Love’s Cunning Ruse

Julie nodded with a smile, “Sure.”

“Of course, I personally prefer us to be friends. Don’t worry, I’m not interested in a married woman, and

I won’t have any thoughts beyond friendship towards you.”

Dr. Brice’s humor made Julie laugh, “Dr. Brice, you really have good taste.”

At the entrance of Sansa’s ward, Dr. Brice said to Julie, “If there’s anything, feel free to contact me

anytime.”

“Sure.” After watching Dr. Brice leave, Julie turned and pushed open the door to Sansa’s ward.

Sansa lying on the hospital bed was so thin that her cheeks were sunken. That year, Sansa drove to

find Darcey. She was speeding on the highway.

Her speeding car suddenly hit Darcey’s car. Then, a large truck full of stones hit them, crushing both

cars under its chassis. The huge impact caused the stones on the truck to slide off, completely burying

the small car.

When the firefighters dug through the stones by hand, everyone else at the scene of the accident had

already died, only Sansa still showed signs of life. At that time, Julie and Kieran were not divorced yet.

With Kieran’s help, Julie managed to rush Sansa, who was hanging on by a thread, to the Tranquil

Care Hospital for emergency treatment. After 28 hours of rescue, Sansa miraculously survived. But she

was left in a vegetative state.

Since then, her condition had been up and down, often suffering from heart attacks, central circulatory

failure, or traumatic myocarditis. She had brushed past death many times. It wasn’t until more than four

months later that she gradually regained the ability to breathe on her own, and her body temperature

returned to normal. She no longer needed a ventilator, and the drainage tube on her chest was

removed, but she remained unconscious.

Julie couldn’t imagine how she would have faced the drastic changes in her family without Kieran by

her side during her toughest times. She had watched her closest people pass away one by one, and

Sansa suffer from illness time and time again. She had thought about ending Sansa’s life herself in

despair, but Kieran grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the darkness step by step.

But the person who pushed her back into the abyss was also him.

After their divorce, Julie couldn’t afford the high medical expenses at Tranquil Care Hospital, so Sansa

was transferred to Oakhurst Hospital. Over the years, Julie had lost hope of seeing Sansa wake up, but

no matter how tough life got, she never thought about giving up on Sansa’s treatment. It had become

an obsession.

She walked over and held Sansa’s hand, feeling the stiffness. It was nothing like Sansa’s hand in her

childhood memories, but she held it tightly. When she was a child, she loved watching Sansa dance.

She would spin and jump gracefully in her ballet shoes, like a real swan, like an angel.

“I got back together with Kieran. She held Sansa’s hand, leaned on the bed and used her arm as a

pillow.

“I never thought I’d remarry him, let alone…our kid would survive.” She said, a smile playing at the

corners of her mouth, but her eyes were brimming with tears.

“Our kid’s name is Ivan Hernandez. I never dare to think about what we might have missed all these

years. We went through a lot before we finally realized…

She knew she was talking to herself, but she still said seriously, “Only those who are alive have the

right to love or hate. What’s past is past. If we have a chance to correct our mistakes, we should

cherish it. We may have made mistakes, but at least we’re still alive. Sansa, I’ll bring Ivan to see you

someday, okay?”

Julie spoke her mind, then, as if she remembered something, she said to Sansa, “By the way, Sansa,

do you know the Fitzgerald family? Their first in line, Simon, started a charity for rare diseases. I wasn’t

back with Kieran then and was short on funds. If I had used the money, it could’ve solved our urgent

problem, but we ended up not needing it.”

She continued, “Kieran asked me if I knew Simon. I thought, if he made the donation because he knew

us, maybe he knew you? Too bad you can’t wake up to tell

me if you know him, but I think anyone who would donate to us must be a good person…”

Just then, Julie’s phone rang. She saw it was Kieran and answered.

“I’m waiting for you outside. Call me when you’re ready to leave.”

Julie was planning to take a taxi home, but Kieran was there in person.

She looked at Sansa lying in the hospital bed, then asked Kieran on the phone, “Where are you? I’ll

head out now.”

After hearing where Kieran was, Julie gave Sansa a hug and left the ward.

Kieran was parked in the parking lot. It was a low-profile black business car, with a license plate

number that stood out to Julie. She glanced at it and asked Kieran, “627?”

“Your birthday.” He pinched her cheek and grinned, “Thanks for being born.”

“I’m not touched at all,” She held his hand proudly.

He pulled her closer, then leaned down and said, “I heard the worst kind of love is when you’re moved

but the other person isn’t.”

“Who said that!” she said firmly, “First move yourself, then move the other person, doesn’t mean we

can’t be happy.”

“You’re right.”

“Why does Julie feel like she’s fallen into his trap again?

Julie let go of his hand, and then suddenly looked at him with a smile, “How about I drive?”

Kieran was skeptical about Mrs. Hernandez’s driving skills, but he handed over the keys without

hesitation and moved to the passenger seat.

Julie excitedly opened the car door and got in. After adjusting her seat, she realized Kieran’s legs were

much longer than hers.

She was about to buckle her seatbelt when her phone rang.

Kieran took out the phone from her bag. The screen showed “Dr. Brice”.

Kieran glanced at it, didn’t answer directly, but handed it to her, “It’s Dr. Brice.”

“You answer it!” Julie replied casually.

Only after getting the go-ahead from Julie did Kieran answer and put it on speaker.

Julie turned the key in the ignition and started the car.

Suddenly, a strange voice came through the phone, “Hello, is this Ms. Abraham? Your sister Sansa is

being resuscitated. Dr. Brice is in the ER. Please come to the hospital as soon as possible!”

Julie, who had just started the car, suddenly hit the brakes.

Due to inertia, both of them were thrown forward in the car.