Chapter 5

"Mr. Alex, please calm down. We'll do everything we can to save her…"

Alex's voice trembled, then he roared:

"Get your director here! I want the best doctors, the best equipment! Money is not an issue!"

Soon, the entire floor was cleared, and top medical teams rushed in from various places.

I stood at the corridor corner, watching Alex pace like a trapped beast outside the operating room.

"Alex, you're hurt too. Go get your wounds treated first."

Alex's friends tried to persuade him.

"Get out!"

Alex shook them off, his voice trembling,

"I'm not going anywhere until Bethany is out of danger."

"Alex, this car accident was an accident. If she hadn't insisted you speed on that winding mountain road…"

"Shut up!"

Alex slammed his fist against the wall,

"It's my fault for not protecting her."

The operating room door suddenly opened, and a nurse hurried out:

"The patient has a ruptured kidney and needs an immediate transplant, but there's a shortage of donors…"

Alex immediately rolled up his sleeve.

"Take me for a compatibility test now."

"Alex! Are you crazy?!"

His friends were shocked and stopped him,

"You've only been with Bethany for a few days? Is it worth it?"

Alex's gaze was frighteningly cold:

"If something happens to her, I won't be able to live either. Not just a kidney, if it saves her, I'd even give my heart."

Those words pierced my heart like a knife.

I staggered back two steps, accidentally knocking over a potted plant in the hallway.

With a loud crash, Alex turned his head and finally saw me.

The moment our eyes met, Alex's expression stiffened for an instant, but quickly returned to normal:

"You… what are you doing here?"

I raised my right hand, which was still in a cast,

"The day of the mall fire, I fell down the escalator."

Alex's expression was momentarily strained, but he quickly recovered:

"Oh. Well, get some good rest then."

With that, he turned and followed the nurse for the compatibility test, not sparing me another glance.

I watched his retreating back and suddenly remembered when he was fifteen.

Alex had a persistent high fever, and I snuck off campus overnight to buy him medicine, resulting in me breaking my leg.

At the time, Alex held me and said:

"Alice, from now on, I'll protect you."

But now, he couldn't even bother to ask "Does it hurt?"

The compatibility results came back quickly: a perfect match.

Alex signed the consent form without a word and entered the operating room that same afternoon.

Through the glass window, I watched the two people lying side by side on the operating table.

Alex turned his head and gently kissed the forehead of the unconscious Bethany.

This scene finally broke my last line of defense.

The difference between love and not loving could really be this stark.

It took me eighteen years to try and get into Alex's heart, and Bethany took only a few days to get all of him.

I gave a self-deprecating smile. The last bit of admiration I had for him finally vanished completely.