When the Ice Refused to Melt Chapter 03

When the Ice Refused to Melt Chapter 03

I turned my head and saw Serene standing not far away, her face pale as a sheet and tears streaming down as she stared at us.

The next second, she suddenly turned and ran off, sobbing.

Kael’s expression changed instantly. He pulled away and chased after her without hesitation.

I stumbled to my feet, smoothed down my wrinkled clothes, and walked out of that disgusting corner like a puppet who had lost her soul.

But just as I stepped through the back door of the ballroom, I suddenly heard a voice shouting from above.

“Someone jumped!”

Instinctively, I looked up. A figure was falling straight down from the upper level of the building.

Bang!

With a sickening thud, that body landed right on top of me.

Pain exploded through my entire body, and everything went black.

…

When I regained consciousness, I was in the hospital. The first thing I heard was a nurse’s anxious voice.

“Both patients are in critical condition. Severe internal bleeding, multiple fractures… but there’s only one operating room left. If we delay one of them, it could be fatal. General Varyn, what’s your decision?”

The next moment, I heard Kael’s hoarse voice.

“Save them both. Can we transfer one?”

“I’m afraid not, General. In their condition, moving them could kill them. You… you have to choose.”

A suffocating silence followed.

Then I heard Kael speak, slowly and clearly, “Save… Serene first.”

Even though I had already learned the truth, even though I heard him make that choice with my own ears, it still felt like my heart had been crushed. The pain was unbearable.

The next time I woke up, Kael was sitting by my bedside.

The moment he saw me open my eyes, he leaned in immediately.

“You’re awake? How are you feeling? Does anything still hurt?”

I turned my head slowly to avoid his hand.

“You already gave up on me at the operating room door. You chose to save her. Why bother pretending to care now?”

Kael froze. He clearly hadn’t expected me to hear that.

“Serene had a serious illness years ago. Her body’s been fragile ever since. In that moment, if she hadn’t gone into surgery immediately, she wouldn’t have made it. That’s the only reason I chose her first.”

He paused, then added, “But I immediately coordinated with another hospital and got you into surgery in time. Arden, I didn’t abandon you.”

I let out a cold laugh.

“Kael, if she was just your former colleague, then why did she break down emotionally when she saw us together? Why would she… jump?”

He went silent again.

After a long while, he finally spoke, “She used to love someone deeply, but they couldn’t be together for… complicated reasons. Her emotions have always been fragile. Maybe seeing us that day… triggered her.”

I never realized just how good he was at lying.

I remember so clearly, not long after we got married, I half-joked, half-serious, “Kael, the one thing I hate most is being lied to. My mother spent her whole life drowning in my father’s lies… it killed her in the end. If you lie to me, I’ll walk away without looking back.”

Back then, he had lowered his head and kissed the top of mine.

“I would never lie to you.”

But now? One lie after another.

For me, love was never something I needed to survive. It was just a bonus.

If it works, great. If it doesn’t, I move on.

So the moment I realized he had lied to me, he was already out of my life for good.