The wind leaves a sound, but love leaves no trace.
Chapter 3
The sounds of their intimacy echoed in her ears, a relentless reminder she could not bear. Kelly turned and fled downstairs, hailing the first cab she saw.
Outside the window, trees blurred past as tears fell without end.
She had thought herself numb. But her heart still knew how to ache.
A sharp spasm twisted her stomach. Fumbling in her bag, she shook out two painkillers and swallowed them dry.
On the seat beside her, her phone buzzed incessantly.
She picked it up. Kathleen was flooding their old class chat with red envelopes.
*“What’s the occasion? What’s got our Miss Kathleen in such a generous mood?”*
Kathleen didn’t reply with words. Instead, she posted a picture—a digital wedding invitation.
The long-dead group erupted.
*[Bride: Kathleen. Groom: Ralph. Wow, our Miss Kathleen is getting married! Congrats!]*
*[A perfect match in status and looks! The ultimate power couple!]*
*[Wait, hold on. Wasn’t Ralph’s sweetheart Kelly? They had all those rumors in high school. I swear I saw them together just last year.]*
That comment poured fuel on the fire.
*[Get your eyes checked. Kelly’s the help’s daughter. How could she be Ralph’s sweetheart? Maybe she was just carrying his bags.]*
*[Alright, let me start the toast. Wishing Miss Kathleen and our brilliant Ralph a lifetime of love!]*
*[A harmonious union for a hundred years, and a son soon!]*
*[A match made in heaven.]*
The blessings flooded on and on.
Her hands trembling, it took Kelly a long moment to finally type a line.
*[Congratulations. May your long journey ahead be filled with daily joy and deep affection, growing old together in love.]*
After sending it, she left the group immediately.
The organ donation agreement reappeared in her inbox. This time, Kelly read every line carefully before clicking to confirm.
Just as she closed her eyes—
A deafening **CRASH**.
The cab was violently rear-ended.
The impact threw her forward; her head slammed against the windshield with a sickening thud. Blood streamed down her forehead.
Before she could process it, the door was wrenched open. A large hand grabbed her and hauled her out onto the street.
“Kelly. Tired of living? Is everything I say just noise to you?”
Before she found her footing, Ralph snatched the phone from her hand.
Seeing the organ donation agreement on the screen, his face darkened. He hurled her phone to the ground, shattering it.
“First you leave the group, now this donation bullshit. Why do you have to make everything so difficult?”
His voice was ice, his gaze sharp with anger and disgust.
“Do you have any idea what your little exit did to Kathleen? How it makes her look?”
“You have a problem, you take it up with me. I won’t have anyone slandering Kathleen. Apologize. You will apologize to her, right now!!!”
Kelly pressed a hand to her throbbing head, still reeling. Before she could recover, Kathleen rushed over and grabbed her arm.
“Miss Kelly, I’m so sorry. I just… I love Ralph so much. Please, don’t try to take him from me. I’ll give you anything else…”
Ralph’s heart clearly broke at the sight. He pulled Kathleen protectively into his arms. “Silly girl. You’ve done nothing wrong. Why are you apologizing to her?”
The commotion quickly drew a crowd. Murmurs swelled into a roar.
“Homewrecker! She deserves to rot!”
The shout was followed by action. Rotten vegetables, eggs, a cup of scalding coffee—all hurled at Kelly.
As chaos descended, a woman in a baseball cap darted from the crowd and flung a container of foul-smelling liquid straight at her.
In a flash, Kathleen shoved Kelly aside. The corrosive liquid splashed across Kathleen’s arm instead, its acrid stench cutting the air.
Kelly was thrown back against the car. The world spun, then went black.
She didn’t know how much time passed. Eventually, a cacophony of voices pierced the fog in her mind.
“Mr. Ralph, Miss Kathleen’s arm has severe chemical burns. She needs a skin graft immediately.”
Drifting in and out, Kelly saw Ralph’s gaze shift. It landed on her, broken on a gurney nearby.
“Take the skin from her. Save Kathleen first.”
“But… this young lady is seriously injured. Harvesting a graft now could be life-threatening.”
Ralph’s dark eyes were fathomless, cold. “She made her bed. If she dies, consider it atonement for what she did to Kathleen.”
His words brooked no argument—each one a hammer blow.
Kelly felt her heart hollow out, the pain so profound it became a numb, weightless void.
A tear traced from the corner of her eye into her hairline. There, in that space between life and death, she saw him again—the Ralph who had once charged into a burning building without a second thought to save her.
She’d been choking on smoke, breath nearly gone. He’d refused to give up, performing CPR for a full thirty minutes until her heart beat again.
And now, the man who saw her as worthless, who would trade her life without hesitation… was also him.
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