“See? That’s all it took.

“I’ve no idea what that little performance was all about.

“If you’d just told the dispatcher clearly from the start, Luna would probably be in an ambulance by now!”

I scoffed.

Kai’s actions had only confirmed my guess.

These two wretched people had been involved with each other for a long time.

I thought of the electronic invitation from the past.

She was wearing a white wedding dress and was nestled in Kai’s arms with a sweet smile.

The invitation read, [Out of the past and into our future, together.]

‘Out of the past?’ I thought.

It seemed Luna’s life and our shattered family were just something to be left behind so they could start their future together.

I stared at the woman who had once shared my bed.

“That ambulance isn’t coming.

“Get out of my way if you don’t want her to die!”

...

She was taken aback and instinctively took a step back.

I did not spare her another glance. I rushed toward the elevator as I held Luna tightly. She had begun twitching from the fever.

Marina was following behind me and calling out to me, but I blocked it all out.

I strode quickly to my car. I gently placed the unconscious Luna into the child safety seat in the back and fastened the seatbelt.

Her face was flushed bright red, and her breathing was rapid. Every second of delay felt like torture.

I quickly got into the driver’s seat, inserted the key, and started the car.

First came a faint hiss, then the immediate glow of the tire pressure warning light on the dashboard.

The gauge showed the right front tire’s pressure plummeting.

I rushed out of the car to check and found a noticeably large hole in the tire.

I crouched down and saw a brooch beside it.

I gritted my teeth.

It was Kai’s brooch!

It was him! He had planned this all along!

He had slashed my tire so that I would not be able to save Luna!

But Luna’s fever struck out of nowhere. How could he have sabotaged the car so precisely ahead of time?

A horrifying thought popped into my mind. I felt a chill run down my spine.

I picked up the brooch, put it in my pocket, scooped up the crying Luna, and sprinted toward the neighborhood gate.

The night was quiet, and the street was empty. An occasional car sped by, but not a single available cab was in sight.

Luna’s breathing grew faint in my arms. I gritted my teeth.

I could not wait any longer.

I charged into the middle of the road and spread my arms wide.

Tires screeched against the road as the car slammed to a halt less than a foot from me.

The driver rolled down the window, leaned out, and yelled at me.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed? Have you lost your mind—”

“Please!” I pleaded as I rushed forward. “My daughter’s dying! Please help me get her to a hospital!”

I turned so he could see Luna, who was in my arms. Her breathing was labored.

The driver abruptly stopped yelling at me.

He took a deep breath and opened his car door.

“Get in!”

I scrambled into the back seat.

The driver floored the gas as he sped recklessly toward the children’s hospital.

In the car, I held the unconscious Luna as I watched her flushed face. My fingernails dug deep into my palms.

She had been perfectly fine just yesterday. How did she suddenly fall so ill today?

Before this, she had been coughing nonstop.

‘Could it be an allergy?’ I thought.

But what could she be allergic to in our own house?

I reviewed the footage from the two cameras installed at home. I understood everything immediately.

With the driver’s help, we reached the hospital very quickly.

I had just laid Luna on the gurney when I heard a familiar voice.

“Shawn? How’s she?”

Kai stood a few steps away. He looked worried.

Marina was beside him.

“I was worried after Marina called, so I came with her to check on things.”

I instantly flew into rage when I saw them standing side by side.

“To check on things?!” I said scornfully.

“Or did you come to see whether Luna would make it, so you two lovebirds could start your new life together a little sooner, without so much baggage?”

Marina’s expression changed drastically. “Shawn Woods! What’re you saying?! How can you spout such nonsense, especially with Luna like this?”

“Me? Spouting nonsense?” I took a step forward. My tone grew sharper.

“Marina, look me in the eye, and tell me how long you and Kai have been together.

“Were you together even before what happened to Luna?

“While she was burning up with fever, were you sneaking around and secretly thinking she was in your way?”

“You!”

Marina was furious. She pointed at me and said, “That’s not true! Don’t you dare accuse me! Kai’s just a kind neighbor helping out!”

“Kind?” I scoffed. “Right. He’s so kind that he stalled me on the 911 call. He’s so kind that he slashed my tire!

“Marina, did you think I’m that big of a fool? Do you think I’d believe you’re innocent if I lose Luna?”

The weight of my words hit her like a ton of bricks. Marina was completely stunned. She was frozen in place.

Kai stood nearby, looking very hurt.

He tugged on Marina’s sleeve.

“Marina, is Shawn in shock? Is he hallucinating? I’d never do something like that!

“I know Shawn never really warmed up to me, but I’m genuinely worried about the child…”

As he spoke, he extended a hand toward Luna in my arms.

“Hey, kiddo. Are you feeling better? Let me have a look…”

My bottled-up rage exploded when I saw that Kai’s fingers were about to reach Luna’s burning-hot skin.

“Get your filthy hands off her!”

I gritted my teeth and shoved him hard.

The next second, he yelped in shock and stumbled backward.

Marina frowned. She helped Kai to a chair, then walked over to me.

She said in a low voice, “What are you doing?

“Can you not do this right now? If Kai hadn’t helped coordinate the dispatch just now, the ambulance wouldn’t have gotten here so fast!”

She looked at me with a disapproving expression. It was the exact way she had looked at me in the past when she accused me of being “overly emotional.”

Those memories flashed through my mind.

I remembered how flustered she had been the first time she held our daughter. I remembered her smile when our daughter called her “mom.”

I remembered us soothing the crying little Luna together in the middle of the night.

Yet here she was, defending another man and blaming me.

At that moment, all my feelings for her vanished.

But my resolve became stronger.

This time, I would make anyone who harmed Luna pay the price!

Luna was soon wheeled into the emergency room. The red light inside was on.

I let out a cold laugh. “First of all, the ambulance never showed up. It never came!

“I had to get her here myself. I flagged down a car.”

Marina seemed shocked when she heard that.

I turned toward the nurses’ station and said, “Nurse, I need to speak to my daughter’s doctor. I have information about what she might have been exposed to.”

As I spoke, my gaze swept over Kai’s clenched fists.

“I want to see if anything links back to him!”

Kai immediately became agitated.

“Shawn, I get you’re worried about Luna, but you can’t just throw around accusations like that!”

His eyes welled up with tears as he turned to Marina.

“Marina, I just came by to help. I was worried that you might be overwhelmed.

“Why on earth would I hurt a child? I’ve only even seen her a couple of times!”

Marina frowned. She looked at me. Her face shone with frustration.

“Shawn Woods! You’ve been completely out of line all night.”

She took a deep breath, then said, “She had a fever. I told you to call 911. You hung up for no reason and tried to drive her here yourself. I told you an ambulance was faster and safer, but you screamed at me. You said that I…”

She paused. A flicker of shame crossed her face, but she continued, “You said that I was trying to hurt our daughter.

“Fine! Let’s say you weren’t thinking straight. Before your tire was slashed, I called 911. Kai here was kind enough to help expedite things. He came to the hospital because he was worried, and you pushed him!

“Now, you’re telling the doctor about ‘suspicious exposure’ and dragging him into this?”

With every word she spoke, the few waiting family members and passing nurses glanced our way more intently.

“Is the dad having a mental breakdown?”

“Someone tries to help, and this is the thanks they get? No appreciation at all.”

“I get that he’s stressed with a sick kid, but this is too much!”

Kai sighed and looked even more hurt.

As I listened to Marina listing my faults one by one, cold dread spread throughout my entire body.

To her, all my struggle and vigilance tonight were merely me being ungrateful or hysterical.

I pulled the brooch from my pocket and held it up before Kai.

“This brooch is what popped my tire.

“This is yours, isn’t it, Kai? How did it just happen to be right next to my flat tire?”

Kai’s face paled.

“I might’ve dropped it. I was walking around the complex yesterday.

“Shawn, that still doesn’t prove I slashed your tire. That’s insane!”

He turned to Marina. “Marina, I didn’t do it! Maybe Shawn is too stressed and feeling paranoid.

“I get that he’s scared for his kid, but he can’t just accuse me like this!”

Marina’s gaze wavered. But then, she let out a sigh and rubbed her temples.

“Shawn, a brooch doesn’t prove anything.

“You’re not thinking straight. Just calm down. Can we wait until Luna’s out of surgery before we talk about this?”

Her taking Kai’s side was the final straw.

Kai then said softly, “Marina, don’t be too hard on Shawn. He’s just struggling. In case Luna doesn’t wake—”

A sharp slap struck his face.

Kai covered his face as his eyes widened in disbelief.

“Shawn, have you lost your mind?!” Marina screamed with rage.

“Kai saved Luna! He’s her rescuer! How could you hit him?”

She raised her hand to strike me.

At that moment, the nurse from earlier hurried back. She was holding a transparent sealed bag.