I didn’t understand how it had come to this.
I used to believe Viggo had loved me, at least once.
Seven years ago, during the cruise ship fire, he never left my side.
We drifted at sea for three days and three nights. He fed me his own blood to keep me conscious and begged me not to give up. When we were rescued and I burned with a high fever, he ignored his own weakness and took care of me for an entire week.
Back then, I thought I would marry no one but him.
My dad called me foolish. He threatened to cut ties with me. And I accepted it without hesitation.
But now, with something to compare it to, I finally see the truth.
He did save me. It just wasn’t love.
It was a carefully packaged debt of gratitude.
And that life-saving favor? Over these past few years, I’ve repaid it in full.
We owe each other nothing now.
At the hospital, I had just finished getting my wounds treated when the door to my room was kicked open.
Viggo’s parents stormed in.
“You curse!” his mother shrieked, pointing at me as if I were something rotten. She even tried to claw at my face. “If it weren’t for you, how could he be hurt this badly?”
“What kind of company building collapses like a condemned house? Lights falling from the ceiling?! Are you kidding me?”
I looked up at them, cold and steady.
“My building meets top-tier safety standards. No one controls an earthquake. Your son got hurt because he chose to save someone. Why is that my fault?”
She froze, clearly not expecting me to talk back.
Her face flushed red. Clutching her chest dramatically, she grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the door.
“You’re coming with me. You’re going to apologize to Viggo!”
But when we reached his hospital room, they suddenly stopped.
Viggo had settled Carmilla onto the bed. He was feeding her medicine himself.
When he saw his parents, he didn’t even glance in my direction.
“She was really shaken up,” he said. “Mom, can you massage Carmilla’s head? She says it’s killing her.”
His parents’ expressions changed instantly. They rushed over to her bedside.
“Oh, dear, what’s wrong? Why are you so pale?”
Then, as if on cue, they turned and snapped at me again.
“This is all because your company isn’t safe! You bring nothing but bad luck, making everyone miserable!”
Cruella ran over and hit me.
“You built a bad building on purpose! You wanted to hurt my mom!”
Carmilla spoke weakly from the bed.