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Chapter 11
The surgery took five grueling hours.
The doctor told me I was lucky to have arrived when I did. Two more days, and I might never have walked again.
Now, all I needed was time—time to heal, to rebuild my strength through rehabilitation. A normal life wasn’t out of reach.
I stopped checking the news from back home.
But the Montgomery name was impossible to ignore.
My phone buzzed daily with updates.
The runaway bride at the Montgomery wedding.
Ethan had become the punchline of every joke.
The Montgomery parents stepped forward, insisting Ethan was still their son-in-law.
Then Lily shattered their lies.
She created an account under her real name and posted our wedding photos for the world to see.
"My husband will always be Jack Harrison," she declared.
Sophia was dragged back to the Montgomery estate by Lily.
She threatened to burn their empire to the ground if Ethan ever set foot near them again.
The Montgomerys had no choice. Their daughter held all the power.
Ethan’s golden ticket vanished overnight.
The feud between the families turned vicious.
A custody battle erupted over Sophia.
Yet Lily, the child’s mother, never once defended Ethan.
The comments beneath the articles tore into her.
I didn’t understand her anymore.
This was the future she had chosen.
I had stepped aside.
So who was this sudden, desperate devotion for?
I stopped reading. Focused on recovery.
My friend visited daily, keeping me company.
The days weren’t lonely.
But for Lily?
After a week of searching, she spiraled.
Drinking. Barely coherent.
When her stomach gave out, she landed in the ER.
Staring at her childhood friend, she whispered, "Was I wrong?"
"Jack isn’t dead, is he?"
"We combed the area. No body. The flight records—they were fake, weren’t they?"
"The Harrisons have connections everywhere. This is his revenge..."
The doctor exhaled heavily.
"When Jack was in his coma, he could hear everything. He knew what you did."
Another doctor, older, shook his head at Lily’s hollow expression.
"You broke him, Lily. He won’t come back."
"I warned you. You and Jack were meant to be. Ethan was just a ghost from college. He should’ve stayed buried."
"You were trapped in memories, and Jack pulled you out. I thought nothing could shake you two apart. But you chose wrong. Ethan poisoned your mind against Jack. Now there’s no undoing it."
"That night abroad with Ethan three years ago—you know it wasn’t an accident. The moment you let that seed grow, you ended things with Jack."
The truth crashed over her.
What she’d thrown away.
Too late.
Ignoring her stitches, she stumbled to the police station.
Filed a report.
Tracked my new identity.
A day later, she stood outside my hospital room overseas.
Watched me fight through rehab, gripping the parallel bars.
Tears streaked her face.
Her eyes were raw, sleepless.
She didn’t speak. Didn’t make a sound.
Just lingered in the shadows, watching.
Before leaving, she slipped a note to the nurse.
A single line: