All But a Dream

Claudia looked up and witnessed what had happened. Brett had gotten into an accident.

His car crashed into the guardrail at the very first turn in the first lap!

The medical staff hurried to the rescue. It took them a while to extract Brett who was covered in blood. He was rushed to the hospital after that.

The race had to be suspended following the devastating accident.

A group of people who were concerned about his safety followed the ambulance to the hospital, including Fione who was crying hysterically and no longer had the strength to brag.

Claudia was the only one who remained eerily stoic the entire time.

She could still hear the conversation she overheard echoing in her ears. She was aware Brett was the one who staged the accident.

This was exactly what he wanted.

He would put himself in danger just to stay with Fione.

For a brief moment, she could not decide whether to be exasperated by his utter devotion toward Fione or to feel sorry for herself.

A few days later, she suddenly received a call from the hospital.

“Miss Hepburn, your rental period for the hospital storage unit is about to end, please come to the hospital to collect your item.”

Her item…

Claudia's eyes turned red upon hearing this.

They were referring to her aborted fetus.

She suddenly felt like she was reliving the sharp pain on the day of the abortion. After struggling to contain her emotions, she answered, “Alright, I'll be there right away.”

After hanging up, she rushed to the hospital as fast as she could.

She was headed to the counter when she bumped into Brett near the in-patient department.

The doctor stood by his bedside and expressed with a deep sigh and a lamentable look in his eyes.

“I’m very sorry, Mr. Maxwell, but the accident had caused serious damage to your left wrist. I'm afraid you will not be able to race anymore in the future.”

Fione was lying next to him in bed and was completely beside herself when she heard the terrible news.

Brett gently consoled her, “Don't cry, my dear. It hurts me to see you cry.

“Racing has always had its risks, I know you have always been nervous when I’m on the track and I have been thinking about quitting for a while now.

“If you think about it, this accident is a blessing in disguise since I can retire now. You have always said that I neglected you for my career but now that I’m retiring, I’ll be able to focus on taking care of you, isn’t that right?

“Besides, it’s going to be our wedding anniversary very soon. Let's throw a nice party and celebrate it properly, okay?”

He was not very subtle about his attempts at comforting Fione. At last, she broke into a smile and wiped her tears before hooking her pinky finger around his as if she were a child.

“Alright, that’s a promise.”

Claudia felt another throb in her heart and could not bear to watch their interaction anymore.

Just as she looked away and continued heading to the storage section, she heard Fione calling out from behind.

She turned around and saw Fione chasing after her and catching her breath.

“Claudia! I didn’t know you were here too, why didn’t you come to say hi?”

Without waiting for Claudia to respond, she went on.

“Arthur is going to need some time to rest and cannot receive visitors for now. You don’t have to worry, I’ll take care of him so you can head back.

“Also, he mentioned it’s going to be the fifth anniversary of our marriage in two weeks so he’s going to throw a party on that night. You have to come join us, there’s going to be lots of presents!”

Claudia noted the provocative look in her eyes and did not respond.

It just so happened that the party was going to take place on the same day she would be leaving the family.

After a brief pause, she smiled and nodded, “Sure, I’ll bring a nice, big present for the two of you.”

After extracting the answer she was looking for, Fione walked away contentedly.

Claudia stared at her departing figure, then reached for her phone to make a call before finally heading to the hospital storage section.

After waiting briefly, the hospital staff who contacted her previously came up to her to attend to her.

Then, she carefully wrapped the remnants of the fetus that had just been taken out of the cold storage and handed it over to someone she had contacted.

“I need you to deliver this to Arthur in person during the party two weeks later,” she instructed with a gleam in his eyes.

“This is the grand present I have prepared for him.”