When Damien woke up, I was standing by his hospital bed, arranging a bouquet of lilies in a vase.
Unexpectedly, my heart leapt into my throat. When I saw the dazed confusion in his pale eyes, I paused, taken aback.
Tentatively, I called out, "Mr. Grant?"
"Hmm."
He frowned, his voice hoarse as he asked, "Why am I in a hospital?"
"You were set up and got into a car accident. The police are investigating now," I replied with a smile. "I'll call Madam over."
He didn't protest. In fact, he barely spared me a glance, simply waving me away.
Outside the room, I gazed at his bloodless face through the glass, gripping my bag tightly.
The Damien from my past life was gone... dead, or perhaps something else...
I stifled the unsettling fear inside me and turned to leave.
The sky outside the hospital was bright and clear, barely a cloud in sight. I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the scorching sunlight.
"It's fine," I told myself. "This is a good ending."
Julius and I applied to schools abroad. Once the paperwork was done, I got a call from Damien.
He wanted to meet, his voice low and obscure:
"There are some things I need to ask you in person."
I agreed.
In a bright café, I saw a noticeably thinner Damien.
He was staring absentmindedly out the window. When he saw me, his eyes refocused, and he nodded at me.
He slid a document across the table: "This is his will."
I didn't understand. "Whose?"
Damien didn't say a word. He just looked at me, and from his gaze, I could read something. Silently, I picked up the document and began to skim through it.
Reading further, I couldn't stop the twitching in my temples. "He..."
"You read it correctly," Damien said in a low voice. "He left all of his inheritance to you."
I pressed my lips together. "You're fine now, so this will should be invalid. Why did you come to me today?"
"He also left me a note."
"A note?"
"On it, he told me never to love you."
I was stunned.
Damien leaned forward slightly, meeting my gaze. "I didn't come here for anything particular today.
"When I woke up, everyone kept saying I was hopelessly infatuated with you, that I had reduced myself to some pathetic sycophant."
"I find that idea absurd—how could I possibly fall for a woman like you? Olivia, what do you think?"
His eyes bored into mine, and I didn't know how to respond. Instinctively, I echoed his sentiment:
"It does sound absurd."
"You're the moon in the sky, I'm the dirt beneath it—we never crossed paths, so how could love come into play?"
He seemed satisfied with my words, nodding slightly before asking about something else:
"You're going abroad to study?"
"Yes."
"Got enough money?"
"It's manageable."
"If not, let me know. We did have some connection in the past, and I can't just watch you starve."
I looked into his deep eyes. There was a flicker of interest in them, a turbulent undercurrent of something menacing.
I smiled. "Understood."
I knew I couldn't delay my departure any longer.
---
Once I left, I had no intention of returning. As soon as we arrived overseas, I started looking into buying a house.
We got a large dog.
On moving day, I watched the cleaners tidy up. When I turned around, I saw Julius in the yard. He bent his knees slightly and called out to the dog.
It leaped onto him, covering him in fur.
He laughed.
I laughed too, so hard I doubled over.
Three meals a day, playful bickering, even the occasional argument—it was the life of an ordinary couple.
No threats, no intimidation, no coercion or humiliation, and no constant unease or surveillance cameras in every corner.
It was the life I had yearned for, and after so much hardship, it had finally arrived.
It hadn't come easy.
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I smiled uncontrollably. I ran straight into Julius's arms.
"I love you so much," I told him.
