A Breath Away from Death

“Amelia, what’s wrong?”

Ethan looked at me with worry. He pushed through the crowd. “Move! Get out of the way!”

Charlotte stepped forward with a smile and blocked his way. She held up her phone and kept him from seeing me.

“Amelia, your next role is a heroine with a heart condition? It’s no wonder your act looks so real! You really fooled everyone. Your acting is… impressive.”

Ethan glanced at the trailer on Charlotte’s phone. His worry turned to anger.

“Amelia, this is Charlotte’s celebration party, not your personal show. Get up, or else…”

I was in too much pain to hear the rest. My face twisted in agony.

The guests relaxed after Charlotte spoke. They looked at me with disgust while I remained curled up on the ground.

“Looks like she hasn’t changed! Ethan, teach her a lesson. You are the mafia boss. How can you let her ruin my party and make a fool of you?”

Ethan said nothing. His eyes grew cold.

Seeing this, Charlotte’s friends grabbed my hair and forced me to lift my head.

“Listen, Charlotte is the star today. Whether you like it or not, you’ll apologize and offer a toast to her.”

Ethan took a glass of strong whiskey from a waiter and held it out to me.

“Get up, and toast to Charlotte! I’ll overlook the stupid thing you did today.”

Tears ran down my face from the pain. I looked at Ethan’s cold, heartless face and forced myself to say, “No.”

Charlotte finished her champagne and looked at me in disdain.

“Amelia, I already finished my drink. You are really narrow-minded. Poor Ethan! He always tries to defend you.

“If you love acting so much, I’ll help you.”

Charlotte grabbed the whiskey. Her friends immediately understood. They pried open my jaw and pinched my nose.

“No…”

I struggled. I could only watch helplessly as they poured the whiskey into my mouth.

My heart could not take it. Sharp pain and suffocating pressure spread through me.

My eyes widened, and I clutched at my chest. I instinctively reached out to Ethan for help.

“Help… help me… my heart…”

Ethan knocked my hand away coldly. He was heartless.

“Stop pretending, Amelia! It is just a glass of whiskey! It can’t hurt you.

“I’ve known you for a very long time and never once heard about your heart condition. I stayed silent because I loved you. I wanted to give you a chance, but you disappointed me.”

I closed my eyes in despair.

Three years ago, I ran away to follow my dream of acting. One day, I was cornered by street thugs, and Ethan appeared like a hero. He saved me.

We fell in love at first sight and quickly grew close. When I learned that Ethan, who seemed cold and distant, had lost both his parents to sudden illness, I decided to hide my own condition so that he would not have to feel that kind of fear and worry again.

I never thought that this act of kindness would one day become the very thing that would cost me my life.

Ethan turned away in disgust and refused to look at me again.

After he turned his back, Charlotte grew even more smug. She pulled my hair harder, raised an eyebrow, and used her sharp nails to force my eyes open so that she could watch the pain and despair on my face.

“W-Why… Why are you doing this to me?”

I was forced to open my bloodshot eyes to look at the cruel woman in front of me.

Charlotte took a smug sip of her champagne. She leaned close to my miserable face and whispered with a wicked smile, “You don’t deserve him.

“Ethan is handsome, rich, and the boss of the entire Rolling Stones. I spent eleven years trying to win his heart and failed. How can someone like you, a filthy rat who crawled out of the gutter, ever deserve him?”

She flung me to the ground.

‘A filthy… rat?’

A cold, bitter smile appeared on my lips.

If my father knew I had been humiliated and mistreated like this after leaving home, how heartbroken would he be?

Sadly, I would never see him again.

My consciousness began to fade. Through the blur, I saw the pouch of medicine I had dropped near the waiter’s feet. Some emergency medicine was still inside.

The will to survive drove every part of my body.

‘Just a few more steps…’ I thought. ‘Just a few more…’

I thought I could reach the pouch. Even if I could not, I hoped this would catch the waiter’s attention. Maybe he would be kind enough to give me the medicine so that I could at least have a chance to see my father again.

I gritted my teeth and crawled forward with all my strength.