Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

My hand, already tense, finally relaxed a bit, even though Arthur's grip was still tight.

"Emily, come on, you still love me, right? You're just with Ethan to get back at me, aren't you?" Arthur's grip tightened, and he leaned in closer, his breath reeking of booze.

The stench made me wanna hurl, but I kept my eyes on the shadow on the floor. After what felt like forever, I finally managed to say, "Yeah, I did it to spite you. You and Vivian are always rubbing your relationship in my face. I can't stand you two. I hate how you treat me."

Every word felt like a knife to my heart, cutting deeper and deeper.

Arthur suddenly plopped down on the bed and hugged me, all excited. "Emily, I was such an idiot. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hurt you. Forgive me. You miss me too, right?"

I kept staring at the shadow, swallowed the bitter taste in my mouth, and whispered, "Yes."

The next second, the shadow vanished, and I heard footsteps echoing down the hallway, getting fainter.

Arthur, drunk as a skunk, pulled me into a tight hug, one hand on the back of my head, leaning in like he was gonna kiss me.

I felt like I was gonna puke and couldn't fake it anymore. I shoved him away hard.

Arthur, wobbling, steadied himself and gave me this cold smirk. "What's the deal? Didn't you say you missed me? Or are you just messing with me?"

I didn't dare make a sound, scared I'd piss him off.

After a bit, Arthur grabbed my hand again. "Emily, let's start over, okay?"

I turned my face away, feeling sick just looking at him. "You're drunk. Let's talk when you're sober."

I was really scared he'd do something crazy in his drunken state. Luckily, he seemed to get it, stood there for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, you rest up. I'll come see you tomorrow." Arthur finally left, and the room went dead quiet.

I collapsed back onto the bed, feeling totally drained, trying hard not to cry. I had always been such a wimp. This time, I hoped I could be braver and more decisive.

After a while, the hallway outside got noisy, with footsteps running back and forth like something had happened. For some reason, I felt a bit uneasy.

When the nurse on duty came to check on me, I asked her and found out that someone had smashed a window downstairs and hurt his hand.

The nurse said, "Man, that hand was bleeding like crazy. Pretty scary. But the dude was kinda hot. Wonder what got him so riled up."

I couldn't speak for a bit. Finally, I asked, "Is he seriously hurt?"

"Nah, not too bad," the nurse said with a smile as she left. "Lucky it wasn't his face. That would've been a real shame."

After she left, I couldn't sleep and got a message from Seagull: [Emmy, you awake?]

[Nope.] I remembered Seagull saying he was coming back, so I sent: [When you coming back?]

It took a while for him to reply. [Emmy, I might not be coming back for now. Got some stuff to handle here. They don't wanna let me go and even gave me a raise. Decided to stay for now.] I felt a bit bummed and didn't know what to say, so I sent a sad emoji.

He replied: [Emmy, no matter what, I hope you're happy every day! Sweet dreams!]

For some reason, chatting with Seagull always chills me out. I sent: [Thanks, you too.]

The next morning, Jason came to check on me before work and took my blood pressure himself.

"Did you sleep okay? How you feeling?" he asked.

I said, "I'm fine."

After taking my blood pressure, Jason didn't leave right away. He seemed to think of something and suddenly smiled. "Heard this morning that someone smashed a window downstairs with his bare hands last night. Wondered who'd do something so dramatic. Checked the records and found out it was Ethan. He said he'd come back in a few days, but he showed up early. Did you two have a fight last night?"

I froze. Imagining that punch, my hand started to hurt too. I questioned in my mind, 'But why would Ethan do that? Even if he heard my convo with Arthur, it shouldn't have come to this. Doesn't Ethan want to marry me to get back at them?' Seeing I wasn't speaking, Jason quickly explained, "Don't get the wrong idea. I didn't tell him about your situation, and I really did hear him say he'd come back in a few days. Didn't expect him to rush back that night." "Is he okay?" I asked, dazed.

Jason smiled and said, "Don't worry. I checked the records. It's nothing serious, just a minor injury. This kind of thing is nothing to Ethan. He's often impulsive and gets hurt a lot."

I've seen Ethan's impulsive and violent side, but his impulsiveness was never for me.

Not long after Jason left, Arthur came in with breakfast. "Emily, have something to eat," Arthur said, placing the breakfast on my bedside table.

I looked at Arthur like he was a total stranger. I mean, Arthur had never been this considerate before.

Arthur seemed to get what I was thinking from my expression and gave a faint smile. "What's up? Surprised? Emily, I wanna start over with you."

I stared at Arthur, feeling all kinds of conflicted inside. If he had treated me like this earlier, we wouldn't be in this mess. Now, the damage was done. My love for him had turned into hate, and there was no going back. "You should know, Ethan has bad intentions," Arthur added.

"Don't mention him," I snapped.

I didn't say anything after that, and Arthur continued, "Emily, think it over. I'll wait for you."

I still didn't respond. After he left, I couldn't calm down, thinking, 'Arthur says Ethan has bad intentions, but isn't everything Arthur's doing now also a form of revenge? Caught in the middle of their back-and-forth, what am I? I'm nothing.' After getting discharged, I moved back to my old place from Bella's. Ethan didn't come looking for me, and even "Cat Who Loves Fish" hadn't been online.

Now, apart from that marriage certificate, Ethan and I were like strangers. But Jason, since we worked at the same hospital, I often ran into him. When I went to the hospital cafeteria, I always seemed to bump into him.

Jason always sat with me, and during that time, I was envied by a lot of girls. Once, without a word, Jason helped pick the cilantro out of my dish, a gesture that seemed natural for a couple.

"How did you know I don't like cilantro?" I asked, surprised.

Jason smiled lightly and said, "Most girls don't like the taste. I guessed."

"You guessed right," I said softly.

When I looked up, I was met with a bunch of jealous glances. If this kept up, I really wouldn't be able to stay here.

So the next day, I deliberately went to the cafeteria a bit later, and there weren't many people left. After getting my food, I went to the drink counter to grab a drink.

"Take whatever you want, it's on me," a familiar voice suddenly came in my ear.

I turned around to see Arthur standing beside me with a tray. With him saying that, I ended up not taking anything.

After I sat down, a bottle of Coke was placed in front of me, and Arthur sat down across from me.

Two nurses at the next table had just finished eating and were leaving with their trays. As one passed by me, her tray tilted, spilling oil on me.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," the nurse quickly apologized.

Her attitude was sincere, and even though I suspected she did it on purpose, I couldn't blame her and just said it was fine.

Arthur had already stood up and was in front of me, taking out a napkin to help me wipe it off.

"I can do it myself," I said, not wanting Arthur to touch me.

Arthur insisted on helping, but oil stains aren't like water; they leave a noticeable mark that's hard to clean.

Suddenly, a lab coat was handed to me. I turned to see Jason.

"Put it on," Jason said.

I took Jason's coat, and he placed his tray down and sat next to me. He took the drink Arthur had placed in front of me and replaced it with a bottle of milk. "Don't drink too many carbonated drinks; they can cause osteoporosis," Jason said.

Arthur had returned to his seat, looking pretty ticked off.

Jason ate his meal slowly, and I glanced at him secretly, wondering if he knew I was deliberately avoiding him.

"Why are you so late?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

Jason swallowed a bite of food and chuckled, "Yeah, what a coincidence. You're late today too."

Arthur seemed uncomfortable and quickly finished his meal and left.

During the meal, a bunch of nurses placed fruit in front of Jason, and soon his tray was piled high with grapes and apples.

Even though I was sitting right next to Jason, they completely ignored me, which made me feel pretty frustrated.

Jason handed me an apple, and I waved my hands in shock. "No, thanks. Because of you, I've made countless enemies. Don't make it worse for me."

After work that day, as soon as I got downstairs, I saw Arthur leaning against the wall, seemingly waiting for me.

When Arthur saw me, he walked towards me. "I'll give you a ride."

I kept walking outside, saying indifferently, "Why are you off work so early today? Aren't you a workaholic?"

Arthur said, "I've realized that I shouldn't neglect my family for work. For you, I can leave early."

'For me? What a joke!' I was about to tell Arthur to stop following me, but as I stepped out of the hospital, I saw Ethan's car and Ethan himself nonchalantly leaning against it, smoking. One of his hands was wrapped in bandages, hanging by his side, and the smoke enveloped him, making him look intense.

At that moment, I panicked. When Ethan looked up at me, I averted my gaze and turned to Arthur, asking, "Where's your car?"

Arthur, seemingly not noticing Ethan, immediately took my hand. "I'll take you there."

I stiffly followed Arthur in the opposite direction, not daring to look at Ethan's expression.