Though paralyzed, still radiantly charming!

Chapter 362: Was this the guy who had kidnapped her!?

Although Blair didn’t know exactly what had happened, she trusted Ethan completely, so she didn’t dwell on it.

At that moment, something else occurred to her, and she quickly turned to her brother. “Oh, right! Since my health’s getting better, doesn’t that mean I can be discharged from the hospital?”

“In theory, yes,” Ethan nodded.

Before, she hadn’t recovered enough, so she needed to stay for observation. But now that her condition was stabilizing, she could technically be discharged.

“That’s awesome! So, what are we waiting for?” Blair was instantly excited.

“I said in theory,” Ethan shook his head.

“Huh?” Blair was confused. “If I can leave in theory, why not now?”

Ethan thought for a moment and then asked her, “Did I ever mention that we’ve moved?”

Moved!?

Blair was even more confused and guessed, “Wait, is it because we moved and didn’t set up my room yet?”

“No, your room’s ready,” Ethan denied that idea.

Blair let out a sigh of relief. Of course, there was no way her room wouldn’t be ready.

Then she saw Ethan spread his hands and explain, “It’s just that I’ve already paid for this hospital room by the month. If we leave now, it’d be a waste.”

Of course, that wasn’t the real reason Ethan was leaving her in the hospital. The main issue was that discharging her involved paperwork and a bunch of other things to sort out.

So, Ethan promised to come pick her up over the weekend.

Even though she had to wait a few more days, Blair was over the moon.

…

By the time Ethan left the hospital, it was almost 8 PM.

That’s when he realized he hadn’t had dinner yet.

He wasn’t craving anything in particular, and given the time, he figured he’d just grab a sandwich. They were pretty cheap at this hour.

But as Ethan walked into the supermarket and headed toward the refrigerated section, he suddenly noticed a familiar figure.

The girl not far ahead of him—was that Vanessa?

What was she doing here?

Ethan, puzzled, followed her.

Vanessa’s expression was dark.

The weight of reality had been crushing her for a while now.

Ever since her family fell apart, she’d been carrying a heavy heart. Every day, she forced herself to go to work. Both physically and mentally, she was nearing her breaking point. But even so, she kept pushing forward.

She thought that if she just kept going, eventually, life would get better.

But Vanessa realized she was wrong. Life was a bottomless pit, swallowing the hopes of anyone who dared to dream.

Why did this have to happen to her?

Why did that man have to be her father?

When she got home from work, she found the room she had just cleaned in complete disarray again, reeking of cigarettes and alcohol.

But what crushed her even more was discovering that the small box she kept by her bed—the one where she’d been saving her hard-earned money—had been opened. All that was left was an empty tin.

Vanessa couldn’t believe it.

Her deadbeat father had taken all the money she’d worked so hard to save.

That box had symbolized hope for her. Now, that hope was gone, replaced by the suffocating despair that seemed to crawl out of the box and wrap itself around her.

Why?

Vanessa couldn’t help but ask herself.

Vanessa couldn’t understand it. All she wanted was a simple, ordinary life. Why was even that small wish too much for fate to grant?

After that, she wasn’t even sure how she left the house.

It was like she was a wandering ghost, drifting aimlessly outside.

How great would it be if all of this could just end?

The crushing weight of reality was pushing her thoughts into darker and darker places.

But as she was crossing the street, a sharp voice suddenly rang in her ears, snapping her back to reality.

She looked up and realized the pedestrian light was still red.

Vanessa felt a wave of fear wash over her, but then she realized that the voice she heard wasn’t real. It was the voice of the girl she had just recently become friends with.

That brought a rare warmth to her heart. Even though that girl wasn’t physically with her, she had still managed to help her.

Just like Vanessa had once said, she had never seriously considered ending her life.

Because she had her pride.

To her, no matter how difficult things got, even if her mind was on the verge of breaking, she would quietly lick her wounds and push through with everything she had.

Because she had no one left to rely on.

But just as Vanessa was reaffirming her resolve, her stomach let out a loud growl.

Her spirit might always stand tall, but she had to admit that sometimes life would beat her body into submission.

Like now—she was starving.

And she realized she didn’t have much money on her. She couldn’t even afford a proper dinner.

This made her even more frustrated, and she cursed her deadbeat father in her mind once again.

Life might be bitter, but it had to go on.

That’s why Vanessa had come to the supermarket, hoping to grab a cheap burger or something to get by.

But somehow, she found herself wandering into the refrigerated section.

“Wait, since when was the refrigerated section this big?”

Vanessa stared at the vast, empty space in shock. Why was such a large area just sitting there unused? What were the supermarket managers even thinking with this layout?

But since she was already there, she figured she might as well check if there were any discounted burgers she could afford.

And what she saw next completely stunned her.

“Huh? This burger’s price?”

Vanessa glanced at the price tag on a sandwich and couldn’t believe her eyes. A meal this filling for that price? Were they running a charity?

She was floored, but there was no way she was going to pass up a deal like this.

She reached out for the burger, already regretting not knowing about these cheap meals sooner. If she had, she wouldn’t have bothered cooking at all—burgers every day sounded way better!

But in that instant, something strange happened.

Everything went black.

Before she lost consciousness, Vanessa didn’t even know what had hit her.

She had no idea how much time had passed.

When Vanessa finally opened her eyes again, she found herself lying on a couch in a dimly lit room.

Her heart immediately raced with panic.

Given that she had blacked out so suddenly, a terrifying thought crossed her mind.

Had she been kidnapped?

But she had been in a busy supermarket, right?

Were kidnappers really this brazen nowadays!?

That’s when she noticed a TV in front of her, playing something. It looked like a Korean drama.

On the screen, a middle-aged man in a suit was yelling at a group of people who seemed to be politicians.

“Get the U.S. ambassador to Korea over here, and make him kneel under the Taeguk flag!”

“???”

Vanessa stared at the screen, utterly confused by the dialogue.

Then she heard a soft chuckle.

She turned and realized there was a man sitting on another couch not far from her, laughing at the TV.

Her heart clenched in fear.

Was this the guy who had kidnapped her!?