Chapter 2

I clenched my jaw against a piercing spike of pain,

cold sweat beading on my forehead.

"I'm cold," I choked out.

"Cold?" Julian scoffed, irritably tugging at his collar.

"The room is set to 78 degrees, and you're telling me you're cold?"

He turned to Chloe, his tone instantly softening.

"Baby, go turn off the AC before she finds another excuse to throw a tantrum."

Chloe nodded obediently.

She flicked off the AC switch,

then turned to me with a kicked-puppy look.

"Eleanor, I'm so sorry... I really didn't mean it.

I just wanted to run a test on a new backdoor program I wrote..."

Tears began to roll down her cheeks again.

"Julian already yelled at me. Please don't be mad, okay?"

Julian instantly shielded her behind him.

"Enough. Why are you apologizing?

She's lying right here, perfectly fine, isn't she?"

He turned back to me, his eyes hardening into ice.

"Eleanor, Chloe almost got assaulted at the club.

She's completely traumatized, but she still came all the way here to see you.

And you can't even crack a smile?

You're seriously out of line."

Looking at his self-righteous face,

I suddenly found the whole thing utterly absurd.

My car almost plunged into the Pacific Ocean.

I was teetering on the edge of death.

And him?

He only gave a damn that his precious sister got catcalled.

"She's traumatized?"

I forced a weak smirk, my voice hoarse.

"Going to a club, drinking, dancing, and getting hit on by guys—

that's what you call traumatized?"

"Then what about me?

Trapped in the driver's seat, forced to watch myself hurtle toward a cliff—

what was that?

A fun VR experience?"

Julian's scowl deepened, sheer disgust radiating from him.

"Can you stop being so bitter?

Is throwing the word 'death' around really that fun for you?

Didn't I just hire the best medical team for you?"

"Besides, Chloe ran the calculations.

With that speed and angle, your life was never actually in danger."

She ran the calculations?

I stared down at the IV bag,

watching it drip its so-called "life-saving" fluid into my veins.

Yeah. Her calculations were spot on.

She even perfectly calculated that I was going to die today.

"Julian," I called his name, my voice barely a whisper.

"What if I actually die?"