Those words spun around in my head, getting louder and louder until they landed on the image of Jason leaving with Ava in his arms.

I closed my eyes, taking a shaky breath, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill. I couldn’t cry, not here, not now.

At the hospital, the doctor examined my burn carefully, his brow furrowing slightly as he inspected the damage.

"It’s a moderate burn. It needs immediate treatment," he said, his voice professional but with a hint of concern.

I nodded, but inside, I felt absolutely nothing.

Emma's POV

The nurse carefully cleaned my wound, and when the cold medication touched my skin, I couldn't help but gasp softly.

She glanced up at me, her eyes filled with sympathy. "You need to be careful with this. Wounds take time to heal."

I forced a small smile. "Thanks."

Once the wound was treated, I sat on a bench in the hospital corridor, staring out into the quiet night. My phone vibrated in my pocket.

I pulled it out, only to see a message from Jason on WhatsApp:

[Emma, Ava is fine now. How about you?]

I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.

I deleted the entire chat history and removed his contact information. If he’d already made his choice, why should I keep holding on?

By the time I arrived at Chase's house, it was almost 10 PM.

He clearly hadn’t expected me to show up. I noticed the laptop in the living room still had an active video conference, with someone speaking on the screen.

Chase glanced at it, then at me, and gave me an apologetic look. After muttering a few words to the participants, he quickly ended the meeting.

"Emma, you’re hurt?" His voice was laced with concern as he helped me sit down and gently examined my arm.

His fingertips brushed against my skin, and I felt an electric-like sensation spread through my body.

"How could you be so careless?" he said, his tone warm, filled with both reproach and care.

I shook my head, not wanting to bring up Jason and Ava again. Those painful images would only make me even more upset.

"I’m hungry," I said, changing the subject.

Chase didn’t ask anything more. He simply walked into the kitchen, grabbed a few ingredients, and started cooking. I sat on the couch, quietly watching him move about.

Compared to the fake affection from Jason and Ava, Chase’s presence felt so much more genuine.

At that moment, everything became incredibly clear to me.