Chapter 289

Chapter 289

The phone went silent for several seconds.

Serena's heart sank.

Clayton didn't deny it, nor did he rush to explain.

That silence was more chilling than any answer.

"You knew." Serena's voice was no longer a question.

"Serena..."

"When?"

Clayton was silent for another moment before speaking. "Two years ago. Not long after you got there."

Serena leaned against the wall, the back of her head pressing against the tiles.

Two years ago.

Back then she was so busy her feet barely touched the ground—meetings with the project team during the day, and video calls to comfort Aria at night.

Clayton had already known by then.

"Where did you hear about it?"

"Someone at the company mentioned it. The Sterling Group kept that car accident under tight wraps, but word gets around in these circles. I asked around and confirmed he was okay, that he was out of danger."

Serena's hand holding the phone was shaking.

"So you found out, and then what? Just pretended nothing happened?"

"Serena, let me explain..."

"What gave you the right to make that decision for me?" Serena's voice suddenly rose. A nurse passing by in the hallway turned to look.

She lowered her voice, but her tone became sharper. "He got into that accident because he was coming to find me, do you know that? He ran out of his wedding, drove to the airport, and then got into a car accident and lost his memory!"

"I didn't know he lost his memory." Clayton's voice finally showed some emotion. "I only knew he was in a car accident, and later that he woke up and wasn't in danger. As for why he crashed, no one said anything about that at the time."

Serena bit her lower lip and said nothing.

Clayton continued, "They sealed the information tight. The only thing going around was that Silas had an accident, stayed in the hospital for a while, then got out. I didn't know anything else."

"Then why didn't you tell me about the accident?" Serena pressed. "Even if you didn't know the reason, you should have told me he was in a car accident."

There was no sound from the other end for a long time.

Serena waited for him to speak.

"Because I was afraid you'd go back."

Clayton's voice dropped even lower. "All that mess you dealt with in Suncrest City—how hard did you work to get past it? If I'd told you Silas was in a car accident, what would you have done?"

Serena didn't answer.

"You would have bought a ticket and gone back immediately." Clayton answered for her. "That's who you are. No matter how he treated you, if something happened to him, you couldn't just stand by. And then what? You go back, Clara's there, your parents are there, and everything would drag you back in again. You worked so hard to break free..."

"So you decided for me."

Clayton fell silent.

Serena closed her eyes, her chest aching with pressure.

She understood Clayton's thinking. She even knew that from his perspective, his choice wasn't wrong.

But understanding was one thing, accepting was another.

"Clayton, you shouldn't have kept it from me."

"No matter the reason, you shouldn't have kept it from me."

"...I know."

The hallway went quiet again.

Serena pinched the bridge of her nose. Her mind was a complete mess.

Everything was crashing down on her at once, making it hard to breathe.

"I need time to think." Serena's voice was hoarse. "Let's both... cool down for a bit."

"Serena..."

"I'm not mad at you." She cut him off. "But my head's a mess right now. I can't talk."

Clayton was silent on the other end for a long time.

"Okay. Call me if you need anything."

Serena made a sound of agreement and hung up.

She clutched the phone in her hand and stood in the hallway for a while before turning to push open the hospital room door.

The lights in the room were off.

Silas lay in the hospital bed with his eyes closed, breathing much more steadily now, but his face was still abnormally pale.

An IV needle was in the back of his hand, the medication dripping down drop by drop through the tube.

Serena walked over and sat down in the chair by the bed.

She stared at Silas's face.

She'd been looking at this face for ten years, knew it so well she could trace its outline with her eyes closed.

But looking at it now, she felt it was unfamiliar.

Not because he had changed, but because she suddenly realized that everything about her in this man's mind was blank.

He didn't remember how they got together in college.

He didn't remember how he changed later, not coming home, not answering calls, leaving her and Aria in an empty house.

He especially didn't remember how he rushed out of the wedding after learning the truth, not caring about anything else.

He didn't remember any of it.

Serena pulled the chair forward, propped her elbows on the edge of the bed, and covered her face with her palms.

No matter how rotten things had become between her and Silas, she couldn't just walk away after learning all this.

He got into that accident because of her.

She couldn't pretend not to know.

Serena lowered her hands and turned to look out the window.

It was completely dark outside, the glass reflecting the dim light from inside the room.

The room was extremely quiet, only the sound of the IV dripping and the regular beeping of the heart monitor.

Serena just sat there, all the way until late at night.

Around three in the morning, Silas moved.

Serena immediately sat up straight.

Silas's eyelids trembled, then slowly opened.

His consciousness was still a bit fuzzy. His gaze stayed on the ceiling for two seconds, then slowly turned.

The moment he saw Serena, he froze.

"Why are you..." His voice was so hoarse he could barely make a sound.

Serena stood up, poured a glass of water, and handed it to him.

Silas took it and drank a sip, his Adam's apple bobbing.

He didn't ask how he got to the hospital or what had happened.

He just looked at Serena, looked for a long time.

"What time is it?"

"A little after three."

Silas's fingers moved, reaching for his phone on the bedside table.

Serena picked it up first and handed it to him.

Their fingertips touched briefly. Serena's fingertips were ice cold.

Serena pulled her hand back and sat down in the chair again.

"The doctor said you still have a blood clot in your brain." Her voice was very calm. "You'll need follow-up exams, and might need a second surgery."

Silas didn't respond to that.

"Why didn't you leave?"

Serena looked up at him.

Silas propped himself up a bit to lean against the headboard, the IV tube swaying with the movement.

"Didn't you say we..."

He couldn't say the rest, but just thinking about it made his heart ache.

He looked at her, hope in his eyes.

Serena didn't answer that question.

She only said, "Focus on getting better first. Everything else, we'll talk about later."

Silas looked at her. Something rolled in his throat several times, but in the end he said nothing.

The room fell quiet again.

Serena leaned by the bed. Silas knew Serena was watching over him and hadn't slept, just staring at her with burning eyes.

It wasn't until Serena couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep sitting in the chair that Silas carefully got out of bed and lifted Serena onto the hospital bed.