Chapter 4The Kidnapper's Choice: A Second Chance at Letting Go

"My name is Chloe. Thank you so much for what you just did," I said, reaching my hand out to him.

Noah, however, kept his eyes fixed on my wrists. The ropes had left deep, bloody welts that looked terrifying.

"Let me clean that up for you."

I shook my head. "It's just a scratch. It's fine."

"Who was it just now who said if I saved her, she'd do anything I wanted?"

"..."

Ignoring my protests, he gently but firmly pushed me onto a stool and brought over a first-aid kit.

"This might sting a bit."

I bit my lip, watching him intently as he carefully treated my wounds.

A sudden warmth bloomed in my chest.

I remembered in my past life, shortly after Liam and I got married, there was a time he came home drunk. As I was helping him back to our room, I casually mentioned he should drink less.

He flew into a sudden rage and violently shoved me away.

I lost my balance and crashed to the floor.

The jade bracelet on my wrist hit the hardwood and shattered into pieces, the shards slicing deeply into my wrist.

I screamed, clutching my bleeding wrist and crying out in pain.

But Liam just stared at me coldly and said:

"Does it hurt? It should. Mia suffered a thousand, a million times more pain than you, but she can't cry out anymore. If she hadn't tried to save you, she wouldn't have been assaulted by those kidnappers! She wouldn't have..."

I just sat there on the floor, my face full of disbelief.

My heart turned to ice, inch by inch.

It took a long time before I found my voice again.

"But the kidnappers took both me and Mia to threaten you! And you were the one who chose to save me first! Why are you saying all this to me now?!"

The drunkenness on Liam's face seemed to have faded significantly, but his eyes remained ice-cold.

"Chloe, I was always against this arranged marriage. If you hadn't told my grandmother you liked me, she never would have forced me to marry you."

"So, what you're saying is, if I weren't in the picture, you would only have had to save Mia. Is that it?"

"Haha..." I suddenly burst out laughing. "Liam, you're literally insane. You don't blame the kidnappers, you blame me instead."

I stood up and went back to my room to bandage my own wounds.

From that day on, no matter how much it hurt, I never told Liam again.

And now, the man in front of me, afraid that I was in pain, was clumsily blowing air onto my wounds.

My eyes stung. I closed them, took a deep breath, and asked a question I already knew the answer to: "What are you doing?"

Noah looked up, his smile pure and genuine.

"When I got hurt as a kid, this is what my mom used to do. Does it feel any better?"

I nodded. "Yeah, much better."

Receiving validation, Noah continued what he was doing.

But the atmosphere was soon ruined by someone else.