A Farewell After Being Reborn

Sage smiled and remained silent yet again.

"He deserves to be left hanging. How could he leave his injured wife and accompany someone else?" The doctor dressed her wounds and bandaged her palm with gauze. "Be sure not to get it wet and apply the ointment on time. Otherwise, it'll scar.”

"Thanks, doctor.” Her phone rang again when she was paying the bill. This time, lan had initiated a video call. Sage declined it and blocked his number.

In the past, she would never have had the heart to block lan. Sage would have found the thought unbearable. But now, she did it without a second thought. It seemed hard, but in reality, it only took her a couple of seconds to do it.

Sage walked out of the clinic and hailed a cab back to Solaris Estate. She didn't want lan to bother Tiana, so she sent her a message while she was on her way home.

"My shoulder's acting up, and I didn't bring my medications. Enjoy the hot springs with Wilson, Tiana. I'll be heading back first."

lan called her once again after she sent the message. Annoyed, she turned off her phone. There was less traffic at night, so the drive was faster than it had been during the day. Sage made it back to Solaris Estate in about an hour and a half.

Surprisingly, Wanda was still awake. "Mrs. Holcomb, weren't you and Mr. Holcomb out for a team- building event? Why are you back so soon? Mr. Holcomb just called to ask about you."

Sage didn't want to go into details with Wanda. "I couldn't sleep at the resort, so I decided to come home early. I'm going to bed, Wanda. Please don't disturb me, no matter who calls.” Wanda nodded.

Sage returned to her bedroom and tossed the rabbit-shaped crystal night light into the trash can. Then, she locked the door, lay on her side on the bed, and drifted off to sleep.

Sometime later, she vaguely heard someone turning the door lock, followed by Wanda's soft voice. "Mr. Holcomb, Mrs. Holcomb said she's tired and wants to get some rest. She probably locked the door to avoid being disturbed. The sheets and covers in the guest room are clean. You can rest there.”

"Was she alright when she got home? Did you notice any injuries on her legs or anywhere else?" lan asked quietly.

Wanda responded, "I didn't notice anything. Mrs. Holcomb just seemed very tired and didn't want to talk. She was walking fine, and everything else seemed normal too."

The voices outside her bedroom door died down. It seemed as if lan had stood there for a moment before he walked away.

Sage closed her eyes and fell back asleep. She must've been exhausted from soaking in the hot spring all day yesterday because she slept straight through until morning.

When she checked her phone, all she found were messages from Tiana that had been sent earlier in the morning.

"Sage, did something happen between you and lan? Why did you suddenly leave?"

“Be honest with me. Are you hiding something from me? There's no way you would leave me behind otherwise."

About half an hour later, she sent another message. "I just heard at breakfast that Ivy was hospitalized for a drug allergy last night. lan's not at the resort, either. Did you go home because of this?"

"Why did you turn off your phone? I'm worried sick! Call me as soon as you see this message!"

Sage was about to call Tiana when she received a call from Dexter, who was looking after her grandfather. Even though her grandfather was still in good health, she was still worried, so she asked Dexter to call her immediately if her grandfather was feeling unwell.

Sage tensed up as soon as she saw the caller ID. "Did something happen to Grandpa, Dexter?"

“No, nothing of the sort. Everything's fine," Dexter responded. "Mr. Joyner Senior is going to see an old friend today. He might be gone for a few days. I thought I'd let you know, so you wouldn't worry." "Where's he going? Who is he meeting? Why didn't he tell me beforehand?" Sage questioned.