Chapter 5

She buried her face deep in Julian's chest,

crying perfect, delicate tears.

Doctors and nurses swarmed the bed,

frantically checking every machine.

"This is strange... the patient's vitals are perfectly stable.

Why did the alarm go off?"

A flustered doctor hit the restart switch on the monitor,

and the numbers instantly reset to normal.

Julian's face morphed into rage.

After soothing Chloe in his arms, he turned back to me,

his gaze digging in like daggers.

"Eleanor! When is enough finally enough for you?!

Hacking the hospital equipment just to force me to come back?

Have you completely lost your mind?!"

I lay still, looking up at his enraged face.

"You really think I did this?"

"Who else could it be?!" he sneered.

"You're so jealous of Chloe you'd actually frame her!"

He marched forward and ripped the blanket off my body.

"Get up! Apologize to Chloe. Right now!"

The frigid air hit my burning skin.

I couldn't hold back a violent fit of coughing,

the heavy metallic stench of blood rising thick in my throat.

Swallowing it down,

I looked up at him,

fixing him with the gaze you’d give a dead man.

"Julian," I said calmly.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?"

He froze.

In three years of marriage,

I had never spoken to him with a tone like that.

"What did you just say?"

"I called you a complete idiot."

I reached over and pulled the plug on the monitor.

The piercing alarm died instantly.

"The next time you two want to play mind games, don't bother me."

I turned away, giving him my back.

"It's disgusting."

"Fine. Perfect." Julian was shaking with fury.

"Since you're so tough now, Eleanor, you can stay here by yourself.

Let's see how long you can keep this up!"

He grabbed Chloe's hand and stormed out, not even looking back.

His footsteps faded.

I closed my eyes, forcing down another mouthful of blood.

"System, how much time do I have?"

[Remaining survival time: 60 hours.]

I smiled. "Finally, it’s almost over. "