Chapter 4

After Mark spoke, he walked out of the room with a complex expression to handle my discharge papers.

I didn't understand what he meant, and my urgency to get back home left me no time to ponder his words.

I shakily stood up and quickly gathered my belongings.

I slipped out, slinking past the nurses, and headed straight home.

As I rushed home from the hospital, I tried calling Mason, worried something might have happened, while also mulling over Mark's cryptic words.

"Open your eyes and see people"?

Was someone betraying me? Was someone trying to trick me? Or was he trying to hint at something?

I shook my head, discarding those chaotic thoughts.

Mason still wasn't answering my calls, making me even more worried that something had happened to him.

The most important thing now was to get home and check on Mason.

The moment I pushed open the front door, my already anxious heart pounded even harder.

The apartment was a disaster zone, shattered fragments everywhere, furniture overturned like a hurricane had ripped through it.

Mason lay sprawled next to his wheelchair, unmoving like a dying fish.

A group of men surrounded him. One of them banged a stick against Mason's overturned wheelchair. "Pay up, or we'll carve out your kidneys!"

"Mason!" My voice cracked, a desperate shriek.

I rushed forward to help him up, but a rough hand seized my wrist.

"No money to pay, but you're still wearing jewelry!"

The man glared at me, menacingly reaching for the jade bracelet on my wrist.

"No! That's from my great-grandmother!"

I struggled desperately, but his strength was overwhelming. He easily ripped the jade bracelet from my arm.

"Fine, we won't leave empty-handed today. This bracelet will serve as collateral. We'll hold off on the kidneys for now."

I told them it was genuine antique jadeite and, at market value, it should clear a million of their debt.

The man laughed, calling me naive. He said collateral never goes by market value.

"And it's a dead person's jewelry, bad juju! We'll give you thirty-five thousand for it, at most."

I opened my mouth to say something, but ultimately, I remained silent.

After the men left, I quietly began cleaning up the mess.

Suddenly, my phone rang.

It was the rehab hospital where Mason was getting treatment.

"Ms. Riley... International rehabilitation specialist Richard... next month... Yes... you can book an appointment..."

The nurse's excited voice came through the receiver.

"If we can get him to see Mason, the chances of recovery will be much higher!"

Finally, a piece of good news amidst all the bad! I nodded excitedly, agreeing to book the specialist's appointment. My gaze involuntarily fell on Mason.

His dull eyes subtly shifted, meeting my tear-filled, hopeful gaze.

His expression was complex, with a look I couldn't decipher, but at least he seemed a little more human.

I hung up the phone, my heart hammering, a frantic drumbeat against my ribs.

Finally, there was hope.