The Day They Left Me Behind, I Canceled the Wedding and Them Chapter 05

The Day They Left Me Behind, I Canceled the Wedding and Them Chapter 05

I scraped my elbow pretty badly, and it really hurt.

I hobbled over to the side of the road, where the driver was waiting with my suitcase.

Seeing me coming, he asked with concern, “Young lady, what’s wrong?”

He studied my expression. “Are you worried you won’t be able to find your suitcase?”

“Don’t cry. I know you left your things in the car-I’m not going anywhere.”

Only then did I notice the wetness on my face.

It turned out I was sad after all.

I wiped away my tears and smiled at the man. “I just took a little tumble-I’m fine.”

“I’ll cover the fare-consider it a private charter for today.”

I found the nearest hotel, booked a room by the hour, took a shower, and changed into clean

clothes.

After I got out, I asked the driver to take me to the train station.

While on the road, another message from Ethan arrived.

Ethan: [Elaine? Aren’t you done washing yet? Where are you? We’re all waiting for you.]

But I was just scrolling through my feed.

I saw Sabrina’s latest updates.

A grid of nine photos-some taken this afternoon along the track leading to the ocean, and others at Starlight Market-including solo shots, couple shots, and a group photo of four people.

Last was a photo of her with Ethan.

The two of them stood with their backs to the sunset, facing the camera, tilting their heads toward each other; one of them extended an arm above their head to form a big heart.

Caption: [Another happy day! I hope we can take trips like this every year-may our youth never end.]

Ethan, my older brother, and Jason all liked this post.

I glanced at it and was just about to put my phone away.

There was a loud “bang.”

A loud noise and screams came at the same time.

Everything spun around, and when it stopped, a throbbing headache came over me again and again.

The smell of blood filled my nose.

The driver was pinned in the driver’s seat by the airbag; he turned forcefully to look at me, his mouth wide open as he spoke urgently.

But all I could hear was a ringing in both my ears; I couldn’t hear a thing.

My whole body was in excruciating pain, but I couldn’t find any wounds, so I instinctively held down shortcut key 1 to make a call.

It was Ethan’s number.

The call connected quickly.

But I couldn’t hear anything, so I just had to grit my teeth and say in a strange tone,

“I was in a car accident… right here at the train station…”

The next second, the call was hung up.

I pressed the shortcut key 2 again to call my brother.

The call was hung up on me.

Refusing to give up, I pressed the shortcut key 3 with trembling hands to call Jason.

The call was hung up on me again.

The next second, a message from Ethan appeared on the screen.

Ethan: [Elaine, just because we tricked you into coming back by saying I was hurt, you’re determined to trick me into coming back too, aren’t you?]

Ethan: [You’ve changed so much. You really need to think about this.]

My older brother sent me a message, too.

Derek: [If you can still make a phone call after a car accident, it doesn’t seem too serious. Just find a clinic and get it checked out.]

Derek: [We’ve already bought the gear for beachcombing-you’re free to come or not.]

Finally, a message from Jason.

Jason: [Elaine, you never used to lie.]

Jason: [Why are you spouting lies so easily now? And to lie about something as serious as a car accident, no less?]

Jason: [Sabrina is your best friend, isn’t she? We’re only being nice to her because of you.]

Jason: [Can you please stop causing trouble and give us back the mature, well-behaved, and sensible Elaine?]

Had I changed, or had they?

At that moment, something inside me snapped completely.

I stared fixedly at the screen.

Until my vision began to blur.

My consciousness faded, and I was plunged into total darkness.