Chapter 5
The moment the rescue teams arrived, Antonio emerged, covered in blood, carrying the unconscious Isabella in his arms.
He carefully placed her onto the stretcher, only passing out himself after confirming she was unharmed.
As he fell, the wounds on his back were completely exposed.
The gruesome, bloodied wounds made Norah, who thought she would never feel pain for him again, unable to hold back her tears. It wasn’t out of sympathy. She just couldn’t help but remember the past.
Back then, Antonio had pursued her for a long time. She wasn’t truly that cold-hearted, but she had always ignored his efforts. The truth was, she couldn’t let go of Sheldon, so she couldn’t accept Antonio’s feelings.
It hadn’t been until that one time, when she had suddenly collapsed and had been rushed to the hospital that she had found out she had kidney failure.
She had called Charlie and Lilian, desperately begging them to be a donor, but they had coldly refused. They had told her they had plans to travel with Isabella and claimed that kidney failure wasn’t fatal. And even if it were, they would simply wait to be informed of her death.
Her own parents had heartlessly hung up on her.
At her lowest point, Antonio had quietly stepped in. He had undergone the matching test without a word and then silently laid on the operating table.
It hadn’t been until after the surgery that Norah had learned Antonio was the donor.
She had stayed by his bedside and cried for a long time. When he had finally woken up, the first thing he had seen was her tear-streaked face.
Immediately, he had pulled her into his arms and repeatedly comforted her. “It’s okay. Don’t cry. I did this willingly.”
But his words only made her cry harder.
At that moment, she had thought maybe she should finally stop waiting for someone who would never come back and see the person who was right in front of her.
But just as she had given in to his warmth and fallen deeply in love with him, she had realized it had all been a lie.
Looking back now, Norah realized that Antonio had always been someone willing to risk everything for love. But the love he fought for wasn’t hers. It was Isabella’s.
Antonio was hospitalized for a long time after his injuries.
In the past, when he had suffered even minor injuries, Norah would cry nonstop out of concern. But this time, she didn’t even go to the hospital to take care of him.
Even when Greyson passed along a message that Antonio wanted to see her, she pretended not to hear it and continued focusing on her own affairs.
One night, as she slept fitfully, she suddenly felt a weight on her body. Startled, she opened her eyes to find Antonio clinging to her.
He was still wearing a hospital gown, and it was clear he had run out of the hospital. His forehead was wrapped in bandages, and his injuries hadn’t fully healed. But here he was, holding her without saying a word.
Norah struggled to push him away a few times and finally asked, “Why did you come back?”
“I missed you,” Antonio murmured, burying his face in her neck.
After a moment of silence, he continued with a note of grievance in his voice, “Didn’t you hear from Greyson? Have you been refusing to visit me these days because I went to save Isa?
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you to find someone else, but she’s your sister, and the situation was urgent. I had to go to her.
“But I swear, the only person I’ve ever loved is you. My extra concern for Isa was just because she’s family. There’s nothing more to it. Please don’t be angry with me, Norah.”
Antonio’s words were sincere. If Norah didn’t know who he truly loved, she might have believed him.
But she could see through him. His sudden return wasn’t because he cared about her feelings.It was because he was afraid she would see through his true feelings for Isabella. He was afraid their marriage might fall apart and that Isabella wouldn’t get what she wanted.
In truth, he didn’t need to keep pretending. He could rest easy knowing that very soon, all these people would have nothing to do with her.
She would disappear from their lives and live happily with her made-up family. Though that family wasn’t real, it hardly mattered to her.
After all, she had never received any real love from her real family. So what did it matter whether those people on the island were her real family or not?
