The One-Way Ticket Chapter 2

All the love and hate spilled out along with the blood.

In my haze, I thought of that earth-shattering afternoon seven years ago.

The school building collapsed, and I was trapped under concrete slabs, waiting to die in despair.

But Liam frantically dug through the rubble, using his bleeding hands to pull me out bit by bit.

But the aftershocks continued. When a huge boulder came crashing toward us,

he threw himself on top of me without hesitation, using his back to form a human bridge for me.

Debris smashed onto his head, back, and face, yet he gritted his teeth and smiled at me.

"Chloe, don't be afraid. With me here, you won't die."

After that, he was left with a hideous scar on his back.

I touched that scar with trembling fingertips, weeping uncontrollably.

But he smiled like a fool.

"Why are you crying? This scar is the proof of my love for you."

And in high school, when I was cornered in an alley by a few bullies.

They called me a fatherless bastard and threatened to slash my foxy face with a box cutter.

It was Mia who charged in single-handedly, shielded me behind her, and pointed at them fiercely.

"Just try and touch her!"

From that day on, Mia accompanied me to and from school.

She told me with absolute seriousness,

"Chloe, we're going to be best friends for life."

Waking up in the hospital.

Liam's gaze fell on the crisscrossing scars on my wrist, and he sighed softly.

"Chloe, I always thought you were a smart person."

His voice was very low, like stating a long-understood fact.

"What's wrong with staying by my side?"

"You know your background; I could never accept your proposal."

"All that talk about marrying you on the ninety-ninth time... was just to humor you."

Ever since my father eloped with his mistress, my mother's mental state has been unstable.

But Liam and Mia are both from wealthy New York families.

Whenever someone pointed fingers behind my back,

Liam and Mia would viciously slap their faces for me.

I often asked myself,

what did I do to deserve such a prince and princess taking such good care of me.

Liam paused for a moment, his eyes unreadable.

"Chloe, what do you really want? Money? Love? Or medical resources for your mother? Or..."

He leaned in close, his words as light as a blade.

"Do you want me to give you a child?"

Motherhood as a ticket to status is a proven method.

Using all my remaining strength, I slapped him hard across the face.

"I want you to get lost! Don't ever let me see you again in this lifetime!"

Liam froze for a second.

He slowly touched his cheek with his long fingers, then smiled, grinding his back teeth.

The hospital room door was pushed open again.

Mia walked in carrying a basket of mangoes, her laughter light and deliberate.

"Oh my, my good best friend, playing hard to get again?"

She walked over to Liam, her eyes sliding sideways over me.

"Liam got tired of that seven years ago. It's really inappropriate to play it now."

Saying that, she started peeling a mango for me.

But I'm allergic to mangoes.

Mia knew this from the very first day we met.

She deliberately showed off the dazzling diamond ring on her ring finger.

Liam once said,

he would buy his future wife the biggest, brightest diamond ring.

Thinking of when I accidentally gouged a piece of flesh from my palm while personally crafting a wedding ring for Liam,

a dense, fine pain flared up in my heart again.

Mia handed the peeled mango to me, and I just swatted it onto the floor.

The juice stained her dress.

Liam's eyes darkened instantly.

"Chloe, if you have any grievances, take them out on me!"

"Mia has been good enough to you! She doesn't even mind me keeping you after we're married! What more do you want?!"

Mia looked at me aggrievedly.

"Chloe, do you really need to target me like this?"

I was just about to kick them out,

when two trending topics popped up on my phone.

The first was the joyous news of the marriage alliance between the two powerful families of Liam and Mia.

But the second was the record of my relationship with Liam over the past seven years.

The comment section was full of people scolding Mia for throwing her weight around and knowingly being the other woman.

Liam's usually unruly face suddenly turned dark.

He squeezed a few words out through gritted teeth.

"Chloe, you're such a bitch..."