: Less Important Than a Nightmare

The next day, I woke up in a wave of sharp pain.

The immense grief and emotional shock had triggered acute stomach spasms. The pain was so intense I curled into a ball, my pajamas soaked through with cold sweat.

I struggled to reach for the phone on the nightstand, but I didn't even have the strength to lift my arm.

Just as my consciousness began to fade, the bedroom door opened. Silas Vaughn walked in carrying breakfast. When he saw the state I was in, his expression changed, and he immediately rushed over.

"Zara! What's wrong with you?"

He quickly called the family doctor. After a flurry of activity, I finally started to feel a bit better, lying weakly in bed with an IV drip.

Silas sat by the bed, dabbing my chapped lips with a water-soaked cotton swab, his eyes filled with worry and self-reproach.

"This is all my fault. I should have realized you weren't feeling well sooner."

Looking at his concerned expression, I found it all incredibly ironic.

'If it weren't for him, would I be in this state?'

Just then, his phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID, and his previously grave expression instantly softened. He walked out to the balcony to take the call.

Even through the glass door, Nina Sterling's cloyingly sweet voice came through clearly.

"Silas, I had a nightmare last night. My chest feels so tight now. Can you come over and keep me company?"

I saw Silas's body tense up immediately, his tone filled with unconcealed anxiety:

"A nightmare? Are you feeling unwell anywhere? Wait for me, I'm coming over right now."

After hanging up, he walked back into the room, grabbed the suit jacket draped over the back of a chair, and said to me as he put it on:

"Zara, something's come up at the office. I have to go."

"You get some rest. Call me anytime if you need anything."

I watched him, my hand with the IV clenching so hard that blood backed up into the tube, sending a sharp sting through the needle site.

"I..." I had just started to speak when I realized how hoarse my voice was.

He was already at the door, his steps not faltering in the slightest. He just glanced back and offered a distracted platitude.

"Be good."

The door closed.

The only sound left in the room was the drip of fluid from the IV tube.

'His Nina Sterling has one little nightmare, and he acts like it's a major crisis, rushing over immediately.'

'And me? His fiancée who just lost both parents and is sick in bed? In his eyes, I'm less important than her dream.'

In the afternoon, I pulled out the IV needle, changed my clothes, and prepared to go to my small ancient-painting restoration studio for a while.

My beloved scrolls were there; they could help me forget the pain, at least for a little while.

Just as I got downstairs, I saw a pink sports car parked at the entrance. Nina Sterling got out, followed by a few of her socialite friends.

When she saw me, her face feigned surprise and concern:

"Zara, you look so pale!"

"Silas said you were sick, so I came especially to see you."

One of the socialites behind her, a woman with short hair, sneered.

"Nina, you're just too kind. What's there to see? She's just an orphan who jinxed her own parents to death."

Another chimed in, "Exactly!"

"If she hadn't shamelessly latched onto President Vaughn, he would have been with you long ago."

"What a shameless woman."

Those words were like daggers, each one sharper than the last, stabbing deep into my heart.

In the past, I would have endured all of this for Silas Vaughn's sake.

But now that I knew the truth, every word they said felt like it was mocking my stupidity.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging deep into my palms.

"Shut up." My voice was ice-cold, devoid of any warmth.

: Apologize to Her

Nina Sterling immediately came up to play the peacemaker, grabbing my hand with an innocent look on her face.

"Zara, please don't be angry. They don't mean any harm, they're just a bit blunt."

As she spoke, she turned to the others and feigned annoyance.

"How could you say that about Zara? Apologize to her right now!"

The short-haired socialite rolled her eyes, her tone even more caustic.

"Apologize to her? Is she even worthy? She's a good-for-nothing who can't even find her own parents."

"Does she really see herself as the future lady of the Vaughn family?"

"Say that again!" I was completely enraged. I raised my hand to slap her.

Just then, Nina Sterling caught sight of Silas Vaughn's car pulling up out of the corner of her eye. A cunning glint flashed in her eyes as she suddenly lunged forward, putting herself in front of the other woman.

SLAP—!

The crisp sound of a slap rang out. The blow had landed squarely on Nina Sterling's face.

I was stunned.

Silas Vaughn's car had just stopped. The first thing he saw as he stepped out was this very scene.

"Zara Lowell, what are you doing?!"

He roared and rushed over in a few long strides, pulling Nina Sterling protectively into his arms before shoving me away forcefully.

I staggered from the shove, crashing into the shoe cabinet behind me. A sharp pain shot through my lower back.

But he didn't even spare me a glance. His eyes filled with concern as he cupped Nina Sterling's face and asked softly,

"Does it hurt? Let me see."

Tears welled up in Nina Sterling's eyes. She shook her head, looking utterly wronged.

"Silas, I'm fine. Don't blame Zara. She was just very upset."

Her magnanimous act only made me look more malicious.

Silas Vaughn's expression grew incredibly dark.

He steadied Nina Sterling and looked at me coldly. "Apologize to Nina."

I froze on the spot. The pain in my lower back mingled with the ache twisting in my heart, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

"I didn't hit her. She threw herself in front of my hand."

I tried to explain, but my voice trembled with the injustice of it all.

"Besides, they were the ones who started it! They were cursing me and my parents!"

Silas Vaughn's expression didn't soften in the slightest. If anything, it grew even colder and more severe.

"What could they have possibly said that warranted you hitting someone?"

"Nina came to see you out of the goodness of her heart, and this is how you treat her?"

'He didn't believe me at all.'

'Or rather, to him, Nina's feelings always came first. The truth was completely irrelevant.'

I looked at Nina Sterling's tear-stained face, nestled in his arms, and suddenly found the whole situation utterly ridiculous.

'Yes, this is how he's always been, isn't it?'

'Otherwise, he wouldn't have orchestrated my parents' "deaths" just to keep Nina from being sad.'

I took a deep breath, swallowing the coppery taste of blood rising in my throat, and forced a bitter smile.

"Fine. I'll apologize."

I dragged my exhausted body forward, one step at a time, until I was standing before them.

I looked at Nina Sterling, and I didn't miss the flash of triumph in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." I kept my head down, forcing those two words through gritted teeth.

"I shouldn't have… hit you."

Nina Sterling immediately put on a shocked and flattered expression, shrinking further into Silas Vaughn's arms.

"Silas, I told you I don't blame Zara."

Silas Vaughn gently patted her back, his way of accepting my apology.

"Nina's had a scare. I'm going to take her home."

"You stay here and think about what you've done. All these years... I've really spoiled you rotten."

A jolt went through me, and my eyes instantly began to sting.

'So a decade of my unwavering love and trust was nothing more to him than a bad temper he had spoiled me into having.'

He swept away with Nina Sterling and her friends in tow. From beginning to end, he never looked back at me once, much less asked if I'd hurt my back when I fell.