What Separates Me and You

Josephine kept facing her back at him.

Silence filled the bedroom while she waited the longest time. After confirming the rest of the world had fallen asleep, she withdrew her arms from Lewis' hold.

Josephine squeezed her eyes shut and felt around for the scab's edges with her fingers. Then, she peeled it off little by little.

The scab had already adhered to her flesh, so it stung when she tried to separate the two. It was more painful than when her wrist got cut.

Her body remained still, apart from her fingers that removed the scab. She could only grit her teeth and hold her breath hard to resist the pain.

Upon lifting the first part of the scab, she felt the blood underneath it and sighed in relief. Her suffering and oppression reached a balance, so she no longer felt pain. She only felt relief. The boulders that crushed her chest vanished at last.

Indeed, she could have murdered Lewis before ending her life. Lewis wouldn't even fight back in that case. Alas, the undeniable truth was that Josephine couldn't bring herself to do it.

Lewis would have died If Josephine hadn't grabbed Seth. Then, perhaps Seth wouldn't be so disappointed that he jumped off the cliff.

These days, she constantly asked herself whether she would do the same if she could return to that moment. Yet, she could never come up with an answer to that question.

The Vance family's complete obliteration had nothing to do with Lewis. Contrarily, he murdered his family member. To some extent, he had ignored his conscience to avenge Josephine. Likewise, Lewis had only gone up the cliff because she and Seth had lured him there.

Not to mention, Seth jumped off the cliff out of disappointment for Josephine.

Those had nothing to do with Lewis. Josephine was to blame because anything she did was wrong. As for her trying to escape like this, it was merely payback for how Lewis treated her these years.

She wanted Lewis to have the whole world in his palm yet live every second of his life in hell due to her absence. Josephine knew that was the most lethal blow to an arrogant person.

Although Josephine said she didn't blame him, she would never forgive him.

She took a deep breath, then exerted more strength to rip off the scab in one go.

Once the intense pain settled, she exhaled as if relieving herself of burdens. Then, she hid her hands under her pillow and slept peacefully. Because of that, her blood seeped into her pillow and stained it bright red.

Josephine suddenly recalled something Lewis had told her. He mentioned that people often thought about good memories before they died.

That happened again. Memories flooded Josephine's mind once she shut her eyes. It was the first time she met Lewis. He was still a child, yet he acted like an adult and called her a monkey.

Josephine couldn't remember if she did anything or looked like a monkey. She could have sworn she was easy on the eyes when she lived with the Vance family.

People often called her a cute child. Then again, it could be because Daphne used to be a plump kid and would highlight how scrawny Josephine was when they stood together.

Even though Lewis called her a skinny monkey, Josephine distinctly recalled how he eyed her from head to toe several times. Plus, he even snuck out to find her and ask whether she was the future wife his grandpa had decided on.

Josephine didn't know how to speak, so she blinked in confusion at him. She had no idea what the word "wife" meant.

When Lewis learned she was mute, he petted her head and spoke with the utmost empathy and seriousness. "How pitiful, just like me." Josephine didn't understand how he was pitiful when he had everything he wanted. It was later that she understood why he had said that.

Lewis didn't get an ideal grade on a test, so Robert and Nancy took turns berating him about his poor scores. Meanwhile, Daphne got to roll around on the couch with her toy when she scored poorly on a test. The more blood she lost, the more her thoughts drifted away while her consciousness became foggy. Yet, her memories became clearer. They flashed through her mind like a movie in fast-forward.

In the end, Josephine landed on a selfish thought. She figured things would have been better if she remained mute and didn't recall the truth. That was what she would have done if she could start over. Tears streamed from the corner of her eyes. By then, the memories had faded to black.

That was when Lewis suddenly opened his eyes. He noticed the metallic scent of blood in the air. It made him rip the blanket off his body. His pupils constricted when he saw the pool of red beneath Josephine's pillow. At once, he pulled her bloody wrist out from under her pillow.

"Josephine!" He pressed hard against the wound with their blanket to stop the bleeding. At the same time, he lightly slapped her face. "Josephine! Josephine, wake up!"

No response came from Josephine, whose eyes remained shut. Tears gathered near her lashes and glimmered under the light.

"How dare you?" Conflicting emotions surfaced on his face. There was rage, fear, and panic. Those led to him bellowing, "Yannis Halliday!"

That jolted Yannis, who slept in the living room downstairs, so much that he fell off the couch. He clumsily raced upstairs after rubbing his eyes and realizing what had happened.

"What's wrong, Mr. Alva-" Before Yannis could finish speaking, his eyes widened at the pool of blood on the bed. Not daring to waste any more time, he rushed over to bandage Josephine's wound. "This won't do. Mrs. Alvarez's wound was injured a second time. Her blood vessels are damaged. She needs stitches." Yannis wiped the sweat off his forehead and resorted to haphazardly tying a bandage to Josephine's wrist with some rope. That would stop the bleeding for now.

"Send her to the hospital now! She might need a blood transfusion!" Yannis urged.

He had just spoken when Lewis scooped Josephine up and bolted out of the bedroom. They then rushed to the hospital at lightning speed.

Not a word came from Lewis as he waited outside the operating room. Josephine's blood stained his top so much that it looked like she was still in his arms.

Conrad and Yannis nervously stood nearby. Their gazes occasionally darted toward Lewis, whose hair was a mess. Not to mention, he was still in his black pajamas. Lewis stared at the ground blankly.

On the other hand, Conrad and Yannis conversed by exchanging glances. Conrad shot the latter a look that asked what had happened.

Yannis shook his head to indicate he didn't know either. He could tell from Josephine's wound that she must have been determined to die. She was determined enough to rip out her scab. After all, most people needed a lot of courage to remove scabs from unhealed wounds, much less from injuries that ran as deep as Josephine's.

Four hours later, the doctor operating on Josephine came out.

Only then did Lewis' head shoot upward.

Conrad asked, "How are things, doctor?"

The doctor frowned, sighed, and shook his head.

Lewis instantly stood and ran up to grab the doctor's collar. "Why the hell are you shaking your head?"

That startled the doctor so much that his face paled. "P-Please calm down, sir-"

Lewis glared daggers at the former. He then spoke with a choked-up voice. "Answer me. Why did you shake your head?"

It wasn't rare to see patients arguing with their doctors, but those were often mild arguments. No one had ever witnessed such murderous intent from a patient's family member before. The doctor had no doubt Lewis would rip him to shreds if he shook his head again.

"Well? Hurry up and tell us how she's doing, doctor!" Conrad urged from aside. "It's just excessive blood loss. It shouldn't be that ba—"

He dared not finish that last part.