I Slept with My Boss and Ran Away

Terrence was drenched in sweat, cold sweat. His eyes were bloodshot, his gaze intense, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged. The scenes from that night on the sea replayed in his mind. He finally remembered what had happened and what he had lost.

He quickly pulled out the IV needle from the back of his hand and threw off the covers to get out of bed. “Meredith, Meredith.”

Having been bedridden for so long, Terrence’s body was weak. He got up too quickly, causing a rush of blood to his head, and he fell to the ground in a dizzy spell.

Stella heard the commotion from the hallway and hurriedly pushed open the door. “Terry.”

Stella had just gone to find a nurse. Seeing Terrence on the floor, she rushed over to help him up. “Son, you’re finally awake. You’ve been unconscious for a month. If you didn’t wake up soon, it would have been the end of us.”

Stella cried tears of joy, her heart finally at ease. She couldn’t hold back her emotions and hugged Terrence tightly, sobbing.

“Where is Meredith? Mom, where is Meredith?” Terrence hadn’t found Meredith that night on the sea either. The dark sea and the raging typhoon-where could he search?

Mentioning Meredith, Stella choked up. “We… we haven’t found her. The police have been searching for a month. Meredith’s father also brought the French Royal Guard to search in international waters but found nothing. It’s possible… it’s possible she’s already…” gone.

Stella couldn’t bring herself to say those final words, but their meaning was clear.

To Terrence, Stella’s words were like thousands of arrows piercing his heart. It was as if they didn’t hurt; they were pulled out only to be stabbed back in again, tearing at his flesh-and-blood heart.

In that moment, Terrence felt as if his soul had been stripped away, leaving him a walking corpse. He realized he had been asleep for a month while Meredith disappeared into the cold sea.

Why hadn’t he gone with her? Who saved him? Why save him? Had she abandoned him to live a life worse than death?

Stella looked at Terrence’s state and felt helpless but didn’t know how to comfort him.

That night, he curled up in his blankets, hugging himself tightly, murmuring “Meredith,” lost in his own world. Stella watched from the side, unable to do anything.

The next day.

Grandma Sterling and Julian brought Little Lucky to visit. Even his daughter couldn’t elicit any reaction from Terrence. He was like a wooden figure, shutting out everything around him.

He neither ate nor drank, surviving solely on nutrient fluids.

Azure heard about the situation and came to the hospital in the afternoon. Stella clung to her like a lifeline. “Azure, please talk some sense into Terry. If this continues, he’ll be ruined.”

Terrence lay on the bed with his eyes closed; even if he wasn’t asleep, he refused to open them. He didn’t want to face a world without Meredith but couldn’t bring himself to commit suicide because Little Lucky was still here.

He tormented himself with this contradiction, seeking some balance.

Azure glanced at Terrence curled up on the bed and said to Stella, “I’ll try.”

The news of Meredith’s accident was something Azure still couldn’t accept; it felt as though she was still around but could never be seen again.

Azure walked into the room as Stella and Julian tactfully left.

Little Lucky had grown accustomed to not having her parents around over the past month. She clung to Julian but would occasionally utter “Mama.”

Little Lucky’s speech had become clearer, especially when saying “Mama,” which pained Julian and Grandma Sterling each time they heard it.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

Such a young child without a mother-how pitiful.

With the door closed behind her, Azure sat by Terrence’s bed and looked at his noticeably thinner frame. “I know you’re awake. We’re all devastated by what happened to Meredith. Rowan has already lost her mother; do you want her to lose her father too? Don’t you know who Meredith cared about most? No matter how hard it gets, you have to hold on for Meredith and Rowan.”

There was no response from Terrence curled up in his blankets.

Growing impatient, Azure pulled off his covers and raised her voice. “Terrence, pull yourself together!”