The vase shattered against the corner of the table, and shards of glass sliced through her calf.
But Jared’s hand was injured even more severely.
Without thinking, he blurted out, "Are you okay? I’ll take you to the hospital and get it bandaged."
Carrie was about to tell him she was fine when Karin’s voice rang out from his phone.
"Jared, there’s a power outage in my building. Someone’s been knocking on my door, and I’m scared. Can you come over?"
Jared glanced at Carrie for only a second before answering.
"Don’t be afraid, Karin. I’m coming right now. Just wait for me."
He barely spared Carrie another glance before saying perfunctorily, "Go get it treated yourself. I don’t have time for you."
Carrie wasn’t surprised.
She made her way to a roadside clinic and got the wound bandaged.
While waiting, she absentmindedly scrolled through social media and saw Karin’s latest post.
Jared—who had an obsessive dislike for anything unclean—had actually changed a lightbulb in her apartment.
The caption read: "After all these years, you’re still the only one who truly cares about my safety."
A second later, Jared’s comment appeared below it.
"As long as it’s you, I’d walk through fire and cross mountains of swords."
They were truly in love.
Then, her phone rang. It was Jared’s mother.
"Carrie, Jared says he’s going to marry Karin. This time, he insists on marrying her no matter what. I won’t rely on you anymore."
Her voice turned cold.
"Since you failed to drive her away, just wait for the contract to expire and leave quietly. I’ll keep my promise and arrange the surgery for Art—but as for the follow-up expenses, you’ll have to figure that out yourself."
The call ended.
For a long moment, Carrie just stood there, letting the words settle.
She only had to endure it until the contract expired, and she would be free.
After everything she had suffered, that day had finally come.
Carrie wanted to play it cool and leave on the exact day the contract expired, but Jared unexpectedly approached her again.
Tomorrow was his friend's wedding, and he had the audacity to ask her to dress up and attend with him.
She rejected him outright. "Just take Karin with you. I don’t mind."
He froze for a moment, clearly surprised by her response.
In the past, she would never have given up an opportunity like this to someone else.