At the hospital, Marianne was still in a daze after waking up.
The police had already come to take her statement, and she was stunned to learn that her accident had somehow become a criminal case.
However, her memories remained frustratingly vague.
All she could recall was chatting with Calin. Somehow, they had ended up in the fire escape stairwell. As for what happened afterward, whether she had accidentally fallen or someone had pushed her, she couldn't say with any certainty.
Hours after the police left, a knock sounded at her hospital room door.
Sergei entered carrying a fruit basket.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
Marianne smiled, about to reassure him, but the words died in her throat. Only now did she get a good look at him. His complexion was pale, dark circles shadowed his eyes, and even his usually immaculate suit appeared wrinkled, as if he had been wearing it for days.
"Are you alright?" she asked instead.
Sergei forced a smile and set the fruit basket down. "Just a lot happening at the company lately. I've had to deal with everything myself."
Marianne studied him silently for a long moment before nodding, her head still throbbed intermittently.
"Don't worry," Sergei continued. "The police are already investigating your case. They've even arrested that woman, Venice Zhi. Although she managed to post bail for the time being."
A frown appeared on Marianne's face. That name again.
"I don't understand..." she murmured. "Who is she? The police also said she's the one who pushed me."
"You don't remember?" Sergei asked as he pulled a chair closer and sat beside her bed.
Marianne slowly shook her head.
Sergei's eyes narrowed. He knew that lunatic Calin must have lied and conveniently found another scapegoat.
But with everything his family was already dealing with, the last thing he wanted was another disaster.
Suppressing his thoughts, he gently took Marianne's hand and looked at her intently.
"Marianne, the doctor said your head injury was serious. It's possible the trauma fragmented some of your memories." He paused before continuing. "The CCTV footage showed you and Calin entering the fire escape stairwell. At the same time, several floors above, Hadi Keir and his mistress, Venice, were apparently arguing."
Marianne "...."
"According to my sister, they came down a few floors and somehow misunderstood the situation. They thought you and Calin were arguing. In the confusion, Venice accidentally shoved you too hard..."
The more Sergei spoke, the harder Marianne's head pounded.
She parted her lips, wanting to say something, but Sergei spoke again in a deliberate tone.
"Hadi Keir was there as well. He confirmed everything that happened."
Marianne stared at him.
"It's alright if you can't remember," Sergei said gently, squeezing her hand. "Just focus on recovering. Rest well. I'll take care of everything else, okay?"
After a moment, Marianne reluctantly nodded.
Suddenly, the hospital room door slammed open with a deafening bang.
Before Sergei could even react, a powerful hand grabbed him from behind and yanked him to his feet.
"Didn't you say Allen's accident had nothing to do with you?" Zoren sneered, gripping Sergei's collar tightly. "That dashcam footage says otherwise. So are you still going to insist you didn't send your crazy sister to go after Allen?"
Recognizing the intruder, Sergei's expression darkened with fury.
Without hesitation, he swung a punch. Unfortunately, Zoren was faster as he dodged effortlessly and drove a fist straight into Sergei's face.
The impact sent Sergei sprawling onto the floor.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Marianne shouted.
She instinctively tried to climb out of bed to help him, but dizziness immediately overwhelmed her, forcing her to grip the bedside rail for support.
Meanwhile, Sergei had already scrambled back to his feet.
Moments later, the two men were trading punches in the middle of the hospital room.
"Zoren, you dumb retard!" Sergei growled, wiping blood from his nose. "Have you been stalking me? What exactly does that dashcam prove about my involvement?"
Zoren let out a cold laugh.
"Calin intentionally tried to crash their car that night." His eyes filled with contempt. "And in case you haven't heard, Allen has already regained consciousness. According to him, Calin completely lost it the moment he found out about his engagement to Natalia."
Sergei froze.
Allen had regained consciousness? How was that possible?
The last update he had received was that Allen's condition had been so critical that even Zahn Neri, the renowned doctor known for snatching patients back from death's doorstep, had reportedly been unable to guarantee his survival.
As Sergei struggled to process the news, the hospital room door opened once more.
A woman stepped inside, only to stop abruptly at the sight before her.
"Natalia?" Zoren stiffened, subconsciously touching his swollen cheek. "What are you doing here?"
"You suddenly rushed off," Natalia replied calmly. "Allen got worried, so he asked me to follow you."
Zoren fell silent.
Naturally, he couldn't tell her that he had people secretly monitoring Sergei's whereabouts.
The moment he heard Allen's account and learned that Sergei was at the hospital, his anger had boiled over. He had come here intending to confront him immediately.
Meanwhile, Marianne felt a strange discomfort settle in her chest as her gaze landed on the delicate and elegant woman standing at the doorway.
So this was the woman Sergei used to like.
An inexplicable pang tightened around Marianne's heart. Almost unconsciously, she glanced toward Sergei, only to discover that he was staring at Natalia as well.
Natalia offered the two an apologetic smile, and lightly tugged at Zoren's sleeve, signaling for him to leave. "I'm sorry. Zoren can be impulsive sometimes."
Zoren shot Sergei a murderous glare. The expression clearly said this wasn't over.
As Natalia turned to leave, Sergei suddenly called out. "Natalia, wait..."
He took a step forward. At that exact moment, a hand grabbed his sleeve.
"I feel dizzy." Marianne bit her lip, her face pale. "Can you stay with me?"
Sergei hesitated briefly.
"Just a moment."
The anxiety inside Marianne suddenly intensified. She tightened her grip unconsciously. "Sergei..."
But Sergei merely brushed her hand aside without another glance, and hurried out of the room.
"I'll be right back."
The sudden force caused Marianne to lose her balance. She nearly slipped off the hospital bed, the empty doorway seemed to mock her as a bitter feeling spread through her chest.
Outside in the hallway, Sergei quickly caught up to Natalia and Zoren.
"Natalia, listen to me. I had absolutely nothing to do with Allen's accident."
Zoren immediately scoffed. The anger he had barely managed to suppress reignited.
"So desperate to wash your hands clean?" he sneered, then he turned toward Natalia. "Don't listen to him. You know better than anyone how long he's been harassing you. That woman inside is his girlfriend, yet he's still acting like some devoted fool waiting for you to look his way."
"What does my private life have to do with you?" Sergei snapped. "What are you, Allen's guard dog?"
"Am I wrong? You're dating someone while secretly hoping Allen never wakes up. Even if you had nothing to do with your crazy sister's actions, aren't you the one who benefits the most if Allen and Natalia's engagement falls apart? In the end, you and your sister are exactly the same." Zoren's eyes were filled with contempt. "Greedy. You want a backup option and the main prize too."
A flicker of curiosity flashed across Natalia's face.
The expression was strangely reminiscent of Saeki whenever he smelled juicy gossip from a mile away.
She had only returned from abroad a little over a month ago because of Allen's accident but had also seen the dashcam footage during Calin's engagement banquet.
While the footage didn't directly implicate Sergei, Zoren wasn't entirely wrong either. Sergei had indeed pursued her for years.
After a brief silence, Natalia finally spoke. "I think we should leave this matter to the investigators."
Unfortunately, Sergei interpreted it differently. To him, it sounded as though she also believed Zoren's accusations.
The frustration that had been building inside him for months finally reached its limit.
He had enough.
Enough of cleaning up Calin's disasters.
Enough being the punching bag for things he never did.
Enough from being blamed simply because he happened to share blood with a lunatic.
And now even Natalia seemed unwilling to believe him.
The pressure crushing his chest finally erupted.
"For once, can everyone stop treating me like I'm responsible for every insane thing she does?" Sergei barked. "I didn't tell her to chase Allen. I didn't tell her to crash anyone's car. I didn't tell her to ruin people's lives."
His breathing grew uneven as he blurted out the truth.
He had only dated Marianne because she had overheard Calin talking nonsense, and was afraid she would be blamed for Allen's accident.
In short, he had been completely unaware of what had transpired between Allen and Calin that night. Yet in the end, he was forced to help Calin and even had to date a woman he didn't love.
Natalia was left speechless.
Even Zoren fell silent for a moment as he looked at Sergei, who appeared to be suffering the greatest injustice in the world.
No one noticed that Marianne had somehow managed to leave her room and overhear the entire conversation.
Covering her mouth, she leaned weakly against the wall as she hid around the corner.
Tears streamed down her face as though her heart were being torn apart.
In the end, the argument came to a halt when hospital staff arrived after hearing the commotion.
Zoren and Natalia returned to Allen's ward, while Sergei could only leave reluctantly.
He considered going back to Marianne's room, but he wasn't in the mood to continue pretending, so he chose to leave the hospital instead.
--
In the hospital parking lot, he had just taken out his car keys when his vision suddenly went dark.
Someone had thrown a sack over his head.
Sergei immediately fought back, thrashing wildly, but a sharp blow landed on the back of his neck and everything went black.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself lying on the floor of an empty room.
Before long, the door opened, and Loki walked in with a grin stretching from ear to ear.
"Boss, little Sergei is awake," Loki shouted.
A series of leisurely yet heavy footsteps echoed from outside.
Moments later, Shin Keir appeared in the doorway.
The instant Sergei saw him, his anger exploded. He shot to his feet and glared at him.
"Shin Keir, what the hell is the meaning of this? Damn it! Do you and your friends seriously have nothing better to do than keep pestering me?"