Chapter 57


    Whatever it was the person on the line had said, it seemed to rm Francis. He had make sure that


    he heard it correctly. "Can you repeat it again?"


    Everyone nced at one another. Francis had his back facing them, so they couldn''t see his


    expression.


    Finally, he spoke once again. "Which hospital? Okay... I''ll be right there in a few minutes."


    Hospital? Those in the meeting room wondered what could have happened.


    Francis hung up the phone and turned around; he didn''t look well. He silently closed his eyes,


    bowed his head and rubbed temples in frustration and anguish.


    When he opened his eyes, they were bloodshot red. The others wondered what had transpired in


    the conversation and waited for him to speak.


    But Francis staggered to the entrance of the conference room. He paused, remembering that there


    were other people in the room as well.


    With caution, he stopped and turned around. "The meeting has been adjourned," he said in a


    hoarse voice.


    They noticed his hesitation and secretly wondered what had caused his change in mood.


    They got their answer a few dayster, after finding out that his fiancee hadmitted suicide ■3


    by jumping off a building.


    Francis sped to the hospital. He arrived at the entrance, floating and pale- faced. The nurses


    mistook him for a patient who wanted to make an appointment for a doctor.


    He began to pick up speed as he tried to search for what he was looking for. But like a headless


    chicken, Francis realized that he didn''t even know where he was going, let alone which operating


    room his fiancee was in.


    Standing in the corridor, he looked around nkly, as if he didn''t even know where he was.


    It was not until he encountered a nurse holding the medicine te that he came back to his senses.


    He felt as if he wasn''t himself at all.


    He reached out and grabbed the nurse''s arm. She shrieked in surprise, almost dropping the tray in


    her hand.


    Francis held her up. He was panting and gulping for air like a dying fish on the bank of a river.


    "Miss, please help me. The one who just jumped off the building...which floor is she on?"


    The nurse''s frightened face contorted into a confused expression. She shook her head and said,


    "I''m so sorry, but I don''t know. You can ask the receptionist."


    Without waiting for another word, Francis ran towards the reception. Sweating, he anxiously asked,


    "Where is the female patient that arrived a few minutes ago? Which floor is she on? Please. I need


    to know."


    The two receptionists looked at each other, not ■3


    understanding who he was trying to look for. Out of courtesy, one of them carefully asked, "Which


    patient are you looking for?"


    Francis replied with a pale face, "The one who jumped off a building."


    There was a slight change in the expressions of the receptionists. Assuming that he was a family


    member, they gave him the information he asked for.


    "Please head towards the emergency department, she is being operated there. It is on the first floor.


    Go straight and then turn right. You will see it then."


    Without a thank you, Francis headed towards the direction. From afar, he faintly heard them saying


    behind, "What a pity."


    ''Pity? For what? Wendy?


    It is ridiculous. Flow could she be pitiful? What the hell was this woman doing?


    Jumping off the building? Is she crazy?


    Huh! She must be out of her mind.


    How dare she jumped off the building?1


    Speechless, Francis quickly sped towards the emergency department. He dryly asked, "The one


    who jumped off the building..."


    The nurse widened her eyes in recognition of the patient. "She is in the operating room right now.


    Are you a family rtion?"


    He pressed his lips. After a moment of silence, he replied, "I''m her husband." ■3


    A tinge of pity shed across the nurse''s eyes. She silently sorted documents in her hands and


    said, "Please have a seat for a moment. The doctor will inform you when the operation has


    finished."


    But Francis stood still, as if didn''t hear what the nurse had just said.


    The nurse felt sorry to see him out of his wits. When she saw the woman arrive at the hospital, she


    barely had a pulse. She was very close to dying.


    Even though she was used to seeing people at such a grave state, it was still different for their


    families to witness such situations. They were usually the ones who couldn''t bear to see their loved


    ones like this. She helped Francis sit on the sofa and gave him a cup of water. "Drink it. Don''t


    worry," she said, softly smiling to give him hope.


    Francis epted the water stiffly and whispered thanks. Instead of drinking, he asked nkly, "Flow


    was she when she arrived? Is she okay? Will she be okay?"


    She was definitely not okay. When the medics found her, bystanders had said that she jumped from


    a fifteen-story building. In all honesty, she was lucky that they were around to rescue her.


    Flowever, it was hard to say whether she would be able to recover or not. And even if she could,


    there was a high possibility that she would either be in a vegetative state or paralyzed.


    Instead of telling him this, the nurseforted him, "Take it easy. Sit down and wait for a while.


    You''ll know the result soon."


    The nurse went back for her work after ■3


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    pacifying Francis. Left alone, he watched as the corridor bustled with people and activity.


    Francis did not know how long he had been sitting there. After what felt like an eternity, someone


    whispered in his ear that the operation had finished. Fie staggered to his feet and followed the


    nurse, not knowing where he was going.


    Rachel came out of the operating room with a heavy heart. A nurse had informed her that the


    patient''s family member had arrived.


    Rachel slowly walked along the corridor, meeting Francis, who was headed towards her direction.


    She stopped in surprise; she didn''t expect him toe here.


    As if she was a ghost, Francis didn''t notice her and didn''t even see that the nurse had stopped


    when they reached Rachel.


    The nurse stood by Rachel''s side and attempted to stop Francis from walking further.


    "Wait a second! The doctor is here..." The nurse tugged at his sleeve. Francis turned around and


    saw the doctor dressed in the light blue surgical uniform.


    Francis'' gaze fell on her bloody hands. His breath and heart rate quickened, and his pupils dted.


    He walked towards her and asked in a trembling voice, "Doctor, where is she? How''s she? Was it


    sessful? Is she alright?"


    He didn''t recognize Rachel because of the mask on her face. She didn''t want to tell him the truth,


    seeing that it might only hurt him. With a heavy sigh, she said, "You can go to see her..." ■3


    ''...onest time.1 She didn''t finish her sentence.


    Despite only saying half of her sentence, Francis understood what she meant to say. His face was


    as pale as a ghost. He slowly dragged himself towards the room.


    Wendy had jumped down from their ce on the fifteenth floor. The rescue operation was


    unsessful. At twenty past ten this morning, she died in the hospital.


    Rachel never expected that Wendy would end up like this. She had always spoken so softly and


    acted uneasy during her engagement day. Rather than looking like a bride- to- be, she looked


    ufortable on the day of the asion, as if she was out of ce.


    The words that Wendy asked her to tell her brother suddenly came to Rachel''s mind.


    It seemed that all these signs had been preempted. Wendy had asked her for help, a very unnatural


    expression stered on her face. Rachel groaned inwardly, ''Why hadn''t I asked more?''


    She could have asked what Wendy had meant, but it was toote. Rachel deduced that the reason


    why Wendy had jumped off might have had something to do with the engagement party.


    Wendy had turned to Rachel for help, but she didn''t pay any attention and ignored the poor girl''s


    silent cries for help.


    Rachel couldn''t figure out what had contributed to her suicide.


    Her thoughts were disturbed by the loud wailing of a man. Rachel closed her eyes, her heart ■3


    sinking in sadness.


    Wendy''s death quickly spread throughout the hospital. Apart from her suicide, people couldn''t help


    but gossip about her and her finace.


    There were stories proliferating, but Rachel wasn''t sure whether they were false.


    ording to one version, there was a conflict between Francis and the Wen family. It was said that


    he had decided to trick Wendy into an engagement as a form of revenge on the Wen family. He


    didn''t even bother to hide this diabolical n of vindictiveness.


    What surprised everyone else was that without any hesitation, the Wen family willingly handed their


    daughter to him, like a prized possession. To be more precise, their adopted daughter.


    They probably still had a glimmer of hope, expecting that Francis would genuinely take care of


    Wendy and cease his plot of revenge.


    The Wen family were unable to attend the engagement party because they were prohibited from


    attending.


    The Cheng family treated the engagement as a trick and didn''t bother to make any effort ining.


    The guests that were invited to the party were aware of this fact and treated Wendy with contempt.


    The engagement party was held to publicly humiliate Wendy and the Wen family. Francis


    orchestrated it to fool them deliberately.


    If this was true, Rachel couldn''t imagine how ■3


    Wendy was able to even smile at the party.


    These rumors were potential spections that could support Wendy''s reasons for suicide.


    ’Maybe she ended her life because she couldn''t stand such humiliation,''


    Rachel guessed.


    She nced at her hands that were still stained with Wendy''s blood. She had never been close to


    her other patients before. This was the first time where she actually knew one of their stories.


    She couldn''t deny that she was affected by Wendy''s death.


    This was the first time she had ever felt pity for her patient.


    But it was a different kind of feeling. It hurt Rachel to ept the fact that Wendy was gone. She


    stepped back to lean on the wall, feeling her throat tighten.


    How could she just die like that? That girl didn''t seem so weak. So what pushed her tomit such


    an act to end her life? What was she running away from?