Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Betty took me to a hospital abroad for treatment.
When I was forced to swallow half a bottle of sleeping pills, all my organs had already failed.
Betty arrived just in time to save me.
I still remember that day, the elderly Betty knelt before me, begging forgiveness from me and
None of that matters to me anymore.
The tumor in my brain is like a ticking time bomb.
I could die any moment.
It’s just a shame-the last thing my father left in this world is now shattered too.
I carefully gathered the fragments of the thumb ring.
But no matter how I pieced it together, it wasn’t the original.
Three months into my treatment, Andrew found the hospital I was in.
I knew Betty had told him where I was.
After months apart, he looked no better than I did.
When he saw me, his eyes held a new wariness.
“Amanda…”
“Our engagement’s canceled. We’ve got nothing left but childhood ties. Why are you here?”
The moment I spoke, Andrew crushed me in his arms.
His grip felt like he wanted to fuse me into his bones.
Tears soaked my shoulder as he choked back sobs.
His cries escalated to ragged wails, words splintering between gasps.
“We’re not canceling anything. Didn’t we promise to be together forever?”
I blinked slowly, thrown by his sudden shift.
His “forever” belonged to ten years ago.
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Chapter 8
Back when my parents were alive, and we were inseparable.
When he’d lace his arm through mine, grinning about becoming my groom someday.
But a decade changes everything.
I shoved him away weakly.
Constant chemo had sapped my strength.
The doctors had already written my death sentence.
I won’t last the winter.
Half that bottle of pills would’ve finished me anyway.
“Andrew, I’m dying. Stop torturing me.”
“You and Kimberly are good together. You love her-I’m just duty. Since you couldn’t choose, I chose for you.”
“I’ve talked to Betty. She’ll bless your union.”
“You’re free.”
Something in those words snapped Andrew’s last thread.
He let out a soundless scream, collapsing at my bedside, weeping apologies.
“I’m sorry-I know it wasn’t your fault now. I’ll never contact Kimberly again.”
“Let’s go back to how we were, okay?”
“We missed thirty-one chances? I’ll give you thirty-one weddings. Just don’t leave me…”
Andrew begged me with swollen, red-rimmed eyes.
The sight turned my stomach.
I held out my hands.
“Here-where the motorcycle crushed my bones.”
“And here-where I took four stab wounds from that homeless man for you…’
“Three years. Thirty critical-condition notices. Signing them-what crossed your mind?”
“Wondering why I hadn’t died yet?”
Andrew went ghostly pale, speechless.
I looked away, my voice flat.
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Chapter 8
“You love Kimberly. You believe in marrying for love.”
“You could’ve told me. No need to stage those ‘accidents’.”
“I’m not hung up on you, Andrew.”
I kicked Andrew out of my hospital room.
After that, rain or shine, he’d stand guard outside my door.
From dawn till dusk.
Too scared to face me, he’d just steal glances.
I sighed and called Betty back home.
She stayed silent for a long moment.
“I’m sorry, Amanda. I owe you an apology.
But he’s still my son after all. He just wants to see you one last time.”
“He’s seen me. Send him away.”
That same day, Betty’s people escorted Andrew back home.
His muffled sobs echoed through the corridor.
Andrew knew this goodbye was forever.
I looked down at the cracked thumb ring, tracing its surface with
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