A black Bugatti sped toward Lividia Villa. Nina Walsh sat in the passenger seat, her head turned to watch the scenery blur past the window. From the back seat, Clara Jacobs pursed her lips, watching Aiden Sinclair with a sullen expression. Aiden's face was grim, as dark as the sky outside.
Dark clouds gathered overhead, and a downpour started without warning. Raindrops slammed against the windshield. Nina Walsh didn't move, her gaze fixed out the window as if she were a statue.
Aiden Sinclair kept his foot pressed on the accelerator, and instead of slowing, the car sped up.
Clara Jacobs clutched her seatbelt and said in a small voice, "Aiden, the rain is too heavy. Please slow down."
Aiden didn't react.
Clara shot a hateful look at Nina, but pleaded, "Miss Walsh, please try to talk to Aiden. Don't let him drive so fast. It's too dangerous."
Nina Walsh ignored her completely. Instead, she prayed silently. 'I hope we get into a huge car crash. It'd be best if we all died together.'
When Nina didn't respond, Clara kept pleading, "Miss Walsh, please say something."
Nina remained motionless. Suddenly, Aiden slammed on the brakes. The car lurched, and Nina's head hit the window. The seatbelt dug tightly into her abdomen, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around her stomach.
"Get out!" Aiden commanded.
In the back seat, Clara held her aching head, not daring to make a sound.
Outside, rain poured in sheets. The car was stopped in the middle of nowhere; getting out now meant having no place to shelter from the storm.
Seeing Nina remain still, Aiden's expression eased slightly, and his foot began to move toward the accelerator.
Nina unbuckled her seatbelt. The car door opened and slammed shut, and she was standing in the curtain of rain.
A suffocating anger rose in Aiden's chest. He stomped on the accelerator, and the car shot away, vanishing into the rain.
Drenched by the heavy rain, Nina turned and started walking back.
She knew Lividia Villa was only a kilometer away. If she had kept walking forward, she would have reached it quickly.
But she didn't want to go back.
Nina Walsh walked alone through the curtain of rain. It was early autumn, and she was shivering uncontrollably from the cold.
"Nina—"
Declan Grant, who had followed them from the hospital, stopped his car and ran toward her, holding an umbrella.
The rain suddenly stopped falling on her. Nina looked up numbly and saw it was Declan Grant.
...
Aiden drove to Lividia Villa. He got out and was about to follow Clara inside when a clap of thunder resounded across the sky, and the downpour became even more ferocious.
"You go ahead inside."
Leaving Clara behind, Aiden got back into the driver's seat, turned the car around, and drove off. A few minutes later, he reached the spot where he had made her get out, but there was no sign of Nina.
Aiden knew she hadn't walked toward the villa but had chosen to turn back, taking the longer route.
For some reason, another wave of anger washed over him, and he slammed his foot down on the gas pedal even harder.
As the car rounded a bend, he saw another vehicle parked on the roadside, its hazard lights flashing.
Declan Grant was holding an umbrella over Nina, who was leaning her entire body against him.
Fury erupted within Aiden. He pulled over and laid on the horn, a long, angry blast.
Nina's face went ghastly pale as she looked toward Aiden's car. She knew what that horn blast meant: it was a warning.
"Dr. Grant, I have to go. I have something I need to do."
"Where are you going? You'll get sick standing in the rain like this. I'll take you home," Declan said with concern.
Nina steadied herself and shook her head. "I don't have a home anymore. What home is there to go back to?"
With that, Nina turned and walked back into the rain. Declan rushed after her, but she pushed him away.
"Just go. This is my problem, don't get involved."
"Nina, what's going on with you? If you're in trouble, you can tell me. I can help you."
Nina lifted her head. "Second Brother Grant, I'm married. That's my husband over there. We just had a fight, and now he's here to pick me up. I have to go, or he'll only get angrier."
Declan froze. By the time he snapped out of it, Nina was already several steps away. He rushed to catch up.
"Didn't you tell him you hate being soaked in the rain?"
Declan handed her the umbrella, then took off his own black suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
"Drink some ginger tea when you get back to ward off a cold. If you don't feel well, come find me at the hospital. I... I'll get going."
Holding the umbrella, Nina stood rooted to the spot and watched Declan's car leave. Her eyes suddenly burned with unshed tears.
At some point, Aiden had driven his car over, blocking her line of sight.
"Get in!" he ordered, his voice devoid of any warmth.
Nina suppressed her emotions and reached for the handle of the back door, but it was locked and wouldn't budge.
Aiden's gaze landed on the umbrella in her hand and the jacket on her shoulders.
Hesitantly, reluctantly, Nina dropped the umbrella and jacket onto the wet ground. Only then did Aiden unlock the door.
Aiden glanced at Nina in the rearview mirror. Her face was a mask of utter defeat.
"I thought you wouldn't get in."
Nina slumped into the back seat, her body numb. Her eyes were as lifeless as a dead fish's.
She hadn't wanted to get in, but she didn't want to cause trouble for Declan.
Aiden would stop at nothing to get what he wanted; Declan was no match for him.
This time, Aiden drove very slowly. Along the way, he finally broke the silence. "Who was that?"
It took a long moment for Nina to force out three words: "A kind person."
He sneered. "The 'kind person' you were throwing yourself at?"
Nina stared at the downpour outside, her voice hollow with despair. "What if I just jumped out of this car?"
Aiden unlocked the doors. "Then jump," he taunted.
Something shifted in Nina's lifeless eyes.
"Aiden Sinclair, my entire life's biggest mistake... was falling in love with you."
The words had barely left her lips when the rear door flew open and Nina threw herself from the moving car.
The tires shrieked as he slammed on the brakes. Aiden leaped from the car.
In the torrential downpour, his clothes were instantly soaked. Nina rolled several times on the pavement before coming to a stop.
Aiden charged through the curtain of rain, scooped her up off the ground, and furiously tossed her into the back seat.
"Even if you die, I'll have someone cut out your kidney."
The rain beating down on him made his expression unreadable.
Lying in the back seat, Nina's heart filled with a bleak desolation. 'Why am I still alive? It would be so much better to be dead.'
...
Back at the villa, Clara's face was sullen. Though she said nothing, she was clearly displeased that Aiden had gone back for Nina.
Nina stood in the doorway and heard Aiden explaining to Clara, "I'm not concerned about her. I just can't have her getting sick and affecting your surgery in three months."
Visibly moved, Clara threw herself into Aiden's arms.
A bone-deep chill spread through Nina, but she was already numb.
The new butler, Butler Sterling, pointed toward the basement. "Miss Walsh, your room is this way."
For the past two years, Nina had lived in this villa like a ghost, with no one for company but Aiden.
Now, Clara was moving in, and Aiden had hired more than ten servants just to take care of her.
Nina had no energy to care. She was utterly exhausted; it felt like she would collapse if she remained standing for another second.
All she wanted now was a place to lie down. She would have gladly taken a garbage heap.