As soon as he heard Christopher’s cries, Thomas immediately glanced over at Laura. The worry in his eyes grew. She stubbornly replied, “I’m fine, Thomas. It’s just my hemophobia acting up. Don’t mind me—it’s more important to check on Ms. Linsel now.” Christopher said, “Look at how pale you’ve become, Aunt Laura, yet you’re still insisting you’re fine! Don’t just stand there, Daddy—hurry up and send her to the hospital! I saw the car stop in time. Mommy is clearly pretending—she’s doing it just to compete with Aunt Laura for your attention!” Thomas cast a suspicious gaze at Shannon after hearing those words. He frowned, unable to make a decision. Laura whimpered painfully, and he immediately lost all sense of reason. He hurriedly helped her up and headed toward the car, covering her eyes as they passed Shannon. Thomas then turned around with a guilt-stricken face. “Laura has been frail since she was young—she can’t afford any setbacks. I’ve called the ambulance, so someone should be here for you soon. Just hold on a little longer.” As their footsteps grew fainter, Shannon slowly came to terms with the fact that she had been left behind. She wanted to laugh bitterly, yet blood spilled from her lips as soon as she moved. Her consciousness was already fading by the time the stretchers came for her. The voices of the paramedics buzzed around her ears. “What kind of person calls an ambulance, only to leave the injured all alone?” … Shannon was lying on the hospital bed by the time she came to. After calling the doctor, Evan Lundell, over, he said, “You were in an accident, weren’t you? You’ve got a mild concussion and scrapes all over your body.” Shannon wasn’t surprised to hear about her condition. Although the driver had managed to stop in time, she was still slightly harmed in the impact. She looked at Evan and asked, “How long do I have before I can get discharged?” He quickly stopped her. “Discharged? You’ll need at least four days with that concussion of yours!” After Evan left, Shannon counted with her fingers. There were five days left to the agreement—only one day would be left after she was discharged. She let out a bitter sigh at that thought. Finally, she had gone through most of it. “Hey, did you know that Laura Zimmerman was admitted to our hospital? The guy she’s rumored to be dating is here too!” “Really?” “Of course! You didn’t see how anxious Mr. Ford was just now—he carried her to the VIP ward the whole way!” “He even got her follow-up exam done by an expert in the field!” Shannon let out a bitter laugh before slowly making her way over, steadying herself against the wall. The door to the VIP ward was left open by a crack. Shannon saw Laura lying on the hospital bed, with Christopher nervously holding her hand. Meanwhile, Thomas was carefully feeding her some oatmeal, his eyes filled with a tenderness Shannon had never seen before. The three of them looked happy together. Meanwhile, Shannon seemed like a voyeur peeking in on someone else’s happiness from outside the door. A nurse, Lily Tanning, happened to come over to change Laura’s dressing. Mistaking Shannon for a fan, she gossiped to her in a whisper. “Don’t you think they seem happy too? When Mr. Ford brought her over, he was so worried he wished he had passed out instead of her. Judging by how anxious he was, those rumors online are probably true.” Shannon replied hoarsely, “They do look happy.” She quietly went back into her ward once Lily left. … Ever since Shannon was admitted into the hospital, her phone hadn’t rung once—not a single message came from Thomas or Christopher. It was a painfully stark contrast compared to the attention Laura was getting. There was only a single flagged email in her inbox. It was from the overseas publishing, informing her of the approaching competition and reminding her to submit her work soon. Upon receiving the notice, Shannon asked Maya to bring her laptop over so that she could work on her manuscript in the hospital. It was mostly quiet in her single ward and ideal for her to immerse herself in writing. She turned off her phone and switched her laptop to offline mode so that she could shut out the distractions. In the five years Shannon had been with Thomas, she’d poured all her energy into him, barely touching her writing. But it all came back to her naturally when she picked it up once again. She lost all sense of time, fully absorbed in her work. It wasn’t until a nurse told her she was cleared for discharge that she realized four days had passed. By then, Shannon had just finished her manuscript. After submitting it, she took out her phone. The moment the screen lit up, dozens of missed calls and texts from Thomas came flooding in. There were over 99 notifications in total.