4 Chapter 4
When I woke up again, I found myself in the hospital.
I struggled to sit up, feeling the bandages wrapped around my
head.
A nurse adjusting the IV drip nearby rushed over to help, saying,
“Be careful, your injury is quite serious. If it had been a little lower, you might have gone blind.”
Recalling the last blurry memories before I passed out, I asked,
“Did my family bring me here?”
Hearing this, the nurse pursed her lips disapprovingly and said,
“A passerby brought you in. When they found you, the blood had already dried. Who knows how long you’d been lying there.”
“And your husband, really! When we called him using your phone, he accused us of putting on an act!”
The nurse said a lot more, still chattering as she left, reminding me not to get out of bed to avoid any further injuries.
But no sooner had she left than Garrison kicked the door open and barged in.
The moment he saw the bandage on my forehead, he started
cursing,
“Jolene, didn’t I warn you on the phone to stop faking illness? How long are you going to keep up this act?”
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My head, stitched up and swollen to twice its size, was as pale as a sheet. I couldn’t understand why Garrison thought I was acting.
At that moment, my head was pounding, and I didn’t want to argue with him, so I said,
“What benefit would I get from faking an illness?“”You don’t believe me, then just go. I need to rest…”
But before I could finish speaking, he yanked me up from the hospital bed.
“You scared Melody by sending reporters, causing her to be hospitalized. Now you’re faking illness to avoid being held accountable. Isn’t that right?”
The sudden standing made me dizzy. I wanted to deny it but couldn’t find the words.
However, in Garrison’s eyes, this became a sign of guilt. As he dragged me towards Melody’s room, he furiously said,
“It was you after all! This time, don’t think I’ll let you off easily!”
When Melody saw me, she immediately squeezed out a few tears and started slinging mud,
“Jolene, how can you be so vicious? You actually sent someone to
scare me!”
Garrison roughly threw me to the ground. It took me a while to recover before I could defend myself,
“It wasn’t me! There are cameras in the parking lot, you can check
them!”
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But Melody ignored what I said and continued to pester relentlessly,
“But who else would do such a thing? You’re just jealous that I’ve won Garrison’s love!“I burst out laughing as if I’d just heard the funniest joke in the world. Then I lifted my head and said with utter calm,
“Why would I be jealous of something I never cared about in the first place?”
Beside me, Garrison’s pupils constricted slightly, his expression growing complex.
I didn’t want to continue this confrontation with the two of them,
so I struggled to stand up, intending to leave.
To my surprise, Garrison suddenly produced the box I had hidden at home, his tone peculiar as he said,
“Well then, I suppose we should just smash all of this stuff!”
Seeing the box containing Dane’s belongings brought out, I frantically tried to rush over and grab it,
“What… what are you doing?!”
But Garrison pushed me away, saying with smug self–assurance,
“I thought you didn’t care? Then why are you so precious about my things?”
“Jolene, you’re clearly playing hard to get! I’m not stupid enough to fall for your tricks!”
I barely registered what Garrison was saying, my attention entirely.
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focused on the box in his hands,
“I spent so long collecting those… Please give them back, I’m begging you!”
But in the next moment, Garrison grabbed the items from the box and hurled them towards the floor without hesitation.I desperately cried and begged him to stop, but he acted as if he couldn’t hear
- me.
As the last item was smashed, my heart sank to the depths of despair.
“Jolene, listen carefully. I can give you these things, and I can also destroy them!”
“If you dare to hurt Melody again, my punishment for you will not stop at this!”
With those words, Garrison picked up Melody and left, crushing the debris on the floor as they went.
I collapsed on the ground, crying over and over at the mess before me, refusing to leave no matter how the nurses tried to pull me
away.
–
At that moment, I could only think of one thing – the cloning project.
If the test hadn’t succeeded, I would probably have lost all hope and jumped from here to end it all.
Fortunately, after sitting numbly through the night, the phone rang with good news from Emerson.
“Jolene, the test was successful! When do you plan to leave
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Garrison?”
I couldn’t believe it and had to confirm once more, finally breaking
into a tearful smile,
“I’m leaving now. I can’t wait to see Dane…”
Emerson sent a private jet to pick me up.
Just as I sat down, my phone vibrated with a message from
Garrison.
[Don’t add mango to the cake, Melody is allergic.]He commanded me as usual, as if nothing was wrong.
Today is Garrison’s birthday, and it’s also Dane’s birthday.
For the past seven years, I always prepared Garrison’s birthday party early, deceiving myself into pretending Dane was still alive. But this year is different. I can finally return to Dane’s side and celebrate his birthday with him.
The flight attendant came over to ask if I needed any help.
I remembered the parking lot footage Emerson had gotten for me, so I handed her my phone and said, “Today is Garrison’s birthday. After takeoff, please give this to him.”
Meanwhile, Garrison still had no idea what was happening.
His buddies, seeing that I hadn’t replied to his messages, started taunting him again:
“Has Jolene the bootlicker grown too bold? She dares to ignore Garrison’s messages!”
“Exactly! If Garrison gets upset and dumps her, she’ll cry her eyes
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Melody chimed in as well, “Garrison, is Jolene still mad at me? Is that why she’s deliberately not replying, giving you the cold shoulder…“Garrison was absentmindedly looking at his phone, feeling an inexplicable unease in his heart.
At that moment, a friend suddenly burst in, waving his phone and
shouting,
“An hour ago, a reporter from my company actually saw Jolene at the airport!”
Hearing this, everyone gathered around, eager to see what was going on.
In the video, the reporter smiled at Jolene and said,
“Our company is doing random interviews with passersby today. Would you mind participating?”
Seeing Jolene nod, she continued,
“Are you going on vacation? How long do you plan to be away?”
Without hesitation, Jolene blurted out,
“I’m not coming back.”
“Because the person I love isn’t here, I’m going to find him.”
