Kyle got home relatively early that night. Unusually, Carol was not there, and the only person in the house was the maid.

"Where is Carol?" Kyle asked.

"I heard madam was planning to travel to Bali. That's all I know," the maid recalled.

Did she hate him so much that she would flee the country? Kyle thought.

The house felt cold without Carol's presence. When she was there, she would prepare dinner for him and wait for him to come home. But now, she wasn't there. Kyle was surprised at how upsetting it was.

Back at the amus.e.m.e.nt park, Diana was shocked by Brian's sudden kiss. But the most curious thing was that she didn't hate it.

Brian was staring passionately at Diana.

"Diana, please be my girlfriend."

"What if you dump me again for some random girl, like Vera or Vivi?" Diana murmured.

Brian smiled and hugged Diana. "Trust me, I won't let that happen again. You are the only one for me."

"I will trust you at this time. But if anything like that happens again, I will leave you and never come back."

It had dawned on Diana that she couldn't reject Brian. The possibility that he might be with another woman felt horrible. She had to give it another try.

"Diana, you are different from any other girl I've met. You are the most important person in my life. I see you as a family. I know I hurt you before, but I swear I won't do that again."

Diana blushed. It really seemed like all was right with the world.

They hugged each other and kissed under the moonlight.

Suddenly, Diana's phone rang.

"Is this Diana Anderson? I'm calling from St Thomas' Hospital, please get over here as soon as possible!"

Diana ended the call and grabbed Brian's hands anxiously. "It must be Carol. Could you take me to the hospital? Quickly!"

Brian ran to his car and drove Diana to the hospital without delay.

They stooped at a red light a few blocks from the hospital. Diana was in such a state that she screamed, "God! Please! Brian, go!"

"Okay!" Brian sped through the lights and on to the hospital.

Diana was terrified. She ran to the ward that the nurse on the phone had told her. And then she saw Carol lying there, covered in blood.

The doctor turned to look at her and slowly shook his head.

Diana was in shock. She almost couldn't walk and stumble to Carol's side.

Carol opened her eyes and moved her lips as if she was trying to say something.

Her words were just too quiet to hear, so Diana lowered her ear to Carol's face. She held her hand and asked, "What do you want to say, Carol?"

"Belle, am I going to die?" Carol uttered just as she said that she began coughing up blood.

Diana tried to wipe the blood away, but she couldn't stop it.

"Carol, you will be okay. You… you will be okay…"

Carol shook her head. "If I don't say this now, I will never have the chance to say it. Diana, tell him I regret falling in love with him. I wish I had never met him…"

Diana cried out, "I won't tell him… If you want to tell him, you can tell him yourself when you're better…"

Tears were streaming down Diana's face.

Carol squeezed out a smile and tried to wipe Diana's tears. But she was too weak to raise her hand.

"Diana, my accident, it was A…" Before she could finish saying the name, Carol's head fell to one side, and she stopped breathing.

"A? What does that mean? Carol!" Diana cried out, screaming, and held Carol in her arms.

***

"Carol!" Kyle stood at the door, looking on in shock.

Kyle had also received the nurse's call. He had come to the hospital as fast as he could. He ran frantically to Carol's bedside, praying it wasn't too late.

Seeing Carol lying there in Diana's arms, blood all over her, Kyle began to shake. He touched Carol's face gently with the back of his hand. How could this be?

"Get away!" Diana shouted angrily. Her eyes were red from crying.

Kyle backed away. He stared at Carol's pale face and cried, "Why are you just lying there? Stand up! I am an asshole. You hate me, remember? You can curse me and beat me. Why are you lying there? Why?"

"Where were you when she was hit by that truck? Now you cry as if you loved her! F.u.c.k off! She wouldn't want you here!" Diana screamed.

Kyle ignored her anger and asked, "Did she say anything? About me? About us?"

Carol's parents then rushed into the ward and saw their beloved daughter lying lifeless on the bed. The sight was too much for Mrs. Jefferson. She crumbled to the floor, holding her hands out in the air.

Mr. Jefferson stumbled on to Carol's bedside. He touched her hair and cried, "Carol, oh Carol! My treasure, my sweet girl. How could you leave us?"

Diana gently patted Mr. Jefferson's back. "Mr. Jefferson, I'm so sorry. Carol asked me to look after you, so if there's anything I can do…"

Mr. Jefferson beat his c.h.e.s.t and cried out, "My Carol! Why? How can we live without you?"

Glancing at Kyle, who was still crouched on the floor, Mr. Jefferson rushed over and hit Kyle with his walking stick.

"You said you would protect her! You promised! You said you would take care of her! Now, look at her! Why wasn't it you?"

Kyle barely moved, willingly taking the beating. It almost felt good.

"You can beat me to death. It's what I deserve. I am a horrible person. I am so sorry…"

Mr. Jefferson was suddenly tired. He lowered the walking stick from above his head. Then he turned and said to Kyle, "I don't want to see you here. Leave now!"

Kyle stayed glued to the spot; he was simply unable to move.

"Go! I don't want to see you! She doesn't want to see you either!"

Somehow, Kyle summoned the will to get up and walked out of the ward.

"Diana, you go home. We will take care of things here," Mr. Jefferson said tiredly.

"But…" Diana uttered. She wanted to stay with Carol. But she couldn't refuse Mr. Jefferson's request.

"Mr. Jefferson, please take care of yourself and Mrs. Jefferson. I'm so sorry for your loss." Then Diana walked out silently and closed the door. As she left the ward, she could hear Mr. Jefferson wailing miserably.

As she headed toward the exit Diana ran into the doctor that had treated Carol. She wiped her tears and asked, "Doctor, do you know what happened? Carol's accident?"

The doctor sighed. "It was a real tragedy. There shouldn't have been any trucks in that area of the airport. The paramedics also told me the driver of the truck was drunk. And after the abortion, Carol's body was just too weak to handle the trauma. There was nothing we could do."

The doctor was visibly upset at what had happened.

"Thank you, doctor."