Chapter 167

Chapter 167

In the sunroom.

Elodie watched the scene unfolding below, a slight frown on her face.

Adrian had coughed up blood.

Far from satisfying her, it just made her feel annoyed.

This kind of desperate clinging was seriously ruining her mood. She didn't want to spend her remaining days watching an ex-husband perform his self-destruction outside her window.

"Lucas." Elodie set down her coffee cup. "Hiding from this isn't going to work."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Having second thoughts?"

"Disgusting." Elodie said. "I'm going down there. I'll make myself absolutely clear. Tell him to get out of my sight."

Lucas smiled. "Want me to come with you?"

"No need. Five minutes, done."

Elodie turned and walked toward the elevator.

The numbers counted down.

"Ding."

The elevator doors opened. Elodie stepped out, crossed the lobby, and headed toward the heavy glass wind doors.

Outside, Adrian's body had reached its limit. He was barely staying upright.

Then he saw a familiar figure in the lobby.

Elodie.

A wild, desperate joy exploded in his dim eyes.

She came down! She still cared about him!

Adrian struggled to move his legs, trying to go meet her.

And then.

"Bang!"

A battered yellow taxi came crashing through the sanatorium gates like it had lost control, snapping the barrier arm clean off. It left long skid marks across the snow before jolting to a stop right beside Adrian.

The door was kicked open from inside.

A woman half-fell, half-crawled out of the back seat and tumbled into the snow.

She was a mess. Her clothes were torn, her hair a tangled wreck. Her expensive couture coat was caked in mud and blood.

It was Chloe.

She had slipped away from Westside Villa during a guard rotation, paid off a smuggler, and followed him all the way to Eldoria.

Adrian had cut off all her resources, and she was blacklisted entirely from Harbor City's high society.

Chloe lifted her head and spotted Adrian standing in the snow.

"Adrian!"

She let out a desperate, piercing cry.

Without a second thought, she scrambled up from the snow and threw herself at him.

Adrian's fever had climbed close to 103°F and he was completely spent. All his focus was on Elodie behind the glass doors. He never saw Chloe coming from the side.

Chloe slammed into him full force.

"Adrian! I finally found you! I was wrong, please forgive me!" Chloe locked her arms around his waist, tears and snot smearing across his suit jacket.

The impact hit Adrian like a wall. His vision went black.

He didn't even have the strength to push her away. His body fell straight back.

"Adrian!" Chloe screamed, and they went down together into the snow.

Adrian passed out cold. His head dropped onto Chloe's shoulder.

Inside the lobby.

Elodie's hand had just touched the doorknob.

She stopped.

Through the clear glass, she watched the whole thing play out in front of her.

Adrian collapsed in Chloe's arms. The two of them tangled together in the snow.

It was absurd. Almost funny.

Elodie stood there and watched. No anger. No sadness.

Just the blank indifference of someone looking at garbage.

A mocking voice came from behind her.

Lucas had followed her down without her noticing. He stood beside her, hands in his pockets, eyes on the scene beyond the glass.

"Counsel Turner." Lucas tilted his head, flashing a wicked smile. "Still want to go out there? Looks like he's got someone to hold him. Dying in each other's arms. Doesn't seem like he needs you worrying about him."

Elodie let go of the doorknob.

She took out a disinfectant wipe and calmly cleaned her fingers. Then she dropped the wipe into the nearby trash can.

"Not going." Elodie's voice was completely flat. "Looking at them turns my stomach."

She didn't even bother with the final words she'd planned to say.

They were made for each other. They ought to torment each other forever, stuck in the same filth together.

Elodie turned around.

She looked at Lucas, a relaxed smile returning to her face.

"Lucas, I'm hungry." Her voice was easy and warm. "I really want that tomato meat sauce pasta you make yourself."

Lucas looked into her clear eyes, and something soft and indulgent flickered in his.

"Okay." He reached out and ruffled her hair. "Go wait in the dining room. Food's ready in half an hour."

They walked side by side back through the lobby. Light on their feet.

She didn't look back.

Outside, the blizzard raged on.

Chloe sat in the snow, holding the unconscious Adrian.

She raised her head and stared through the glass at the backs of Elodie and Lucas as they walked away.

Elodie wasn't dead.

Elodie was alive.

Why did she end up like this, while Elodie got to hide away here, laughing and talking with another man?

She tightened her arms, her nails digging deep into the fabric of Adrian's suit jacket.

Jealousy and spite bloomed wildly behind her eyes.

A plan took shape in her mind.

She thought: Elodie, you faked your death. So I'll make it real.

Adrian opened his eyes.

Sharp smell of disinfectant. A stark white ceiling.

He shot upright. The IV line on the back of his hand pulled taut.

"Adrian! You're awake!"

A voice came from beside the bed.

Adrian turned. Chloe was there, still in her filthy couture coat, slumped over the side of the bed.

His eyes flooded with red instantly.

He ripped the needle out of the back of his hand. Blood splattered.

He swung his legs off the bed, crossed the room in a few strides, and grabbed Chloe by the throat with one hand.

He lifted her clean off the ground and slammed her against the wall.

"Get out." Adrian's voice was raw. His fingers tightened.

Chloe's feet dangled in the air. Her face turned dark red. Both hands beat frantically at his arm.

"Adrian…let…"

Adrian's eyes were ice cold. Not a trace of warmth.

All he could see was the scene in the snow. Elodie looking at him with contempt.

All because of this woman.

"Go to hell." He squeezed harder.

Chloe's eyes rolled back. She kicked and flailed, and her hand found something in her pocket. She slammed it against his chest.

A worn, yellowed notebook fell to the floor.

On the cover, someone had drawn a simple sunflower.

Adrian's eyes caught the drawing.

He froze.

That was Elodie's style.

Chloe seized the moment and pried his hand loose, dropping to the floor. She broke into violent coughs.

"Adrian…this is Elodie's diary…" Chloe lay on the floor, barely catching her breath, then pulled herself upright and dropped to her knees.

She started knocking her head against the floor.

Her forehead cracked against the tile.

Skin split open. Blood ran down the bridge of her nose.

"I know I was wrong! I really know I was wrong!" Chloe sobbed. "I smuggled myself here just to return Elodie's things! This is the diary she kept at the Stewart family home. I found it when I was cleaning out the room…"

Adrian stared at the diary on the floor.

"Just let me see that she's safe, and I'll take my own life right after! Adrian, please, let me give it to her…" Chloe wept in utter misery.

Adrian's fever hadn't broken. His temples throbbed.

His ears were ringing.

He bent down and picked up the diary.

His hands were shaking so badly he could barely hold it.

He opened to the first page.