Chapter 8
At the hospital, Lillian finally stirred awake, her face pale as paper.
“Lillian! You’re awake!”
Leonard immediately stood up, his voice full of concern and tenderness.
“Leonard… why did you save me?” she murmured, tears rolling silently down her cheeks. “I should’ve just
died…”
Leonard grasped her hand tightly, his brows furrowed.
“Don’t say that. I won’t allow it. You hear me? I won’t let you die. I promise I’ll talk to my parents. This… this
won’t ever happen again.”
His grip was so tight, it felt like he might crush her bones.
His palms were calloused from training, burning hot against her skin-but to Lillian, that warmth only made
her more anxious.
She winced slightly, trying to pull away, but he wouldn’t let go. So she just let him hold her.
“Leonard, what’s the point of holding on to me?” Her voice was soft, almost broken. “So you stopped me this time… but what about next time? Deep down, I’ve never really mattered to you. Your parents have never accepted me, and I doubt they ever will…”
“That’s not true.” Leonard’s voice softened, coaxing. “This… what happened, it was my parents’ fault. They shouldn’t have said those things to you. They went too far.”
He hesitated for a second, carefully choosing his words. “I’ll talk to them tonight when I get back. Please…
don’t take it to heart.”
But Lillian didn’t seem to hear him.
Instead, she stared straight at him and asked in a trembling voice,
“Leonard… am I really… not as good as Evelyn?”
His heart clenched. He blurted out, “Of course not!”
He tightened his grip on her hand, voice firm and unwavering. “Lillian, you’re a thousand times better than her. In my heart, you’re the only one who’s ever mattered. There’s never been anyone else.”
He had said this before-every time Lillian threw a fit, every time she compared herself to Evelyn, he would repeat this promise over and over.
But this time, Lillian didn’t let it go.
“Then why… won’t you marry me?” Her voice was quiet, but it struck him like a slap. “Is it because your parents look down on me? Or do you… think the same?”
Leonard froze.
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The hospital room fell into a suffocating silence. Only the rhythmic drip of medication from the IV could be heard-tick, tick, tick-each drop a reminder of everything he couldn’t say.
He looked into her eyes, those clear eyes now filled with disappointment, and suddenly realized… he had no
good answer.
Why hadn’t he married her?
When he first proposed the idea of marrying Lillian, the entire Grant family had objected.
His mother was especially firm-there was no way she’d allow Lillian into the family. Under pressure, Leonard had caved. That’s why he ended up marrying Evelyn instead.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say “Just give me a little more time”, or “I’m thinking about it,” but with Lillian staring at him like that, teary-eyed and heartbroken, none of the words came out.
Lillian slowly withdrew her hand and turned away, curling up under the blanket.
“You see?” she whispered. “You can’t even come up with an excuse. Leonard… you never really cared.”
“I do!” he blurted out, almost desperately. “Lillian, I swear, I do care about you. What do I have to do to make you believe me?”
She didn’t turn around.
Only her shoulders trembled, ever so slightly, as if she were crying.
After a long silence, her voice came back hoarse and soft, “Then… divorce Evelyn. Come back to me.”
Leonard went still.
He knew she’d always wanted him to divorce Evelyn, but he had never taken action. He kept telling himself the timing wasn’t right.
After all, Evelyn was his wife in name. Sure, the marriage wasn’t his choice, but that didn’t make it easy to walk away from.
And yet he couldn’t stop thinking about Evelyn’s calm, unreadable eyes.
Something about them made him… hesitate.
“Lillian… divorce isn’t something I can take lightly. I need time to think-”
“I know it’s not a small thing,” she interrupted, her voice now steady with resolve. “I’m not asking you to divorce her right now. I just want a promise. Something real. I’ve waited so many years already, Leonard… can’t you at least give me that?”
Leonard looked at her frail figure curled up on the bed.
He thought about finding her unconscious, her skin cold and lips blue.
He remembered the panic that gripped him as the doctors rushed her into the ER.
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In that moment, nothing else had mattered-not expectations, not marriage, not even his pride.
He couldn’t lose her.
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