Chapter 4

I fled down the hallway in a panic.

I forced myself to pretend I hadn't heard a single word.

It was just a joke. Don't take it to heart, I desperately lied to myself.

Yet from that night on, insomnia consumed me. I couldn't fall asleep for days on end.

I tried pressing myself tightly into Christian's warm embrace, but my entire body remained bone-chillingly cold.

I grew noticeably thinner, my energy draining away.

Christian traced my increasingly frail waist, sounding genuinely heartbroken.

"Honey, you don't need to lose any more weight. Your ribs are poking me."

On my birthday, Christian booked an entire luxury seaside restaurant just to cheer me up.

The private beach was blanketed in fresh roses and glowing candlelight. It was the epitome of romance.

Throughout dinner, however, his phone buzzed continuously on the white tablecloth.

Christian finally picked it up, glancing at the screen. His expression shifted instantly.

"I'm sorry, Rosalie. An emergency just blew up at the office. I need to go handle it."

Through the scrolling live comments, I knew he was lying through his teeth.

The emergency wasn't business. It was Sierra.

Furious that Christian was spending the evening celebrating my birthday, she had thrown a reckless tantrum, speeding down the road until she crashed her sports car.

Even so, I didn't call him out. I merely nodded with docile compliance.

"Okay."

"Good girl. I'll be back as soon as I can."

He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead and rushed off into the night.

Left behind in the opulent, empty dining room, draped in an exquisite designer dress, I mechanically sliced into my steak with elegant, hollow precision.

My face was devoid of expression.

Boom.

A sudden explosion of fireworks soared over the dark ocean, illuminating the night sky in vibrant bursts of color.

I looked up just in time to see the fireworks reach their peak, blooming into glowing, giant letters across the horizon—

Christian Knight loves Rosalie forever.

My hand trembled, causing the knife and fork to rattle against the fine china. A sharp, salty taste filled my mouth.

I touched my cheek, only to realize that tears had been streaming silently down my face for who knows how long.

The piercing shrill of my ringtone shattered the silence, echoing like a grim omen.

I swiped to answer. A woman's frantic, sobbing voice exploded through the speaker.

"Rosalie, something terrible happened! Your grandmother was hit by a car—the doctors say she's barely holding on!"

I rushed to the hospital in a blind frenzy, losing one of my high heels along the way without even noticing.

My grandmother was completely covered in blood, unconscious on a gurney being wheeled into the emergency trauma unit.

My knees gave out, and I nearly collapsed onto the cold tile floor.

My parents had died when I was just a child. My grandmother had raised me all on her own. She was my only living family in this entire world!

Chloe, her caregiver, rushed over to catch me before I hit the ground.

"How did this happen?!"

My face was as white as a sheet, my voice shaking so violently the words barely formed.

"I'm so, so sorry! We were out shopping today when a sports car suddenly jumped the curb and plowed straight onto the sidewalk! I tried to pull her away, but I wasn't fast enough..."

Chloe's face was completely masked in guilt and tears.

She was a private healthcare aide Christian had hired at an exorbitant rate, assigned to look after my grandmother around the clock at her cottage.

My grandmother suffered from severe Alzheimer's and almost never left the house.

"Why did she insist on going out today of all days?"

Chloe handed me a small, crushed bakery box containing a honey sponge cake, her voice cracking between sobs.

"I'm sorry... She kept saying today was Rosalie's birthday. She said Rosalie couldn't spend her birthday without a cake..."

My eyes burned crimson, my heart seizing in unbearable agony.

Right then, a police officer walked over, holding an evidence photo for questioning.

"Mrs. Knight, we are terribly sorry about this tragedy. This is the vehicle that struck your grandmother. Do you recognize it?"

With a single glance, I recognized the custom red Ferrari.

"Sierra Vance. The driver was Sierra Vance!"