"Max, I've taken care of you for two years. Now that you're finally awake, will you marry me?" He took the flowers calmly. Standing in the corner, I stiffened, lamenting that my two years of devotion were all for someone else's benefit. But then, Max kicked her away. "No! Get out! I was in a coma, not dead." "You want me to marry you? Keep dreaming. No, wait! Don't even dream about it!" 1 I took care of Max Sterling for two years after the car accident that left him in a coma. Today, he finally woke up. At the entrance of the Sterling Estate, I was blocked. Serena Cross looked down her nose at me and sneered: "Nora, you can't compete with me!" "So what if you took care of Max for two years? Do you believe me? If I go propose to him right now, he'll say yes without hesitation. Don't forget, I'm the one he loves." I believed her. Max and Serena were childhood sweethearts. They grew up together, the golden couple of the city's elite. Before the accident, Max gave Serena whatever she wanted. It wouldn't be strange for him to accept her proposal now. But I had cared for him for two years. I wanted to see him awake with my own eyes. While the family doctor examined Max, I stood quietly in the corner, watching. As the exam finished, the double doors opened. Sunlight flooded in, and Serena, dressed in a white gown and holding a bouquet, walked toward Max bathed in light. "Max, I've taken care of you for two years. Now that you're finally awake, will you marry me? Let's be together forever." Max rubbed his eyes and didn't speak. Serena continued her heartfelt confession: "Max, I love you so much. You slept for two years, and I cared for you for two years. I did everything personally, never leaving your side. I finally waited for you to wake up. We should have been married two years ago. It's not too late now. My suffering has finally turned to joy. It's wonderful!" Max stopped rubbing his eyes and reached out to take the flowers from Serena. Sure enough, Max agreed. Just as I was thinking my efforts were wasted on someone else... Max suddenly sat up and kicked Serena in the chest. "Joy my ass! Serena, I was in a coma, not dead! How do you have the nerve to say you suffered?" "You took care of me for two years? You're a damn liar. You come here proposing while pregnant with someone else's kid... do I look like a fool to you?" "Get the hell away from me!" Me: ...Wow. 2 Serena was stunned. She probably didn't expect Max to be so fierce. "Max, what... what are you saying?" "Can't you understand English? Do I need to repeat what you said while moaning with your boyfriend in my hospital room?" "Max, I didn't! Let me explain!" "Didn't?" Max's face flushed red with anger. He was probably dizzy from sitting up too fast and lay back down. "Wasn't it you who brought guys to hook up in my room? Wasn't it you who said it was more exciting doing it next to me? Wasn't it you who got pregnant? Wasn't it you who called me blind and stupid behind my back? And now you propose to me? Do you have no shame? Isn't this embarrassing?" Although Serena was Max's childhood sweetheart, she never visited him after the accident. I thought she just wanted to steal credit for my work, but I didn't know she had done that. The amount of information was overwhelming. I was dumbfounded. Serena's face turned green, then white. Even now, she refused to give up and tried to pin it on me: "Max. It wasn't me! Nora did those things! I love you so much, how could I do that? I'm Serena! The Serena you loved!" "I know you're Serena. If I didn't know you well enough, I wouldn't be sure it was you. Besides, liking you before was my karma catching up to me." "Max..." Serena wanted to say more, but Max cut her off. "If you don't leave, I'm releasing the hounds." 3 I realized Max truly loathed Serena now. Serena was terrified of dogs. Max used to keep his favorite Doberman in the basement just to accommodate her. He would only let the dog out after she left. Later, Max's dog had puppies. Serena came over when Max wasn't home, saw the puppies, and had them thrown out. They froze to death. Max was furious, but even then, he never threatened to set dogs on her. Now, he wasn't holding back. "I'm serious!" "Waking up to see Serena... my eyes hurt." "No, go buy ten vicious dogs right now! If I see this woman again, sick them on her!" "And throw out all the sofas, cabinets, curtains, and furniture nearby. Disinfect the room ten times. Who knows if she has a disease?" Serena looked unwell but only dared to whisper a complaint. "Max, we've known each other since we were kids. There's no need to humiliate me like this!" "Of course there is! This is humiliation?" Max scoffed. "Did I hook up with someone in front of you? Who's humiliating whom?" "I..." Max ignored her and shouted to the butler standing by. "Alfred! Go get Buster! Let him loose!" Alfred, who had watched Max grow up, immediately went for the dog. Terrified, Serena gathered her skirt and ran, shooting a glare at me before she left. She was probably going back to the Cross family to tattle, claiming I poisoned Max against her. I didn't stop her. The show was over. It was time for me to leave. I tried to slip away from the corner unnoticed, but Max caught me. "Nora?" I froze. He called my name. I was nervous. In the fourteen years I lived with the Cross family, I was completely ignored. Max only ever had eyes for Serena. I only dared to like him from the shadows. I thought he might say he didn't know me, or ask if I was Serena's sister. But he fidgeted as he walked toward me, complaining: "Nora, my head hurts. Why didn't you come hug me? Do you not like me anymore?" He made a pitiful face. "And Nora, why didn't you kick that gold digger out? I slept for two years, and the first thing I see is her. I almost fainted again. Do you know how much I wanted to see you? But you tried to run away. Do you only like me when I'm lying still?" "If you really prefer that, I can go back into a coma. But can you say yes to my proposal first?" Me: "..." Did Max sleep himself into a love-struck fool? He stopped in front of me, leaning against the wall for support. "Nora, I love you. I want to marry you!" Me: "?" I couldn't understand why Max was proposing to me. He just rejected Serena, and we barely interacted before his accident. He seemed to sense my confusion and started explaining. "Nora, I know you took care of me for two years. I know you like me. I remember you crying in my ear when Alfred wasn't around. You wiped my hands with warm towels, put lotion on me, and washed my face." "When I was conscious but couldn't wake up, I decided right then. If I ever woke up, I would be with you, spoil you, and marry you." "Now I'm awake. My legs are a bit weak, but give me some time. Once I recover, let's get married immediately, okay? Then we can cuddle. Hehe." He looked a bit ridiculous leaning against the wall, body trembling. I reached out to steady him. He leaned his weight on me, beaming with joy. "I knew Nora cared about me. Here, take these flowers. Serena is awful, but she has good taste in flowers. They look good on you." Me: ... I suspected Max had been body-swapped. The old Max was calm and cool. He would never talk like this. "Nora, why aren't you talking? Will you marry me?" I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. Max frowned and lifted my chin. "Nora, what's wrong with your voice?" I remained silent. 4 Max dragged me to the hospital for a checkup. The doctor's diagnosis was the same as before. Vocal cord damage from the car accident two years ago. Loss of voice due to lack of timely treatment. Hearing this, Max's eyes turned red. "Nora, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. If not for me, this wouldn't have happened. I should be the one suffering!" Seeing him so distraught in his wheelchair, I thought back to the accident. Max truly loved Serena then. She had returned from a dance competition abroad, and Max drove to pick her up. My father, Richard, ordered me to tag along to carry Serena's luggage. That day, a storm hit. On the highway, a truck with failed brakes flew straight at us. Before I blacked out, I thought I was dead. But I woke up. Investigators said Max's reflexes saved me. If he hadn't swerved at the last second, I would have died. Instead, only my vocal cords were damaged—something treatable if caught early. But Max fell into a coma. My mute state wasn't his fault. He saved me. I took his hand and typed on my phone screen: It's not your business. It's not your fault. I only lost my voice because I wasn't treated in time. He was still sad, but his focus shifted quickly. "If it was treatable, why didn't the Cross family treat you? You're both daughters. Serena gets a seven-million-dollar piano, but they wouldn't fix your voice?" The Cross family wasn't short on money, and Serena and I were indeed sisters. But I was the invisible one. To comfort Serena, who was sad about Max's accident, they completely ignored me. Perhaps they didn't even know I couldn't speak. Max didn't know my thoughts, but he held my hand, angry yet determined. "Nora, I will fix your voice. Every bit of suffering the Cross family caused you, I will make them pay back!" I was about to tell Max about my history with the Cross family when Richard called.
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