I Loved the Heir in Disguise Chapter 04
My small flower shop was smashed to pieces.
The refrigerated display cases lay on the ground, flower mud mixed with broken glass, and the floor was covered with trampled roses, lilies, and eucalyptus leaves.
I propped myself up against the edge of the counter and slowly stood up from the ground.
My face was so swollen that it hurt to move the corners of my mouth.
But I first picked up my phone and called every client who had ordered a flower bouquet that day to apologize.
“I’m sorry, there was an accident at the shop today.”
“Your flower bouquet may be delayed.”
“If you are willing to cancel the order, I will process the refund as soon as possible.”
Every word I spoke sent a stabbing pain through my cheeks.
Some clients hung up impatiently.
Others noticed something wrong with my voice and asked if I should call the police.
I just whispered that there was no need.
What use was calling the police?
If Jace Kingsley could send people to smash my shop, he would definitely find a way to turn this into an ordinary debt dispute.
By the time I finished cleaning up the broken glass and withered flowers, the sky was completely dark.
I locked the door of the flower shop and dragged my weak body back home.
When I pushed the door open, Jace was sitting on the bed.
He held a cigarette between his fingers, and smoke filled the dim room.
When he saw me, he immediately stubbed out the cigarette and hastily opened the window.
“Mia?”
I walked up to him.
All the grievances in my heart finally found an outlet and surged out desperately.
I desperately wanted to ask him.
Jace, do you still love me?
If you love me, how could you bear to hurt me like this?
Once, when I accidentally bumped into the corner of a table and got a bruise on my arm, you even padded all the sharp edges in the room with soft cushions.
But now?
You sent people to smash my shop, steal my money, and beat my face like this.
Jace’s warm thumb brushed across my cheek.
When he saw the injuries on my face, a flash of anger appeared in his eyes.
“Who did this to you?”
He suddenly stood up, rushed out the door, and said he was going to buy a cold ice pack from the convenience store downstairs.
I crouched down and curled up.
The next second, I heard him hiding in the stairwell, speaking in a low voice on the phone.
“Damn it!”
“I told you to scare her, who told you to beat her up like this?”
“Her face is all swollen, can’t you understand a single word I said?”
My face was so swollen that even a light touch sent piercing pain.
I bit the soft flesh inside my mouth tightly, refusing to let myself cry out loud.
Mia, why are you sad?
Didn’t you choose this yourself?
You insisted on loving the wrong person.
You brought this on yourself.
But the tears still poured out like a broken dam, impossible to stop.
Jace came back soon.
He held an ice pack, knelt in front of me with heartache, and carefully applied it to my face.
His hands were shaking.
His voice was also filled with uncontrollable guilt.
“Mia, it’s all my fault for not protecting you.”
“I’m sorry…”
“I’m sorry.”
I fell into a warm embrace.
Every time I was wronged, Jace would hold me tightly like this.
He told me to wait a little longer.
Wait until he made something of himself, until he had the ability to stand up for me.
But I did not want to wait anymore.
I did not want to wait for a result that would never come.
Jace took two days off work and stayed home to take care of me.
After so many abortion procedures, my body was already in very poor condition.
Coupled with the beating, I started having nightmares and burning up with a high fever that same night.
Jace carried me to the hospital.
We could not afford a private room, so we had to wait for a bed in the emergency infusion area.
He held me on a bench in the corridor, wrapped me tightly in his coat, and held the IV tube in his palm to warm the liquid, afraid it would be too cold.
Tears kept falling down my face.
I suddenly remembered the news articles I had once read about Jace.
He said he was poor.
But he had built a private luxury medical clinic exclusively for Vivienne, hiring the world’s top doctors.
And I, burning with a high fever, could only lean in the hospital corridor, waiting for a bed that might never become available.
Jace whispered to comfort me.
“Mia, don’t be sad.”
“Even if the wedding savings fund is gone, we can save again.”
“Don’t be afraid.”
“I will definitely marry you.”
His phone lit up.
A message from Vivienne popped up on the screen.
She was urging him to go to the wedding rehearsal dinner.
Jace quickly locked his phone and glanced at the IV bag that was almost empty.
Coincidentally, my stomach growled loudly at that moment.
That sound seemed to give him the perfect excuse.
“Hungry, right?”
He immediately lowered his head and kissed my forehead.
“I’ll go home and make you homemade chicken noodle soup.”
“Wait here for me, I’ll be right back.”
He left me at the hospital and hurried away.
About half an hour later, I received a photo.
In the photo, Jace was wearing a high-custom suit, standing next to Vivienne.
Crystal chandeliers, a sixteen-layer cake, expensive Juliet roses, and a entire backdrop wall made of champagne roses.
Every detail exuded luxury.
It was a world apart from the small, dark studio apartment that always smelled of dust.
My phone dinged.
The people sent by my mother had arrived.
I bit my lower lip, and tears rolled down my face again.
Then I shakily pulled out the IV needle.
A drop of blood splashed onto the faded couple hoodie.
It was the one Jace had bought for me at a dollar store.
He said it was cheap, but we looked like the most perfect couple in the world when we wore it.
I opened the chat box with Jace.
My finger hovered over the screen for a long time, and finally I only typed one line.
“Congratulations on your wedding.”
After sending it successfully, I turned off my phone.
On the roof of the hospital, the sound of a helicopter’s rotor blades cut through the night.
The wind messed up my hair and blew away the last trace of Jace’s warmth on my body.
I boarded the helicopter and flew back to the life that was originally meant for me.
