Life Wasn't Like This Once

I was stuck in the driver's seat, completely unable to move. I knew, without a doubt, that this was Sylvia's enemy, here to seek revenge.

My phone had been crushed in the collision and couldn't be turned on anymore.

At that moment, a familiar black Maybach sped past the intersection—Sylvia's car.

"Sylvia!" I yelled as loudly as I could in a bid to gain her attention.

As the car slowed down, I thought my heart would stop beating.

She had seen me!

However, a second later, the car accelerated once more, leaving this intersection behind without any hesitation. Through the window, I could see Sylvia covering Wilson's eyes with her hands.

In an instant, I lost the energy to open my mouth again.

With Wilson in the car, there was no way she would stop. After all, she couldn't bear to let Wilson see something as ghastly as a car accident, especially not when it was a revenge tactic by her enemy.

Most of the strength I had forced myself to muster left me, and I gradually lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, it was to the sight of the white hospital ceiling.

The room door had been left ajar, so I could hear one of Sylvia's subordinates saying to her, "Ms. Fuller, what if Mr. Chance sees Mr. Hink? If he looks into it, there's no way we can keep it under wraps."

Sylvia tossed down her cigarette butt and crushed it under her heel. "You don't have to worry about all that. Your only job is to protect Wilson. Unlike us, he's too pure and untainted. With how innocent he is, there's no way he can win against Sebastian, who knows countless despicable tactics.

"If necessary, use Sebastian's crippled younger brother against him. He's Sebastian's only remaining family member, so there's no way Sebastian can ignore him."

Hearing that, I squeezed the bedsheets tightly, my teeth grinding together so hard that my jaw ached.

Back when she proposed to me, she had said, "I'll always protect you. No harm will ever come to you under my watch."

Yet, the target of that same protectiveness and promise had now become Wilson.

Once, she had so carefully guarded me behind her, but now, I had become a dangerous and despicable man.

As the sound of footsteps neared, I shut my eyes again and pretended to open them slowly.

"You're awake? I've already had my men look into the accident. The Walderburg family was behind it. This is a truce agreement. They agreed to give up on that piece of land in the western part of the city if you sign it."

Sylvia came to a stop before me, but when our gazes locked, not a single word was exchanged between us.

I had almost died in that accident, yet she was treating me like nothing but a bargaining chip for her business negotiation.

Feeling chilled to the bone, I asked, "Sylvia, when did you come up with this plan?"

I wondered if it was after I was caught in that accident, or when she had learned of the Walderburg family's plan to hurt me.

Sylvia frowned slightly, clearly displeased at my probing.

I smartly decided to stop asking questions, as dragging everything into the light wouldn't do me any good.

As though to appease me, Sylvia spent the next two days working in my hospital room. However, she was constantly wearing earphones, her lips occasionally curving into a smile I was all too familiar with, one that had once been directed only at me.

While she was talking to Wilson one day, I took the opportunity to hand her the divorce agreement. I thought she would realize what it was. After all, it wasn't like the words "divorce agreement" were subtle or tiny. They were right there on the front page, in bold letters.

However, Sylvia didn't even read through the agreement. She swiftly flipped right to the last page before signing it. In fact, her gaze never even left her laptop screen.

Hands trembling, I took the divorce agreement back and stared at her signature. The ink wasn't even dry yet.

My mind suddenly drifted back ten years, to the day I first met her.

At the time, she had been attacked by her enemies and was hiding under an abandoned bridge. Her entire body had been covered in blood. The then-18-year-old Sylvia's eyes gleamed with a terrifying glint, one that reminded me of an injured lion cub.

I should have been on my way to piano practice, but the moment I met her gaze, something stirred in me. Before I realized it, I was already turning, my feet taking me toward her.

I never would've expected that one decision would throw me into the abyss.

Sometime later, she took a bullet to the chest when trying to protect me and had to undergo an emergency surgery that lasted 18 hours.

That incident had me realizing one harsh truth—in her world, innocence and kindness couldn't protect anyone.

In the following ten years, I went from a young man who would shake at the sight of blood to someone who didn't even blink when dealing with bloodshed and violence.

I had thought that would turn me into an equal, someone who could stand shoulder to shoulder with her.

Only now did I understand her true thoughts—I had become tainted and filthy, just like everyone else.