. Ashford insisted on the transfusion… I tried to talk him out of it…”
“…Poor thing, that Ms. Winters got practically drained dry…”
I leaned against the wall, suddenly feeling utterly ridiculous.
When I turned around, Maya was already sitting up, watching me with an amused expression.
“Scarlett,” she said softly, “thanks for saving me.”
I gripped the edge of the sink to keep from collapsing: “What the hell do you want?”
“What do I want? I just want Reid.” She tilted her head with an innocent expression. “Do you know what these past ten years have been like for me? No matter what I did, he wouldn’t spare me a single glance. I was like some pathetic clown.”
‘Every time I saw him smile at you, I wanted to claw your face off… But thank god, thank god I finally lived to see this day.”
she suddenly threw off the covers and got out of bed, grabbing my wrist:
‘Scarlett, let me tell you something-you’ve already lost this game.”
she shoved me, making me stumble backward as my vision went black in waves.
Just then, the hospital room door suddenly burst open-
‘Maya?! Why are you out of bed?” Reid rushed in, but frowned when he saw me collapsed on the floor. “What did you do to her now?”
Maya’s eyes immediately filled with tears:
‘Reid, I just wanted to thank Scarlett… but she suddenly just…”
Reid kicked me disgustedly a couple times:
Quit playing dead! Get up!”
My vision was already blurring, and in my daze, my thoughts drifted back to childhood.
was eight that year, Reid was twelve.
“‘d scraped my knee in the garden, and he carried me all the way home on his back, running while saying:
‘Don’t be scared, Scar. I’ll get you to a doctor…”
Back then, his eyes held stars.
When did it all change?
Was it when Maya first appeared at the Ashford family dinner?
Or when she “accidentally” fell into the water and Reid jumped in to save her?
Ten years.
I used to think he and I would be one of those rare pure love stories in high society circles. I never imagined she’d spend ten years slowly poisoning our relationship.
“Reid…” Maya’s weak voice pulled me back to reality. “Scarlett really doesn’t look well… maybe you should…”
“Maya, you’re just too kind.” Reid cut her off. “She brought this on herself.”
Just as my consciousness was about to fade completely, the hospital room door was suddenly thrown open.
I struggled to lift my eyes and saw Ronan standing in the doorway, impeccable in his suit but with a stormy expression.
When his gaze fell on me, his pupils contracted sharply.
“Bro?” Reid was obviously panicked. “How did you…”
