Chapter 2

His face instantly darkened, his impatience palpable. "Sarah! Stop threatening me with death! What else can you do besides torture me with these tactics?"

My steps faltered, and I stared at him, stunned.

When I first witnessed his affair, I couldn't cope.

Every time the image replayed in my mind, I'd throw up violently.

In just seven days, I'd lost over fifteen pounds.

I cursed him with the cruelest words, slapped him dozens of times, and left a permanent scar on his shoulder with a scalpel.

He knelt in the hallway of the military hospital, admitting his wrongs in front of all his colleagues.

But I still couldn't sleep.

After more than ten days of sleepless nights, I had a mental breakdown and accidentally fell off a cliff.

I spent a week in the ICU, barely clinging to life.

Since then, he'd been almost inseparable from me, enduring my anger and abuse, constantly watchful.

So, in his mind, all of that was just my way of fighting for attention?

Ryder looked at my bloodless face, his tone softening slightly.

He turned and retrieved a takeout box from his jeep. "Your favorite strawberry pudding. I drove halfway across the city to get it."

I looked at the familiar packaging, my stomach twisting.

On the dashcam footage, Sara's soft, playful voice was still ringing in my ears: "Ryder, I'm hungry…"

He had specifically driven to buy her a chocolate lava cake; the strawberry pudding was just an afterthought, an extra dessert.

My voice was tired. "I don't like that flavor anymore."

After ten years, I was already sick of it. I'd only kept eating it before so as not to waste his gesture.

Just as I was about to turn away, he grabbed my wrist sharply.

His voice was irritated and impatient. "Sarah! How long are you going to keep this up? I've already…"

He didn't finish his sentence before darkness swallowed my consciousness. When I woke again, I was in bed.

Downstairs, faint voices drifted up.

I leaned against the wall, slowly making my way down the stairs.

By the front door, Ryder's back was stiff. "How did you find me here?"

Sara, in a white dress, looked up at Ryder with a pitiful expression. "Headquarters wouldn't let me in, and you didn't reply to my texts… Ryder, are you going to abandon me again?"

Her fingers carefully clutched his sleeve.

"Ryder, you explicitly told me you loved me."

Ryder abruptly took a half-step back, his voice incredibly low. "Please leave, Sara. Sarah is still sick, and I don't want to upset her. Whatever it is, we can talk on the phone…"

Before he could finish, Sara suddenly stood on her tiptoes and threw herself into his arms, kissing him fiercely.

Ryder's hands hovered in the air, his move to push her away hesitating when his fingers brushed her trembling shoulders.

Gradually, the initially restrained kiss grew urgent, until he was breathing heavily, pinning her against the doorframe.

"See?" Sara's voice was laced with triumphant pride. "Your body is more honest than your mouth."

"You don't love her anymore, Ryder. Staying with her out of obligation only hurts all three of us."

Ryder's voice was filled with suppressed pain. "I can't…"

With a loud bang, I forcefully pushed open the door.

Two startled gazes instantly shot my way.

"Sarah!" Ryder instinctively wiped his mouth.

I walked past him, directly towards Sara, grabbing her hair.

I slapped her three times, hard.

"You tramp! How dare you show your face here, you pathetic wretch!"

Blows rained down, mixed with Sara's cries and pleas.

Until Ryder grabbed my wrist, his grip so strong it felt like my bones would shatter.

"Enough!"

He flung me away, and the momentum sent me crashing hard against the steel coat rack by the entrance. A warm liquid immediately welled up on my forehead.

Through a blurry red haze, I saw Ryder rush over, carefully scoop Sara into his arms, and quickly carry her out.

"Don't be scared, Sara, I'm taking you to the hospital."