Unveiled: The Survivor's Triumph

I asked, "Where is he?"

"He said he had an urgent matter and had to leave. I didn't see him when I got here, but he paid all the fees before he left. By the way, who is he? He seems nice, and his voice is pleasant," Bella said, winking at me.

Ethan had already done a lot for a stranger like me; he must have his own life to get back to.

"I'm asking you!" Bella nudged me again.

I snapped back and told her about Ethan bringing me back. She didn't ask any more questions after that.

When I reached for the apple Bella handed me, I noticed my hand was wrapped up like a bear paw.

Bella, while complaining, still cut the apple into small pieces and fed them to me. "When you were dating Arthur, I looked into him for you. He had a lot of bad rumors in med school. A girl even jumped off a cliff because of him. Later, her boyfriend beat him so badly he couldn't get out of bed for half a month. He used all sorts of tricks to get a scholarship. I told you all this, but you were blinded by love."

Back then, Bella was worried I'd choose the wrong person, so she checked out Arthur's background. But Arthur's charm had me fooled.

I kept my head down and stayed silent. After scolding Arthur, Bella turned to me. "Why didn't you tell me about this? My house isn't too small for you to stay."

Bella's house was indeed big. Her dad owned a company, and she never lacked money, but she did lack friends and love.

Bella's parents divorced when she was in middle school. Her mom gave up custody to her dad, Leonard Gray, who soon found a stepmother for Bella, only a few years older than her.

"I didn't want to bother you. It wasn't a good situation, and I was afraid you'd be even angrier than I was," I said.

Bella glared at me. "Remember, you're never a bother to me. Back in middle school, you didn't think I was a bother when you took me to your home. Now you're saying you're a bother? That makes me mad."

We were in eighth grade then. Bella had a fight with Leonard and ran away. It was Christmas, and the whole city was covered in snow. When I found her, she was sitting on the street, shivering.

Back then, we were classmates but not close. Bella was rich, and I was poor; we lived in different worlds. Bella was usually arrogant and had a bad temper, so she didn't have many real friends. But seeing her alone on the street that day, I couldn't just walk away. I took her to my home, worried she wouldn't handle our shabby place, but she didn't mind at all. That incident made us best friends.

I told Bella I wanted to leave the hospital. She checked with the doctor, who said I just needed rest, and then helped with the discharge.

She drove a new, expensive-looking car. When I got in, Bella said, "My dad gave me this car. If he gives me anything, I'll take it. He owes me."

I always thought father-daughter issues would resolve, but Bella and Leonard had unresolved problems for years.

I wanted to advise her. While she could still argue with her dad, I no longer had a dad.

I didn't know much about cars. Bella saw me looking around and laughed, saying it was a Lamborghini.

"Lamborghini?" I repeated softly, then joked, "I've only seen bikinis."

Bella laughed and gave me a thumbs-up.

I thought of Ethan's car and asked, "What's the car with a triangle and two M's overlapping?"

Bella gave me a look, "You mean a Maybach."

"How's that car?"

"Maybach is great. It's better than my car. The cheapest one is at least two hundred thousand dollars."

"How much?" I was stunned.

Bella nudged me. "Two hundred thousand dollars, Emmy. Don't be so shocked. Now that you're rid of that scumbag Arthur, your life will get better. You'll afford your own luxury car someday."

Listening to her, I thought about Ethan. A businessman driving a car worth at least two hundred thousand dollars must be doing well.

Bella took me home and ordered me to stay in during recovery. She even called her family's housekeeper to take care of me until my hand healed.

During those days, Ethan didn't contact me. I often looked at my phone, wanting to call and thank him. But reason stopped me. After all, we were just strangers who met by chance. It was best to leave it at that.

He probably helped out of a sense of justice. As a busy businessman, he had likely forgotten about this. But what I didn't expect was that this was just the beginning of our story, not the end. We were destined to be together.