Seeing him on the verge of tears, Jade anxiously embraced him, comforting him:
“You heard wrong; he just invited me to the wedding. I won’t marry anyone else, don’t worry…”
Hearing her say this crushed my heart completely. I suppressed the acidity in my stomach and managed to say,
“I see. I wish you both happiness.”
At that moment, I was disheveled, unshaven, and covered in dirt, looking like a clown.
In contrast, Ashton, despite wearing a hospital gown, had a broken but handsome look.
Jade and he were a good match.
The acidity rose in my stomach again, and I wanted to leave, but Jade pulled me back.
“Wait a minute, I have something to say to you.”
I felt irritated.
Why should I?
I had already let her be with Ashton; why wouldn’t she let me go?
I shook her hand off.
“Miss Walker, we’ve broken up. Please don’t cling to me anymore.”
“Jade, who is he? Why does he say he wants to break up with you?”
“Isn’t your boyfriend me?”
“Ah-my head hurts!”
Ashton clutched his head and cried out in pain. Jade hurriedly helped him sit down.
That tenderness was something I had never seen before.
After calming Ashton down, she caught up with me.
“Corey, I didn’t agree to break up.”
“Ashton is sick; the doctor said he shows early signs of young-onset Alzheimer’s. If we don’t intervene and treat it promptly, it could easily worsen.”
“He only remembers me now, and I have to cooperate with the doctor to manage his condition. This is all just acting; after all, we were childhood sweethearts, and I can’t just stand by and watch him suffer. Corey, can’t you not make a scene at this critical moment?”
Her words were earnest, and she explained with rare patience, but my anger ignited.
Why? How could she blame me?
Why could she be so at ease when my mom died because of her?
With red eyes, I gritted my teeth and said,
“How strange it is that he only remembers you, and you want to leave me to marry him?”
“Do you know your elopement caused my mom to die of a heart attack?!”
“Why did you choose to abandon us on such an important day?!”
Jade paused, her eyes flashing with impatience.
“I admit it was wrong to leave you at the wedding, but I will make it up to you. I promise you, I’ll hold an even grander wedding to compensate you.”
“So you don’t need to con me alongside your mom. I can understand her resentment toward me, but joking about her life, isn’t that childish?”
“Can you control when someone gets sick? Ashton just happened to have a fit that day; what could I do?”
I trembled all over, unable to stop the tears from falling.
“Yes, I can’t control it, so I had to watch my mom collapse from a heart attack, helpless!”
“Jade, you killed her!”
I yelled, filled with grief, drawing the attention of passersby.
Jade finally lost her patience.
“I told you, don’t take advantage of this situation. You dare to deceive me now?!”
She snatched the IV bag from my hand and hurled it to the ground. The bottle shattered, and the liquid splattered everywhere.
“Acting tough! You think you can push me around?!”
She lunged at me, frantically tearing off the needle from my hand, and blood gushed out.
I pressed my hand tightly, feeling the pain, and behind me, I heard Ashton’s sorrowful and desperate voice.
“Jade, so you were lying to me. You want to abandon me to marry him.”
Jade turned back in panic, only to find Ashton sitting on the windowsill, looking at her with despair.