Once she was out of sight, Blake’s smile faded. He glanced at the tree, then turned the wheelchair towards Dave.
Knowing Blake had seen him, Dave stepped out of the shadows with a serious look on his face.
Blake stopped just a few feet from Dave, and the two men looked at each other in a tense silence. The air between them felt heavy and tense as they stood face to face, neither looking away.
Even though he was in a wheelchair, Blake carried himself with a strong, dominant presence. He looked Dave up and down, a smug smirk forming on his lips as he spoke sarcastically. “So, did you finally remember you have a girlfriend in the hospital?”
Dave stared back at him with a deep, unreadable look, but he stayed silent.
Blake snorted in disgust, leaning back in his wheelchair with a satisfied grin. “You sure took your time getting here after the accident. But it’s too late. You saw what just happened. Bianca promised to be with me.”
Dave’s brows furrowed as he looked at Blake’s legs and said coldly, “Is it because of your leg?”
Blake was caught off guard, not expecting Dave to be so blunt. The words hit him hard, and he gripped the armrests of his wheelchair tightly.
But he kept his face calm, trying not to show his frustration. “Of course not. Bianca agreed to be with me long before the accident.”
Dave gave a small, dismissive smile, looking down at him. “If that’s true, why didn’t she tell me herself? Why did you make up excuses to send her away? Did you get confused, mixing your broken leg with fantasies? Did she just take care of you for a few days, and now you’ve built all these hopes?”
Blake’s face flushed with anger. He hated how Dave acted so arrogant.
Humiliated and furious, Blake scowled, pulled out his phone, and shoved it toward Dave.
“You doubt me? Take a look at this.”
The photo showed Bianca and Blake in a close embrace under a sky full of shooting stars.
Blake had secretly asked the grill owner to take the picture and send it to him. Bianca had no idea about it.
Blake had always valued honesty and never played games when it came to love. He just wanted Bianca to see his true feelings and choose him on her own.
As Blake watched Bianca fall deeper under Dave’s charm, he felt helpless. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get through to her. He thought that if being honest couldn’t compete with Dave’s smooth talk, maybe he’d have to fight back in a different way.
Blake believed that eventually, Bianca would see through Dave’s lies and come back to him, grateful for the truth.
When Dave saw the photo, his calm attitude immediately turned cold.
He had promised to trust Bianca, staying composed despite Blake’s earlier attempts to influence him, waiting for her side of the story.
But seeing that photo made him furious.
Remembering what Zane had said about their camping trip and watching shooting stars together, Dave’s anger surged.
The hardest part to accept was realizing that Bianca had lied to him for another man. She was clearly with Blake, yet she had told him she was swamped with work, a story she clearly made up.
Could it be that she had truly chosen Blake over him?
Blake felt a sense of triumph as he saw Dave’s cold expression. “You’re not good enough for Bianca. Why would she pick you when she could have someone better? Who do you think you are? You can’t give her a good life; worse, you don’t even care about her! I’ve always been there for her, not you! What have you done for her? Spent your time shopping with another woman?”
Hearing this, Dave clenched his fists. But instead of getting angry, he started laughing.
With a mocking look, Dave stared at Blake as if he were a fool.
“Do you really think you’re in a better position than me with your disability?”
Blake’s face went pale. He realized he couldn’t compete with the confident and powerful Dave in his current condition.
Despite being in a wheelchair and having to look up at Dave, Blake stood his ground.
He snapped fiercely, “I come from a better background and have more talent and abilities than someone like you! All you do is sweet-talk and rely on women. My leg will heal, and even if it doesn’t, I’m still better off than living your kind of life forever!”
Dave laughed dismissively, moved closer to Blake, and taunted, “You really think you can match me? What makes you so confident?”
Leaning in, he whispered harshly in Blake’s ear, “You’re not even in my league.”
Blake’s face flushed with anger as he heard this, his rage boiling over.
Blake gripped the armrests of his wheelchair, frustrated as he tried and failed to stand. His body wouldn’t cooperate, no matter how hard he tried. He shot Dave with a look full of hatred, unable to hide his anger.
Dave had been watching him with pity, but now he straightened up and gave Blake one last disdainful look, a mix of warning and sympathy. Without a word, he walked away, leaving Blake to seethe in his frustration.
Blake’s fists clenched as he struggled with his inability to move. In the busy park, he held back the curses rising inside him. Finally, feeling defeated, he slammed his useless leg in frustration and slumped back into the wheelchair. He looked up at the sky, but the sun only made his sore eyes feel worse.
Would he ever be able to stand again? Had he really become disabled?
Blake gritted his teeth, refusing to give up.
Even if he was stuck in a wheelchair, he’d never let Bianca be with that man. Never!
Bianca rushed back after getting medicine for Blake. From a distance, she saw him talking to someone.
But as she got closer, the person she had noticed disappeared around a corner. Squinting in that direction, she casually asked Blake, “Who were you talking to? He looked familiar.”
Blake, still angry, paused before answering, “Just someone asking for directions. I didn’t recognize him. I’m not feeling great. Let’s head back so I can rest.”
Bianca glanced suspiciously toward where Dave had disappeared but nodded. “Okay. I’ll push you back, and you can take your medicine.”
Dave had just returned from abroad and set aside his busy schedule to spend time with Bianca. The encounter earlier had been more frustrating than he had expected.
Frustration boiling inside him, Dave stormed back to the company and burst into the conference room.