Grabbing Daniel by the arm, Ryan’s voice trembled with urgency. "Daniel! Amelia’s in critical condition—she’s dying! You have to come now!"
But Daniel only pulled his arm away, annoyance flashing in his eyes. "What is this? She couldn’t convince me herself, so now she’s sent you to play along with her little drama? I’m not falling for it, Ryan. She’s jealous, insecure—completely irrational! I’ve told her a thousand times that Sophia is nothing more than a sister to me, but she’s too twisted to believe it."
He turned back to Sophia, muttering, "If she wants to die, let her. I don’t care."
Ryan’s face paled, his voice faltering. "Daniel, this isn’t a joke! She’s dying! Please, just come with me to the OR!"
But Daniel waved him off, his cold indifference like a knife through my heart. This wasn’t the man I married. This wasn’t the Daniel who had once promised to stand by me through everything. He had become someone I didn’t recognize—a man who would rather let me die than pull himself away from Sophia’s embrace.
As I hovered there, invisible and helpless, my soul grew colder with every passing second. There was no hope left. Daniel had already made his choice.
And it wasn’t me.
Meanwhile, Sophia, the mastermind behind it all, continued her sickening charade of innocence. Her voice dripped with concern, though the venom beneath it was palpable only to me. "Daniel, you should really go back! Amelia has gone through so much trouble just to get you to return; she must be upset. You shouldn’t argue because of me! Once my foot heals, I’ll go to her myself and apologize."
Her words were carefully chosen—deliberately crafted to seem selfless, while only deepening the wedge between Daniel and me. And it worked. I could see the frustration building in him.
"Sophia, why do you always have to make yourself suffer? You did nothing wrong!" Daniel's voice grew sharp with irritation, his anger completely misdirected. "Remember last time, when she claimed her stomach hurt? I left you to rush to her side, and what happened? Absolutely nothing! Meanwhile, you couldn’t sleep all night because of the thunderstorm, and I wasn’t there for you!"