Chapter 10
“I’m going to become a powerful career woman,” I declared. Elizabeth smiled and said I would make my mark on the world.
As I went downstairs, I noticed the door to the second–floor room was slightly ajar. It was Keith’s room. I knew he understood that there could never be anything between us anymore. Not seeing each other was the best way to say goodbye.
On my last night, I bought some local specialties as gifts for my colleagues in France. While walking back to the hotel, a van came hurtling toward me at breakneck speed. I saw the driver clearly–it was Sadie!
The headlights were blinding and my legs felt like they were filled with lead, unable to move. Just as the van was about to hit me, a powerful force pushed me aside.
When I turned back, I saw a familiar figure
加
1/5
Chapter 10
flying through the air, landing hard on the ground. The van crashed into a tree nearby.
My heart clenched painfully as I ran over. “Keith, why are you so foolish? Are you okay? I’ll take you to the hospital right
now!”
Keith lay limp in my arms, covered in blood. Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face. I was terrified–terrified of experiencing the same loss I had with my
parents.
Keith weakly raised a hand, his bloodied fingers wiping away my tears. “Zoey, I’m sorry. I’m the one who caused you pain. I … won’t anymore. What I owed you, what I owed your parents. I’ve finally repaid it.” With those words, his hand fell lifelessly to
his side.
The police and an ambulance arrived. shortly after. Sadie was arrested. Her
injuries weren’t severe and as she was taken away, she continued cursing at me.
215
12:16
Chapter 10
32
“Zoey! Why wasn’t it you who died? You wretched woman! You ruined my family,
you stole Keith! He was supposed to be
mine. I was the one who should’ve been
engaged to him, married to him! You’re just an orphan—why? What gives you the right? Keith is such a brainless fool! What do you have that I don’t? And now, he died saving you. How stupid! Haha!”
Later, I learned that Keith blamed our breakup entirely on Sadie. He had uncovered how she had bragged and
schemed behind the scenes. He severed all business ties with her family. He publicly declared that anyone who collaborated with her family would lose his support. No one dared to offend the Jordans and some even went out of their way to suppress the Simpsons to curry favor with Keith.
The Simpsons went bankrupt. Sadie fell from being a wealthy heiress to scavenging trash on the streets. She hated Keith, but she hated me even more. That’s why she was willing to risk everything to harm me.
3/5
Chapter 10
Now, she would spend the rest of her life in prison, paying the price for her actions.
At the hospital, Keith slowly opened his eyes. He was gravely injured, but Sadie had swerved at the last second upon realizing it wasn’t me. Keith survived but lost a leg.
When he saw me, his eyes lit up with joy. Upon learning about his condition, he didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he sighed in relief. “Zoey, it’s just a leg. Better me than you.”
It would be a lie to say he wasn’t upset, especially since it was because of me that he was now disabled. I bit my lip, trying to hold back tears. “Keith, thank you.”
A long, heavy silence hung between us. Neither of us spoke.
Keith called out to me when I got up to fetch hot water, his voice cautious. “Zoey, you’re still leaving, aren’t you?” I nodded and walked out.
He came in his wheelchair to see me off on
4/5
12:16
332
Chapter 10
the day I left for France. “Zoey, you’ll be an amazing fashion designer.”
“I will. You take care too.”
“Zoey…”
This time, I didn’t look back. I waved to him with my back turned. “Keith, don’t wait for me. This time, it’s really goodbye.”
Two years later, my designs took the world by storm, making me a darling of the fashion industry. As my vibrant and bold creations graced the stage, I closed my eyes, basking in the applause and praise.
Life is long. Fast or slow, everything comes in its time and becomes beautiful in the
end.
(The End)
