When Riley regained consciousness, she was on a stretcher in the emergency room.
Medical staff were shouting urgently: “What are the family members waiting for? If we delay any longer, she’ll bleed out!”
Vivian ran over with a phone, her face twisted with reluctance: “Do it! The stitches are absolutely necessary!”
“Riley, it’s all our fault… we’ve put all our money into the project and really don’t have anything extra for anesthesia. Can you fear it? My brother loves you so much–he won’t care about your scars!”
Riley was in too much pain to speak, her lips white, as she watched herself being wheeled into the suturing room.
The needle and thread pierced through her flesh, tearing at all her senses. Thirty–one stitches in total. At the final stitch, Riley couldn’t hold on any longer and passed out from the pain.
No anesthesia, no pain pump–Riley woke up to excruciating pain.
Two nurses were chatting in her room: “Bed six has an artificial heart, but she doesn’t look poor. Why wouldn’t they pay for anesthesia? Just watching her grit her teeth through it was painful!”
“Who knows? Anesthesia costs five dollars per shot, and a pain pump is only $300. Even if they’re broke, they shouldn’t skimp
on that!”
Riley froze, staring at the harsh fluorescent lights above her, her mind blank.
So anesthesia only cost five dollars.
After the Blackwells‘ supposed bankruptcy, she had sold all their gifts to her and everything valuable she owned, giving them money that must have totaled hundreds of thousands if not millions.
Yet the siblings couldn’t spare five dollars.
She had given Asher every penny from her part–time jobs, leaving nothing for herself.
She opened her phone to call her mother for money to transfer to a VIP ward.
Instead, she saw Nora’s video update–Asher throwing down a black card to book an entire veterinary clinic, hiring over a
dozen vets to examine the dog.
Vivian had gone to the mall alone, buying a pure gold feeding bowl set for the dog.
In the video, Nora was cooing: “Everything always comes back to me in the end–the dog, and you too, Asher!”
Asher smiled indulgently: “I just couldn’t bear to see you cry.”
The tears Riley had been holding back finally burst forth.
Had Asher ever considered that Riley might be hurting too? Even with an artificial heart in her chest, she could still feel heartbreak!
Her mother quickly transferred money: [Sweetheart, I’ve booked your ticket for five days from now. Watch the date carefully so you don’t miss it.]
21:57
Two Chances One Bullet How His “Next Life” Promise Failed
57.9%
Chapter 3
Riley wiped away her tears and arranged to transfer to a VIP ward.
She had just settled into her new bed when Asher rushed in.
Seeing the horrific wound on her leg, his eyes instantly reddened. He fell to his knees beside the bed, repeatedly kissing her forehead: “I’m so sorry, Riley. This is all my fault.”
“If my family hadn’t gone bankrupt, you wouldn’t be suffering like this. Bite me, Riley–let me feel your pain!”
As Asher extended his forearm, Riley caught a glimpse of a black tattoo and froze: “What happened to your tattoo?”
he remembered their first time together–she’d been in so much pain she’d bitten his forearm.
After that, whenever she had period cramps or needed treatment for her wounded fingers, his forearm was always there for
her.
On her birthday, he’d tattooed a small bite mark on that spot, smiling: “I know you’re afraid of pain, Riley. For every moment that hurts you, I’ll be there.”
But now, that tattoo had been covered with two letters–NS–Nora Sinclair.
Just as Riley’s heart skipped a beat, a dog bounded in and knocked out her IV line.
Nora chased after it, and Riley gasped: “What are you doing here?”
Blood dripped steadily from her vein, and Asher instinctively pressed on the puncture site: “Nora has nowhere to go. She’s been through so much–can’t you stop being petty about it?”
21:57
