Chapter 117
At Covenhill Hospital.
“Eliana, thank God you came!” Pamela’s face lit up the moment she saw her.
She had waited three days in silence, not daring to follow up. She knew full well that Eliana owed her nothing, and even if Eliana never showed up, she had no right to complain.
Eliana got straight to the point. “How’s Luke doing?”
“The surgery went well. But he’s been withdrawn, barely speaking. I suppose I can’t blame him. Ever since the bankruptcy, he’s lost all direction. And now, hearing you’ve gotten married…”
Pamela sighed, looking at Eliana with something between regret and resignation. “He just wasn’t lucky enough to deserve you.”
Eliana didn’t comment on that. She had no intention of
revisiting old wounds. “I’ll go in and see him.”
“Sure.” Pamela gave a quick nod and opened the hospital room door. “I’ll wait out here,” she murmured.
Inside the room, Luke lay on his side, eyes shut, his face drained of color. Eliana paused at the foot of the bed. “They said you broke three ribs and an arm. Doesn’t lying like that hurt?”
The moment he heard her voice, Luke’s entire body tensed. The pain was constant, and every breath, every shift was agony.
But somehow, it was grounding. It made it impossible to forget that he had lost her, completely and irrevocably.
He opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was her face, familiar, beautiful, and impossibly distant. “You came out of pity, didn’t you?”
“No,” she replied calmly. “Your mother asked me to.”
He gave a bitter smile. “Couldn’t you have lied? Just this once?” Then his eyes caught on the ring glinting on her finger. The smile faded. “So that’s why! never measured up. You married that Mr. Russell. From that Russell family.”
Eliana didn’t bother addressing the sarcasm. “Everyone is allowed to move on with their life.”
“Move on…” he echoed, the words catching in his throat. His gaze turned glassy, reddened by frustration. “How did you two even meet?”
“It was an old engagement,” she answered flatly. “The Russell family had arranged it with the Burkes years ago. But after the Russells rose to power, the Burkes no longer felt worthy to accept it.”
Luke took that in without a word. He understood immediately. “So I was the lucky one, wasn’t I? To have dated the woman chosen by the Russell family.”
He laughed at the irony. Back then, he had basked in her love, taken it for granted, and betrayed it without hesitation, never realizing that what he had was something no amount of privilege could buy.
But Eliana didn’t catch the remorse behind his words. She mistook it for yet another jab and frowned. “If you’ve still got energy to be passive–aggressive,
then I guess you’re fine. I’ll be going.”
As she turned toward the door, panic surged in him. He reached out and grabbed her arm, but the sudden movement pulled at his wound, sending him into a violent coughing fit.
A flush crept into his pale cheeks, though it was the kind born of strain, not health.
Eliana caught a glimpse of the bandages under his hospital gown, wrapped tight across his chest. “You shouldn’t keep putting your mother through this,” she said quietly.
He looked up at her, hand still clinging to hers. “What about you? Do you still worry about me?”
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11:24 Mon, 16 Jun 1 G
Chapter 117
“My husband’s waiting downstairs,” she said evenly. “So you can let go now.”
The double meaning wasn’t lost on him. Luke’s hand slipped away slowly, his gaze dimming.
Eliana watched him for a moment, then asked, “Now that your family’s gone bankrupt, have you thought about what comes next?”
Under her calm and composed gaze, Luke was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of inadequacy as if she were looking down at him from a height he could never reach.
He couldn’t bear to let her see him like this anymore. “I’m going to start over,” he said firmly.
“You’d better,” Eliana replied with a small nod. “Stop wallowing in self–pity. Mrs. Graham only has one son.”
From the very beginning, everything she said had been for Pamela’s sake. That stung a little, and yet it stirred something else in Luke as well, something foolish and wistful. “She still sees you as her daughter, doesn’t she?”
Caught off guard, Eliana hesitated for a moment before answering, her tone steady and composed. “No matter what’s happened between us, Mrs. Graham will always have my respect.”
A faint smile tugged at the corners of Luke’s lips. That one sentence was enough for him.
Eliana glanced down at the time and said gently, “I should be going. Take care of yourself and heal.”
‘Already?‘ Luke thought. ‘She didn’t even stay half an hour.‘
But then again, her husband was probably waiting just outside the hospital.
Even though he didn’t want her to leave, Luke gave a stiff nod.
Just as Eliana reached the door, it burst open. A few young men and women swaggered in, their hair dyed in loud, clashing colors, people who clearly didn’t take kindly to authority.
Their footsteps faltered the moment they saw Eliana, and then recognition dawned.
“Isn’t that Luke’s ex?”
“He nearly died because of you, and you wait until now to show up?”
“Do you even have a heart?”
Their words came sharp and fast, full of blame. Eliana didn’t respond to them. She simply turned and looked at Luke. “Your friends?”
Luke hesitated, too ashamed to admit they were his racing crew. Instead, he shouted at them, “Stop talking nonsense! I was the one who messed up, not her. Let her leave!”
A girl nestled in her boyfriend’s arms gave Eliana a long, dramatic eye–roll. “She probably ditched you the second she found someone rich enough to upgrade. Classic.”
Eliana raised an eyebrow. “Is that what you’ve been telling them?”
“No! I haven’t!”
The moment his eyes met hers, quiet, unreadable, tinged with something like mockery, Luke’s face flushed with frustration and guilt. He was so worked up he could barely breathe. “I already told you it was all my fault! None of you know a damn thing. Just get out!”
But Eliana had already turned away. If this really was the story he’d let them believe, then maybe she never should have come at all.
The group hurried to his bedside, trying to explain themselves. “Come on, Luke, don’t get so worked up. We were just messing with her because we never liked her much anyway.”
11:24 Mon, 16 Jun
Chapter 117
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Looking at the familiar faces, people he’d spent so many reckless nights with, Luke felt, for the first time, a heavy wave of revulsion. “Get out,” he said coldly. “I’m done with racing. I’m done with all of you.”
He wanted to live. He wanted a second chance. And more than anything, he wanted to become someone Eliana could respect.
They all froze, exchanging looks of disbelief.
“Did he hit his head too hard or something?”
“Must’ve.”
“Whatever. Hit us up when you’re back on your feet.”
Once the room had emptied and the door finally closed behind them, Luke raised a trembling hand to cover his eyes. Quietly, the tears came.
He supposed it started the moment he found those birth control pills in her purse.
The same girl who used to blush for hours just from holding hands, who he’d once called dull and uptight, had given herself, completely and without hesitation, to another man.
He’d been shocked, then furious, and jealous, consumed by envy of the man who had seen a side of her he never had.
As for Hannah, once upon a time, he’d been blinded by her fiery charm. But when the passion faded, there was nothing left.
AD
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