Shallow Love

When I woke up in the morning, Liam had already moved out with his stuff.

Half the house was suddenly empty, and I could not get used to it.

After finishing breakfast, I planned to visit my father at the hospital.

After a full day and night of persistence, my father was finally admitted to the intensive care unit. All I could do was look at his frail face through the glass.

A man said, "When his condition stabilizes, he can be transferred to a regular ward. After that, he can continue chemotherapy."

Not knowing how to respond, I only replied, "Thank you."

A warm hand landed gently on the top of my head. Before I could react, I found myself looking into a pair of deep, familiar eyes.

The man comforted me, saying, "Don't worry. Mr. Lancaster will be fine. Even though it's terminal stomach cancer, there's still a 30% to 50% chance of recovery. You need to have faith in him and in the doctors."

Strangely, I felt a sense of security.

I took the elevator downstairs and ran into Christine at the payment counter. She greeted me with a sweet smile. "What a coincidence. I didn't expect to see you here."

I did not want to talk to her, so I nodded and said nothing. I did not think there was anything worth saying between us. However, she seemed to feel otherwise. She grabbed me after I finished paying, and that was when I noticed the injury on her foot.

Following my gaze, Christine gradually blushed. "Oh, it's Liam's fault for pushing too hard. I lost my footing and almost fell down, so I sprained my foot. Evelyn, was Liam that hard with you?"

Her words made me feel uncomfortable. I knew she deliberately said that to anger me.

When I did not answer, Christine tilted her head and scanned my face. "Sorry, Evelyn. I forgot that Liam hasn't been intimate with you in a long time. Evelyn, don't blame Liam. He just took my joke to heart."

At that moment, I just felt extremely embarrassed.

At night, Liam returned after being told not to see him. Without saying a word, he pulled me over to the stairs on the second floor with a grim face, and then...

"Evelyn, I told you not to give Christy trouble. Don't you understand English?"

Liam pushed me down the stairs!

I lost my footing and fell down the stairs. The wrenching pain in my ankles made me cry.

Liam walked right in front of me without even looking at me. "Does it hurt? It's good if it hurts! Christy sprained her ankle, and you threw her off. Did you know that your actions caused Christy to sprain herself a second time? I told you not to give Christy trouble, yet you insisted on messing with me."

I was trembling with pain, but I laughed out of anger. "I shook her hand off this afternoon, but nothing happened to her! There were not only doctors, but also so many other people at the payment counter. Ask anyone there and you'll find out whether what I said is true!"

Liam frowned, his eyes filled with anger. "You know that it's a corner where other people can't see, so you're shamelessly lying, aren't you? Did you know that Christy came up the corner stairs on a stretcher after you left?"

I was shocked, but then felt amused and sad. "So based on Christine's words, you assumed that I hurt her? She didn't fall down the stairs when I shook her off. It's up to you to believe it or not!"

My face was slapped, and it burned with pain. "I witnessed Christy being brought up! And the doctor said that Christy suffered a second sprain. Are the doctor and Christy both lying and falsely accusing you? Even if she offended you, there's got to be a reason, right? She treats you like her own sister-in-law. How could you do this to her? I knew her when I was 19. It's been ten years now! She has never been a liar in these ten years!"

"What about me? Am I a liar? Liam Sommer, we've known each other since we were 16, haven't we?" I retorted.