True Love's Price

One thing Jeremy did remember was that I was sent to the same hospital as Celeste, so he wanted to find me so that he could 'serve justice' on her behalf.

The moment he left Celeste's ward, a stretcher was wheeled right past him, and I just knew that the body on that stretcher was mine.

Even though my body was covered with a piece of white cloth, my hand was left hanging outside and uncovered, revealing the promise ring I was wearing. This was the very ring Jeremy had bought me when he proposed to me eight years ago, and I had never taken it off once.

I was confident that Jeremy could recognize that ring.

My spirit floated around Jeremy as I tried to tell him that the body was mine, that he only needed one good look to realize it was me.

I needed to know how he'd react if he knew that he pushed me and our child into the jaws of death with his own hands. Would he feel any semblance of remorse? Would he have a breakdown, or would it just not mean anything to him whatsoever?

"Please let us through." The medical staff requested as the stretcher was wheeled close to Jeremy.

With a frown on his face, Jeremy glanced at my hand hanging outside the cloth, before he stepped aside with an annoyed expression, allowing it to pass him uninterrupted.

In the end, he couldn't even recognize me. The past eight years of my life felt like nothing but a joke.

After my body was wheeled into the morgue, Jeremy entered the ward I was admitted into before I died.

"Where's Elodie Woods? I believe she was admitted here?" He asked a nearby nurse.

Seeing that Jeremy was the one asking, the nurse replied quickly. "Doctor, do you know Miss Woods? She already passed away due to her injuries, and we couldn't do anything about it.

"Her father passed out from heartbreak, so we're currently trying to look for someone who could help settle her posthumous affairs… If you are an acquaintance of hers, would you mind following me to…"

Before she could even finish her question, she was interrupted by Jeremy, exclaiming in a brash tone.

"How brazen is that woman to make people play along with her little act? How could she make such a big deal out of this? Celeste fell down those stairs too, and she's doing just fine!"

I had already guessed that he wouldn't believe what the nurse told him.

The reason that Celeste was doing well was because she was fortunate enough to have immediate medical aid from Jeremy, who was a chief physician.

Meanwhile, I could only wait as my grievous injuries robbed me of my last breath.

Intimidated by Jeremy's response and the thunderous look on his face, the nurse didn't dare speak any further, leaving the ward while shaking her head.

After he failed to find me, Jeremy went back to Celeste, who had found out that I might have passed away.

"Shouldn't you go see Elodie? What if something really happened to her?"

Feigning concern when she was the one who pushed me down those stairs with all her might in the first place, she continued. "I'm sure Elodie didn't mean to push me down those stairs. It was definitely an accident… You're her fiancé, so you should go see if she's been hurt after falling down those stairs, right?"

"You're too kind, Celeste," Jeremy commented, before his expression twisted with anger. "I know the kind of woman she is. She's always been jealous of you, and she has always misunderstood our relationship. Don't you know that she tried to stop me when I wanted to bring you to the hospital? I'm sure a venomous snake like her must've done so on purpose."

"It's fine, I don't blame her. I'm just worried she's hurt too…" Celeste said, the very act of a saintess.

"Impossible!" Jeremy was convinced. "She loves tricking me like this. One time, she lied and said she was infected with pneumonia when she wasn't even sick, and I almost had to take a trip back from overseas to see her!

"I know how much of an actress she is, so she's the person I trust the least!"

I opened my mouth, but I couldn't say a word.

It was true that my health was poor, and Jeremy knew of it as well.

In an attempt to not affect his career, however, I always went to the hospital myself, not letting him know of it so that he wouldn't be worried.

Sometimes, my frailty would show while I was recovering, and he would joke, "What, are you going to trick me into staying behind to take care of you again?"

Going along with it, I would reply, "You caught me red-handed."

While I was putting on a brave face, Celeste called Jeremy every other day, talking about how she was feeling under the weather and how she wanted Jeremy to check on her condition. Strangest thing was, Jeremy was always susceptible to her wiles.

I was mad at first, when I found out.

I found Celeste and asked her directly what she was planning, but I was barely two sentences into the conversation before tears started dripping down her face like a faucet that had been left running. I couldn't get any answers from her after that, so I left.

Not much longer after that, Jeremy came to me, angrily questioning me.

"Why did you have to humiliate Celeste? She and I were neighbors growing up, so isn't it normal that I went to the hospital with her for checkups?" As he said so, he dug out his phone and tapped on a picture, showing it to me. "Is violence all you know? Why did you have to hit her?"

I stared, stunned at the photo he showed me of a red imprint on her face in the shape of a palm.

I hadn't even touched a hair on her head!

I didn't know how to explain myself for something I hadn't even done, and even if I did, Jeremy wouldn't have believed it.

Pointing at me furiously, he warned me, "You can come at me if you're not satisfied with me. Don't cause trouble for an innocent bystander!"

All I wanted to say then, was that I hadn't done anything that would've warranted this response.

Innocent, angelic Celeste, ironically enough, was the one who ended up reaching her hand towards me, ruthlessly shoving me to my demise.