Chapter 7
Three days before the wedding, Aurelia paid the final installment for her sky burial
That same day, news of Nolan and Evangeline’s upcoming nuptials dominated the headlines on every major news outlet.
Their wedding would take place at an exclusive beachfront venue, with the city’s elite in attendance. Celebrities from their social circle posted congratulatory messages online, generating a dozen trending topics across social media.
Two days before the wedding, Aurelia booked her one–way flight to Tibet.
That evening, Nolan spared no expense, spending millions on a spectacular fireworks display across the city as an early celebration.
Under the dazzling cascade of lights, well–wishers offered their congratulations to Nolan and Evangeline–toasting to their happiness and lifelong devotion.
The day before the wedding, Aurelia gathered everything into a single box and set it ablaze until nothing
remained but ashes.
The box contained all of Nolan’s gifts to her, every memento of their relationship–treasures she had clung to even during her darkest days in prison.
But now, with death approaching, these possessions held no meaning.
Her beloved Nolan would soon walk arm in arm with another woman, stepping into the life they had once planned together.
She told herself he would be happy. They would have children, build a home, and cherish each day together.
Just as she and Nolan had once promised each other.
The flames danced before her, reducing their love story to fragments that disappeared into smoke and
ash.
That evening at an upscale restaurant, Evangeline noticed Nolan’s distant expression and felt a twinge of
unease.
“Nolan, are you still thinking about Aurelia?”
He snapped back to the present, taking her hand with practiced tenderness. “Not at all.”
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“Evangeline, I’ve put her completely behind me. From now on, you’re the only one who matters to me.”
“Starting today, you’re the center of my world.”
Reassured, Evangeline smiled and nodded contentedly.
After dinner, as they prepared to leave and finalize tomorrow’s wedding details, disaster struck. A crystal chandelier suddenly crashed down, striking Evangeline directly on the head.
Blood immediately poured from the wound as she collapsed unconscious.
Nolan’s face drained of color. He scooped her up and ran desperately to the hospital, where she was rushed into emergency surgery,
The doctors were blunt–she needed an immediate transfusion to survive the massive blood loss, but the hospital had critically low supplies of her rare Rh–negative blood type. Someone compatible needed to donate immediately if she was to survive.
Wild with panic, Nolan ordered his assistant to search the entire city for a compatible donor, regardless of cost,
After an urgent database search, the assistant found a single matching name.
Aurelia Thorne!
He rushed to Nolan with the information “Boss, we’ve found only one compatible donor for Miss Winters,
but it’s…”
Before he could finish, Nolan cut him off.
“I don’t care who it is. Save Evangeline. Take every drop of blood if necessary–whatever it costs, do it.”
Without another word, the assistant dispatched men to bring Aurelia to the hospital.
Aurelia was clutching her plane ticket, about to leave for the airport, when she was suddenly surrounded, seized, and rushed to the hospital’s donation center.
Confused and frightened, she struggled against the restraints as the medical staff attempted to insert the needle. Unable to proceed, the nurse summoned Nolan’s assistant.
Seeing Aurelia, his face hardened with contempt.
Having served Nolan for years, he knew the full history between them and felt nothing but disdain for
her.
“Miss Thorne, Mr. Creed himself ordered this. Miss Winters has suffered a critical injury and is
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Chapter 7
hemorrhaging severely. You’re the only person with a matching blood type.”
“Mr. Creed’s exact words were that he’d drain every last drop of your blood if that’s what it takes to save
her,”
“This entire facility is under our control. I suggest you stop resisting. Besides, you already owe Mr. Creed a life, don’t you?”
As his words sank in, Aurelia went still, her resistance fading.
He was right–she did owe Nolan a life.
And whether she donated blood or not, she was living on borrowed time.It was only a matter of days
versus hours now. With that realization, she surrendered completely.
The needle pierced her vein. She watched with detached fascination as her blood flowed through the tube, her face growing increasingly pale.
400ml…
600ml…
800ml…
1000ml…
As more blood was taken, the monitoring equipment began to sound alarms, and her vision blurred at the edges.
She closed her eyes, feeling her life ebbing away with each drop of blood.
Nolan, this time it’s truly goodbye…
The alarms crescendoed until finally merging into a single, continuous tone.
The nurse gasped in horror, yanking out the needle and bolting toward the corridor.
“We’ve taken too much–she’s flatlined!”
