He Chose Her, So I Jumped Chapter 02

He Chose Her, So I Jumped Chapter 02

Blood sprayed instantly, staining my vision crimson.

I met their horrified stares and gave a soft laugh.

“Is that proof enough?”

The severe blood loss made my consciousness blur.

My body staggered, and I fell toward Marceline.

The blade pointed outward, seconds from stabbing her. Even then, instinct made me twist the handle and turn the point back toward myself.

But in the next second, Cassian seized her wrist and dragged her into his arms, pulling her away from where I fell.

I slammed onto the floor. The blade barely missed my heart and sank into my shoulder with a sickening thrust.

My face went white. I lay there gasping for breath.

Only after making sure the woman in his arms was safe did Cassian finally exhale.

He looked at me sprawled on the floor, his voice ice-cold.

“Elowen, you did that on purpose, didn’t you? You knew Marceline was in front of you, and you aimed the knife at her. What the hell were you trying to do?”

He didn’t see the blood pouring from my shoulder. All he cared about was defending the woman in his arms.

A bitter smile touched my lips. At that point, I had no desire left to explain.

My wrist. My shoulder. This body was already riddled with wounds.

Tears filled Marceline’s eyes as she clutched the edge of Cassian’s shirt.

“I think I twisted my ankle. It hurts so much.”

Both men panicked at once and hurried her to the hospital.

As Cassian passed me, he hesitated. His expression was complicated when he looked down.

“Stop pretending. Go get your wrist treated. I’ll give you a therapy session when I get home tonight.”

The next second, he rushed away with Marceline, never noticing how faintly my chest rose and fell.

My vision blackened from the severe blood loss. The knife remained buried in my shoulder, and blood soaked through my clothes.

I closed my eyes and let my consciousness sink, welcoming the death I had wanted for so long.

But when I opened them again, I was in a hospital.

Unfortunately, I had failed to die yet again.

Cassian sat beside my bed. The moment he saw me awake, relief washed over him.

He looked at the wound in my shoulder, his expression conflicted.

“Does it still hurt? Why didn’t you tell me you were injured? Do you care that little about your own body?”

When I showed no reaction, he faltered and tried to say more.

Just then, my phone rang. The moment I saw who was calling, my heart lurched.

“Elowen, Marceline demanded your father’s private room. When I refused, she pulled out his oxygen line!”

“They rushed him into the St. Celeste Intensive Care Unit. The doctor said… he may never open his eyes again!”

My mother’s strangled sobs struck my chest like a sledgehammer.

Years ago, Dad had fallen from scaffolding at a construction site. The accident left him paralyzed and dependent on oxygen to stay alive.

“Marceline Voss!”

Cassian was beside me, so of course he heard everything my mother said.

He froze for a second, then defended Marceline without even thinking.

“It couldn’t have been Marceline. Why would she hurt Mr. Hartwell for no reason? You and your mother need to stop smearing her name!”

The way he rushed to protect her turned my stomach. I leaned over the bed and vomited until my body shook.

I shoved away his hand, stumbled out of the room, and raced upstairs toward the ICU.

At the end of the hall, I ran straight into Marceline and Julian coming down.

When she saw me, she covered her mouth with a soft laugh.

Then she slowly stroked the slight curve of her stomach.

“I’m pregnant.”

My pupils contracted. She kept gloating.

“Private rooms are scarce right now. Mr. Hartwell is already paralyzed, so he might as well recover at home and give the room to me.”

My fists tightened at my sides as I answered in a raw voice.

“Marceline Voss! My father lost the use of his legs because of YOU!”

“If you hadn’t insisted on taking dance lessons, he never would’ve worked overtime at that construction site to pay your tuition!”

“Now that he’s paralyzed, you don’t take care of him. You steal his hospital room instead. Do you have any conscience at all?”

The thought of Dad spending the rest of his life trapped in a bed shattered what little control I had left.

I tried to push past them and run upstairs. As I passed Marceline, she suddenly grabbed my wrist.

The next second, under my horrified stare, she threw herself down the stairs.

A man. Standing at the bottom. His face dark with fury.

Cassian.