7
t was my best friend, holding a bouquet of daisies, a smile on her face.
‘Nora, this is all I can do for you. From now on, you have to be happy. Truly happy.”
Her words confirmed it. I wasn’t dead.
Tell me,” John’s voice was a low growl as he grabbed her shoulder. “Where is she?”
She cried out in pain.
‘Let go of me, you bastard! You killed her! What more do you want?”
His grip tightened. Terrified of losing another job, my friend shakily told him the truth.
The day I’d hit my head, I had been found by a senior from my university days.
He was the one I’d been texting.
I had originally planned to leave in a week, then changed it to two days. Sensing I was in danger, he’d had me followed. That’s how he was able to rescue me from the Hilton.
When he took me away, he had a professional service create a fake body.
Mr. Parkinson knew all of this. But my friend, a powerful man in his own right, had threatened Parkinson’s company, forcing him to lie to John and say I was dead.
6/13
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Chapter 2
13.17
After that, I went with him to Hong Kong.
He was an investor in a prestigious dance academy and got me a position there. At first, the other dancers. looked down on me, thinking I’d only gotten in through connections. But when they saw me dance, they were
won over.
For two years, I trained relentlessly. I wanted to win the next Paris International Dance Competition.
That had been my mother’s dream.
She and my father had been on their way to that very competition when their plane went down.
My old friend supported me, helping me quietly from behind the scenes.
A year later, at an awards ceremony, I was giving an interview when he walked toward me, holding a bouque of rare “Fairy’s Kiss” roses.
knew what they meant. Their language was “a love hidden in the heart.”
When he pulled a blue diamond from among the flowers, the entire room gasped. It was a one-of-a-kind piece from an auction years ago, priceless.
Our eyes met, and we smiled.
We had met in a club in our freshman year. At a party, I was performing a traditional dance, and he accomp anied me on the piano. He had been captivated by my fluid movements, falling in love at first sight.
But back then, my eyes were only for John, who was in the audience.
My old friend had even come to my wedding. He gave me a gift and wished me happiness. Before he left, he
ooked at me with deep emotion.
‘Nora, if this marriage ever makes you unhappy, don’t be afraid to turn back. I’ll be your safe harbor.”
don’t know why, but I’d saved his number. Looking back, I think a part of me already knew how things with John would end. I was leaving myself a way out.
He was halfway through placing the ring on my finger when someone knocked it from his hand.
‘Nora, you can’t marry him!”
John was standing there, his eyes blazing with a desperate fury.
“Nora, you’re my wife! How can you marry someone else?”
I looked at him, my expression cold.
“Sir, you’ve made a mistake. I don’t know you.”
Seeing my hard stance, John softened his voice.
“Nora, I’m sorry. I misunderstood you. But you knew the truth… why didn’t you tell me? You know I love you.
7/13
13:17
Chapter 2
Our years together… it shouldn’t end like this.”
13.18)
My old friend tactfully withdrew, dismissing the crowd to give us space. He even had his people escort away the paparazzi I’d spotted in the corner. Seeing that, I knew there was no point in pretending anymore.
John took this as his chance.
“Nora, you’re admitting it. Does that mean you can forgive me?”
“Forgive you? John, I did tell you the truth. But you never believed me.”
In our first year of marriage, I had told him. I told him I wasn’t trying to kill myself that day, that his mothe
wasn’t trying to save me.
He didn’t believe me. He thought my PTSD was an act.
He was convinced I was weak, that I couldn’t handle the loss of my family and was trying to escape reality.
Deep down, he looked down on me.
A pathetic, self-pitying creature like me wasn’t worthy of his mother’s sacrifice.
When we fought, he would grab my throat and curse me.
‘Nora, you have no right to even say her name! You killed her! It should have been you! Why don’t you just
die?”
