The first thing Allison saw when she opened her eyes was the blurry white ceiling.'Where am I?' she wondered to herself as she shut her eyes momentarily, blinded by the sudden brightness. 'This isn’t my home…'As she relaxed herself and made use of her senses, she felt cold. She could hear the low humming of the air-conditioning unit and the IV drip piercing against her skin. She was covered by a warm, comfy blanket, which was a little weird because hospital beds didn’t usually feel this comfortable. The smell of medicine and anesthetics was also drifting in the air, reminding her of how much she hated hospitals.And then, she also felt a solid warmth pressing against her arm. As if there was somebody there with her…Allison opened her eyes blearily and painstakingly turned her head towards the source of the heat.There, with his arms folded on the side of the bed and his head resting against them, was Matthew, sleeping quietly.Allison didn’t know what she felt at that moment. Was i

Matthew didn’t have any other choice than to respect Allison’s wishes at this point. He could only watch as she talked to the doctor, went into his office, and signed the waiver. He watched as she went through all the necessary procedures at the counter and paid for the bill herself, refusing to let him help with the funds. After that, she went back home, warning Matthew not to go after her.Matthew went home later on, crestfallen. For the first time in years, he longed for a drink, just something to wash his sorrows away.And no matter how hard she tried, Lily couldn’t comfort him.“Matt,” she said in concern as Matthew downed another glass of wine with bloodshot eyes. “Slow down.”Matthew said nothing, seeming too drunk to even register her words.Sick with worry, Lily managed to convince him to take a bath and go to sleep. She watched as he fell into slumber on their bed, his brows furrowed as though he were on the verge of having a bad dream. She sighed softly as she reached out a

Allison sat there in the café, alone, still mulling over Lily’s words.Lily had left earlier, saying that she needed to make preparations to leave tomorrow. She had been so calm while talking to her, but Allison could see that this situation was putting a strain on Lily as well. It must not have been easy for her to make this kind of decision.Who would be, right? Who would be in their right mind to willingly give away their boyfriend and leave him to take care of his ex-wife? The idea of it was so absurd, Allison almost wanted to laugh out loud.This was seeming more and more like a cruel joke.Her paranoid mind was racing, thinking that this might all just be a trap. You never know what people are really capable of, after all.But as Lily’s face flashed to the forefront of Allison’s mind, her certainty of the situation grew lesser through time. It wasn’t possible that someone was that good of an actor, right? Lily really seemed like she had thought about this decision a lot…But the

Allison dreamed that she was being chased.It was a dark, empty road, the surroundings devoid of buildings and objects except for a few trees. It was cold and terrifying. She ran and ran aimlessly, but the path in front of her seemed to stretch into an eternity of darkness. She could hear the footsteps following her from behind, the sound so loud that it kept ringing in her ears. She could barely breathe, and her legs were burning from exhaustion. Yet she kept on running, knowing that if she stopped now, she might—She might… die?But didn’t she want to die?Why—Suddenly, Allison woke up.Feeling a stab of pain, she sat up in bed, sweating profusely. She couldn’t breathe properly, and her mind was so dizzy that she felt like she was seeing dark spots in her blurry vision. As she tried to calm her racing heartbeat, she felt something warm flow down from her nose. But she didn’t have to touch it with her finger to know that it was blood.She smiled wryly as she wiped it off with the ba

Matthew let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.He didn’t know why he anticipated Allison’s answer so much. Maybe it was because he was so fed up with his current lifestyle that he so desperately longed for something different, something that could possibly turn his routine into something a little better.Although he didn’t mention it earlier, he really had a hard time with his tutor. Mr. Jenkins had been with him since last year, and every time Matthew caught even a glimpse of his back, his chest would feel so heavy and his throat would close up in anxiety. Every time Mr. Jenkins got disappointed with him, he would punish him by extending their study hours, and by then Matthew could barely restrain the urge to puke. If only the way Mr. Jenkins taught wasn’t condescending, then maybe Matthew would be able to stomach studying for a while. However, Mr. Jenkins wasn’t at all that considerate.The moment Allison entered the room, the thought just came to the forefront of Ma