Chapter 233
The sharp scent of disinfectant hung heavy in the hospital air.
Michael Johnson sat in the patient room, his eyes repeatedly darting to his phone. Lily Green was murmuring words of gratitude in her soft voice, but none registered in his mind.
"Michael, you're so good to me," Lily suddenly reached for his sleeve.
He instinctively recoiled, an inexplicable irritation rising in his chest. Strangely, though he wanted to outright reject her, the word that left his lips was: "Yeah."
The moment he spoke, it felt like something had taken control of him.
Leaving the hospital, he texted Lucy White.
After an eternity of waiting, only a terse "Okay" came in reply.
Richard Brown called unexpectedly about an international commercial shoot. He meant to decline, yet found himself agreeing.
Before takeoff, he stared at his phone screen. Lucy's profile picture remained unchanged.
During the overseas shoot, signals came and went.
Each video call showed Lucy looking increasingly exhausted.
"Is something wrong?" he pressed for the third time.
Lucy merely shook her head. "Just tired from filming."
Lily somehow kept appearing on set, always conveniently interrupting their calls.
More disturbingly, every attempt to check on Lucy's situation met with inexplicable obstacles—his laptop crashing, assistants calling in sick, network failures.
Upon returning, he went straight to the apartment.
His heart seized when he opened the door.
Lucy had become gaunt, dark circles like bruises under her eyes.
"What's really going on?" He grabbed her shoulders.
She pulled away, her unfamiliar gaze chilling him to the bone.
"Let's break up," she said.
The words stabbed through his heart like knives.
He stormed out, slamming the door, only to regret it in the elevator.
When he returned, the apartment stood empty.
Richard handed him a stack of documents. "Miss White has been receiving severe online harassment."
His hands trembled flipping through the vicious comments.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Richard looked uncomfortable. "Miss White forbade it."
That night, he dreamed of Lucy standing on a rooftop's edge, smiling back at him.
He woke to a soaked pillow.
An unexpected offer came for an international blockbuster. The director insisted on shooting in a no-signal zone.
Before departure, he sent Lucy 99 messages.
None were marked as read.
Mid-shoot, Lily suddenly visited the set.
Paparazzi photos went viral overnight.
#MichaelAndLilyConfirmed trended explosively.
He immediately ordered Richard to issue a denial.
But no statement appeared.
"Book me a flight home now," he told his assistant.
Then the inexplicable happened.
Three booked flights, three cancellations.
On the fourth attempt, weather forced the plane to turn back.
At the airport, Richard met him with hesitation.
"Where's Lucy?" Michael demanded.
Richard stammered, "Miss White recently—"
A call interrupted. Lily had fallen down stairs and was in emergency surgery.
He should have gone straight to Lucy.
Yet his legs carried him to the parking lot against his will.
"To the hospital," he heard himself say.
In the hospital room, Lily wept dramatically.
After drinking some water, he suddenly passed out.
He woke to daylight.
One missed call—from Lucy.
The callback met only endless ringing.
A tidal wave of dread crashed over him.
He rushed to the apartment, finding every room hollow.
His mother's call came then.
"Lucy jumped," her voice glacial.
Under the morgue's white sheet lay the person who'd loved him most in this world.
His mother threw documents at him, each page condemning his failures—Richard's betrayal, Lily's schemes, the cruelty of cyberbullying.
The most agonizing revelation: Lucy's desperate texts for help, all intercepted.
At the funeral, he was barred from entering.
Aunt Grace's eyes branded him a murderer.
"You'll never deserve to see her again."
He embarked on a rampage of vengeance.
He watched coldly as Richard jumped to his death.
Lily proved harder to destroy.
Approaching her made his skull feel split open.
He carved Lucy's name into his arm, using pain to stay lucid.
The forces behind Lily ran deeper than imagined.
When he finally seized control of the Johnson empire, news broke of several elite families collapsing overnight.
Headlines announced Lily's car accident.
Finding her in the slums, all former glamour gone:
"Michael, save me..." Lily extended rotting hands.
He walked away to her shrieking curses.
The satisfaction of revenge evaporated instantly.
Without Lucy, the world lost all color.
One dawn, he stood on the rooftop where Lucy had jumped.
The wind howled like her fingers brushing his cheek.
Leaping, he smiled.
Finally, he could find her.
Eyes opening, his pillow was damp.
Sunlight streamed through the window as if nothing had changed.
But the agony in his chest confirmed—
That was no dream.