Sabrina left in a rage, Mom's loud shouts disappearing with her.
As the car drove right past me, I caught sight of Joshua's smug face.
He thought that he'd won. After all, everyone had turned against me, and I was now as pitiful and weak as a bug. Yet, I didn't care.
I didn't care for my parents, Sabrina, or Tiana. I didn't want any of them anymore.
Since Joshua wanted them so much, I would just give them all to him.
That was what I thought.
However, probably because I was in such a bad situation, I just couldn't stop myself from thinking about the terrible things that had happened to me in the past. Those tiresome memories that I'd tried so hard to get rid of just kept flooding my mind.
I angrily kicked the snow away from my feet as I marched forward, trying my best not to cry despite my tingling nose.
I kept on walking in the thick snow until both my legs were frozen numb and I was finally able to stop thinking about my terrible past.
At last, I found shelter from the snow and even managed to hail a cab on the way. However, just as the cab slowed to a stop, the wheels suddenly lost their grip on the road and skidded toward me, knocking me off the path.
The cab didn't hit me too hard, but I was knocked flat on my face in the snow. I'd been walking so long in the freezing snow that a bout of hypothermia hit me, and I ended up blacking out on the ground.
…
When I gained consciousness again, my entire body ached as if I'd just been run over by a truck.
My head felt heavy, and my eyelids were like lead. I felt my body burning all over, and my throat also felt like it'd been sliced open.
I fought to open my eyes. Then, I caught sight of a beautiful young woman sitting next to the bed with bright, lively eyes.
My voice was hoarse as I asked, "Where am I?"
The young woman was overjoyed when she heard me speak. "You woke up! That's such wonderful news! This is the hospital, by the way. You've been having a high fever, and you've been out cold for two days."
She leaned so close to me that I could feel her breath against my face. It was hot and a little ticklish.
It had been a long time ever since I'd been in such close proximity with someone of the opposite gender, and I couldn't help scrunching up my face.
She immediately straightened up, her ears turning slightly red, as she began filling me in on the details of what had happened.
She introduced herself as Bianca Kidston. She was looking to make some quick money to help pay for her dad's treatment by working as a cab driver when she wasn't at work in the office.
She swore that she'd been driving very carefully and hadn't thought that her car would still end up skidding and losing control.
Luckily, I hadn't suffered any serious injuries and had escaped with just a sprained wrist.
Other than that, the doctor said that I was severely anemic and had dangerously low blood sugar. Also, since my high fever wouldn't go away, the doctor had started to worry that I might've caught pneumonia, so Bianca had decided to stay and take care of me.
I looked at Bianca. Her long hair cascaded down her shoulders in huge curls. She had just a touch of makeup on her face, and her huge, dewy eyes were pure and innocent, as if she hadn't been polluted by the evils of the world just yet.
I glanced at her coat. I couldn't tell which brand it was from, but the expensive-looking fabric and neat stitching told me that she couldn't lie to save her life.
But I didn't expose her bluff. On the contrary, I was grateful for her companionship at this time.
I said, "Thank you. But you know, you don't really have to stay with me here like this. You could've just told the insurance company to send their agent over."
Bianca was honest with me. "I thought of that at first, but the police and nurses couldn't get a hold of your family members, so I had no choice but to come along with them."
So, that was the case.
I'd bet that everyone else must still have been worried sick over Joshua and Andy, with no time to spare for me.
Just then, my phone suddenly rang loudly.
Bianca showed me the screen, which showed that "Wifey" was calling me.
Bianca was quite shocked. After all, it turned out that I had a wife—and to think that I'd never even bothered calling her after having been hospitalized for two days. That had to be completely unheard of.
I wanted to tell Bianca to reject the call, but she'd already answered it on my behalf before I could stop her. She even turned on the loudspeaker for me for convenience's sake.
Sabrina's voice then came from the phone. "Ashton Jenkins! Where the fuck have you been these past two days?"
I rolled my eyes, not wanting to waste my breath on a dumb woman like her.
Sabrina's voice turned cold. "I don't care where you are right now—you'd better come over and apologize to Joshua and Andy this instant!
"Don't you know that the doctors said Andy faints easily when he gets triggered because of all the trauma he went through last time? You ruined Joshua and traumatized his son! Don't you feel ashamed of yourself?"
I frowned in disgust. But before I could say a word, Sabrina continued, "Mom and Dad are also here. They said that they'll forgive you if you get down on your knees and ask for Joshua's forgiveness.
"Hasn't it always been your wish to reconcile with your parents? This is a golden opportunity for you. You're going to regret it if you don't come over right now."
I chuckled coldly. Just as I was about to speak, Bianca beat me to it.
"He can't make it because he's dead. His body is at the morgue right now. Why don't you try looking for him there? You might not even see his ashes if you wait any longer."