Instead, he was glued to Riley’s side as if he were her personal guardian angel. He would immediately rush Riley to the hospital if she so much as scraped the skin of her hand.
When I had complications when giving birth to Jesse, the doctors and nurses took turns calling Luke. He never once picked up their calls. He had been having a romantic candlelit dinner with Riley at the time and didn’t want to be disturbed.
I practically raised Jesse by myself. When I taught Jesse to speak his first words, Luke brought Riley to a concert to enjoy themselves. When Jesse took his first steps, Luke was ice-skating with Riley.
When Jesse had a high fever that refused to break, I took care of him day and night, while Luke was busy bringing Riley everywhere in search of a cure for her infertility. When Luke returned home, he pinned the blame on me. He berated me fiercely for failing to take care of Jesse and causing him to fall ill.
One day, Luke suggested that he would personally pick up Jesse from school. Hope had sprouted in me then. I thought that he wanted to mend our broken family.
I had no way of knowing that Luke’s actions harbored malicious intentions. Jesse loved eating sweets and to stop him from getting rotten teeth, I monitored his sugar intake very closely.
But once, when I was teaching him about the importance of dental hygiene, his eyes grew to the size of saucers and started to fill with tears. Furiously, Jesse swiped my hand away.
“You’re a bad mom! I don’t want you to be my mom! Ms. Richards is the kindest and most generous person in the world, I want her to be my mom! Get out! This is my house!”
It was at that moment I realized that in their hearts, I was the outsider. Later on, I was involved in a car accident. As I was lying in a pool of blood, I saw Luke drive by with Jesse in the backseat. Luke and Jesse had similar facial features and they wore the same icy expression.
“How unlucky. Don’t look, Jesse. You might bring the bad luck home with you and spread it to the baby in Riley’s stomach.”
The two of them left the scene without a single glance back at me. I was sent to the hospital by a passerby and operated on by all the senior doctors on duty. My operating room was separated from Riley’s by a single floor.
I died of blood loss in my operating room while the birth of a new life was joyously celebrated with lightsticks in her operating room.
I was nearly overwhelmed by the immense pain of recalling my death. Face as white as a sheet, I turned around and left as quickly as I could. When I turned the corner, I ran into Luke and Riley. When he noticed me, panic flashed across Luke’s face and he dropped the arm he had wrapped around Riley’s waist.
In the next second, it was as if all the strength in Riley’s body had drained from her. She nearly collapsed to the floor before a flustered Luke swiftly supported her and kept her upright on her feet.
“Ms. Richards is injured,” Luke explained. “I stayed behind to take care of her. Don’t overthink this, Summer.”
Riley intentionally bent forward, causing her rumpled collar to open up and expose the skin hiding beneath the fabric. She had the same teeth mark tattoo that Luke had at the exact same spot.
The person I was before would have exposed his lie right there and then and forced them into a difficult corner.
However, I was no longer affected by these despicable actions that would have deeply hurt me in the past. Smiling, I said, “I wouldn’t misunderstand. I know that everything you do is for the sake of the company. It’s been hard on you.”
Luke let out a relieved sigh and nodded. Riley, on the other hand, looked greatly displeased. In the blink of an eye, her displeased expression switched to one of weakness and frailty. She tugged on Luke’s sleeve lightly.
“I’m feeling a little cold. Could you get my shawl for me, Luke?”
After Luke left, Riley dropped the act and arched her eyebrow at me. “Pretending to be a saint to win Luke’s favor? Did you think that would make him fall in love with you? Don’t do useless things, Summer.
“Did you really think I was just Luke’s secretary?” Riley said as she stepped closer to me and yanked her shirt collar down to expose her collarbone. “Take a good look. Luke and I were each other’s first loves.
“He has never forgotten me. You’re nothing but a poor substitute for me when I wasn’t around. Did you really believe that Luke would willingly marry you if it weren’t for Rose forcing him?”
When I saw how green with envy Riley was, I pitied her. “According to what you’re saying, Luke is madly in love with you. But why didn’t he stand up against Rose? Why didn’t he give up everything to marry you? I don’t think he loves you as much as you think he does.”
Panic filled Riley’s eyes. “Stop talking nonsense!”
She grabbed my arm and yanked herself forward. Her sudden action sent her hurtling toward the stairwell like a wilted leaf being buffeted by a strong wind. From a distance away, a scream reverberated around the hallway as the sound of footsteps thundered toward us.
