The next morning, Tessa was rudely awakened by the ringing of her phone. Still struggling to fight off the fog of sleep, Tessa pressed down on the connect button. Her voice was still thick with sleep when she said, “Hello, who is it?”

“Tessa, could you come to the hospital to see Zachary?”

Zion’s voice echoed from the receiver, his words tinged with urgency. “Did you know that Zachary almost died?”

Annoyance pricked at Tessa’s heart upon hearing Zachary’s name. Last night was exhausting for her. She was rudely awoken before she got enough rest. She thought that something important might have happened, but the reason for her awakening turned out to be Zachary.

Tessa was beyond irritated, her temper flaring. She didn’t bother hiding her irritation as she said, “If he dies, you’re in charge of his corpse. Just let me know when the funeral is being held. Out of respect for his mother, I’ll show up to see him off.”

Tessa didn’t bother waiting for Zion’s response. She cut the call short and put her phone on silent mode.

Stephen had also been woken up by the commotion. They were under the covers together. Stephen tightened his grip on Tessa’s hand and said in a raspy voice, “Sleep with me a little more.”

Tessa nuzzled against Stephen’s chest, giving off the impression of a clingy kitten. They were snuggled together under the same warm blanket, falling asleep in each other’s arms. Only the two of them existed in their little world. No matter how much the snowstorm raged outside, it didn’t concern them in the slightest.

…

Zachary had already been awake when Zion called Tessa. Zion had insisted on calling her and could guess what Zachary was thinking.

Zachary had been holding on to the last shred of unrealistic hope he had left. He wanted to know if Tessa would be worried about him if she found out that he had one foot in death’s door. He wanted to know if Tessa would come and visit him.

He had pinned all the hope he had left on the phone call, asking Zion to turn on the speaker. His hopes had been dashed when Tessa showed zero concern for his well-being after hearing how he had almost died. Not only that, but she had also said such Cruel things before ending the call.

Zachary’s hands were clenched into tight fists. Veins were popping up on the back

of his hands. He was as pale as a ghost, and the color drained completely from his lips.

Zion pocketed his phone and swallowed nervously. He assumed that Zachary was going to throw a tantrum, so he dared not breathe too loudly. Except, Zachary didn’t

explode maniacally like he usuel. not

did. He was quiet for a long moment before he said emotionlessly, “You can leave. I want to be alone for a while.”

Zion had just exited the ward when he ran into Wendy. Concern was etched into

her features. “How is Zachary?” she asked.

Zion sighed and shook his head helplessly. “He’s not doing too great.”

“What happened to him? Why was he suddenly admitted to the hospital?”

“It was so cold and snowy last night. He was walking around aimlessly outside while dressed in only a thin shirt and ended up collapsing in the snow. A driver who was passing by saw him and sent him to the hospital.”

“Why was he doing that?” Wendy asked with a frown.

Zion wanted to explain, but he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to. Although Zachary hadn’t explained himself, Zion could make an

educated guess. He was almost certain that it had something to do with Tessa. Zachary had been found out cold near Tessa’s apartment building.

Furthermore, rumors circulated that Zachary had also purchased a unit in that same building. Wendy probably didn’t know about this, so how could Zion possibly tell her?

It was a headache-inducing situation. When Wendy returned to the country, Zachary and Tessa hadn’t broken up yet. Zachary had fooled around with Wendy, uncaring of Tessa’s feelings.

Now that the tables had turned, he was getting what he deserved for mistreating Tessa.