Mnie sneaked back to the Ziegler residence at 2:00

    pin, looking disheveled.

    It was eerily quiet at home; the ce seemed empty. None of the Zieglers seemned to be around.

    She grabbed a passing maid and asked, “Is Liam home yet?”

    The maid was taken aback. Then, she started crying when she saw was Mnie. Choked up, she said, “You should hurry to the hospital, Mrs. Ziegler! Mr. Julian got into an ident, and his arm was crushed. We don’t know whether he’ll be able to keep it- he’s still in surgery.”

    Mnie was stunned. She couldn’t care less about how unkempt she looked as she hurried to the hospital. The Ziegler family’s rtives and friends stood outside the operating theater, looking grim, especially Liam. He was utterly despondent.

    She staggered to him and grabbed his arm with trembling hands, asking, “Where’s Julian? Where is he? Tell me where he is, Liam!”

    Instead of answering her, he backed away. Meanwhile, Tyler cried, ‘You’ve made a huge mistake this time, Mnie! The car that crashed into Julian belonged to the Ziegler family–you know very well who did it!”

    Mnie’s face turned ashen. She mumbled, “Someone told me Alicia wanted to see me and that she was doing horribly. I thought I would just give the nurses on duty some money to help make things better for her–I was just trying to help! I didn’t expect Alicia to knock me out!”

    Tyler sighed heavily. Mnie looked up, her face covered in tears. Will Julian’s arm be fine? What about Willow and Gabrie? Are they okay?”

    Tyler said, “Gabrie’s fine, and Willow only passed out. Julian forbade us from telling Willow the truth about his condition, and Liam has spoken to the Chapmans. Willow and Gabrie will take a flight to Faeria at 8:00 pm tonight.”

    Mnie sobbed. “But Julian needs them by his side now!”

    Liam hadn’t spoken thus far but now broke his silence. “How can you want to force them to stay when you’re the one at fault? Are you even human?

    “Let me make myself clear today–Julian might be my son, but Willow is also like a daughter to me! She has the right to seek her happiness, and this is what the Ziegler family owes her!”

    Shame washed over Mnie, and she buried her face in her hands. Karen was also a woman, so she couldn’t help but pity the former when she saw her sobbing with such devastation.

    She helped Mnie straighten her appearance and said, “I know you’re worried and full of guilt. This matter may have been suppressed for now, but the media has still heard about this.

    “Countless reporters are waiting outside, and we can’t let them see us in such disarray. It’s all the more important for us to stay strong at a time like this; we need to ease Julian’s burden.”

    Mnie’s tears didn’t stoping. “I’ll make

    up

    for my

    mistakes.

    Julian’s arm had been crushed beyond recognition, and the surgery to save himsted well into the night.

    The light outside the operating theater finally went off around 7:00 pmb, /band the doctor came out while removing his mask.

    The Zieglers hurried forward. Liam had weathered many storms in his life, but he couldn’t keep the tremor from his voice when he spoke. “How is Julian’s arm?”

    The doctor had aplicated look on his face. After some thought he said, “The surgery is considered a sess, but the damage is too extensive. Many of the patient’s neurons are already dead. We reconstructed the arm, but it’ll be difficult for him to use it normally. We’ll have to observe him.”

    This was ba /bdevastating blow; Liam staggered backward. Mnie Wnted to weep but didn’t dare make a sound. She tried her bbest /bto hold back her tears.

    Fortunately, Tyler stepped up to take charge. “There’s always a chance bto /bbounce back from this as long as he remains balive/b. Medicine bis /bso advanced now—there’s bound to be a way. Let’s see how Julian is doing when he wakes up. No one is allowed to look depressed around him, alright?”

    Julian’s anesthesia wore off at 7:50 pm, and he slowly regained consciousness. He found himself surrounded by white walls and the smell of disinfectant.

    Intense pain shot through him, and he remembered the car crash.de inumbled, “Willow… Gabrie…”

    Mnie hurried to him and held his left hand. She said, “They’re fine: Per your request, they should already be boarding their flight and preparing for takeoff. Willow doesn’t know you’re this badly injured.”

    She wanted to be strong, but couldn’t stop herself from weeping when she saw him covered in wounds. “It’s all my fault, Julian. This wouldn’t have happened to you if I hadn’t been so foolish!”

    A trace of dazedness flickered in his eyes. He looked out the floor–to–ceiling window at the city lights twinkling in the silence of the night. They looked like stars.

    It was on a night like this and at that very hour that Willow would board a flight with Gabrie and leave Brindley for Faeria. Julian seemed to hear a ne fly above the hospital. He could hear the roar of its engine.

    He shut his eyes without a word, not even bothering to ask about his arm and whether he would be left disabled. He thought about everything he’d once had and lost–it ultimately boiled down to Willow.

    She was gone and would be free. Meanwhile, he would stay where he was and continue atoning for his sins. He would wait until the day she returned.