Chloe Reed had insomnia. She didn’t sleep a wink all night, and the next morning, her throat was sore and her head felt foggy.

She heard her phone ringing but had no energy to answer. She’d only been awake for a moment before she drifted off again.

Later, a sudden, sharp pain on the back of her hand startled her awake.

Chloe Reed opened her eyes to see someone in a white coat examining the fluid in an IV bag.

"Miss Reed, you’re finally awake! You scared me to death. You didn’t come out all morning, so I thought you were just sleeping in and didn’t want to disturb you. But when it got to be evening and you still hadn’t emerged, I came in to check, only to find you’d passed out from a fever!"

The housekeeper, standing by her side, spoke hurriedly the moment she saw her wake up.

Chloe Reed’s head was still foggy, and her throat was painfully dry. Swallowing felt like she was gulping down razor blades. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Thank you,"

she said, her voice extremely hoarse.

The housekeeper sighed. "It’s good that you’re awake. We’ll start with this medicine to bring the fever down. If it doesn’t work, we’ll have to go to the hospital."

Since it hurt her throat to speak, Chloe decided to stay quiet.

The housekeeper hurried off to tell the old lady.

Her grandmother was wheeled in, her brow furrowed as she looked at Chloe. "You silly girl, how could you just keep sleeping when you weren’t feeling well? Are you trying to scare me to death?"

Chloe Reed said apologetically, "Grandma, I’m sorry for making you worry."

Her voice was so hoarse it was painful to hear.

"Don’t talk anymore. Just get some rest," her grandmother said, patting her leg to quiet her.

The doctor left a few boxes of medicine before turning to leave.

The housekeeper brought her some water. Chloe took a few sips, the liquid soothing her throat. She felt a little better.

The housekeeper said, "I made some chicken congee. You need to eat something, or your stomach will start to hurt."

"Okay."

Chloe nodded.

Her head was spinning, her body felt heavy, and she was fighting to keep her eyes open. She had no appetite whatsoever.

She only managed half a bowl of congee before saying, "Please take it away for now."

The housekeeper was still concerned. "Miss Reed, please try to eat the rest. You’ve had so little."

Chloe said, "I really can’t eat another bite."

Her grandmother said, "Then just eat again later if you get hungry. For now, rest."

Chloe lay back down and said, "Grandma, it’s just a cold and a fever. I’ll be fine."

But her grandmother was clearly worried. "Chloe, tell me, what’s really been going on? Li told me you didn’t look well when you came home yesterday."

Li was the housekeeper who took care of them.

Chloe forced a smile. "It’s really nothing. I was just exhausted last night and got home late. I probably caught a chill, that’s all. It’s nothing serious."

Her grandmother’s expression was complicated, but it was clear Chloe wasn’t going to tell her the truth, so she decided not to press the matter.

After eating, Chloe felt a bit of her strength return. She picked up her phone to check her messages.

She saw that Walker Grant had called her three times.

She suddenly remembered he had said they were going to get a divorce today.

She closed her eyes and let out a long, weary breath.

’This is...’

’...so ridiculous.’

’Why does something always have to come up?’

She raised her hand to slap her forehead in frustration, but her finger accidentally brushed against his name on the screen. The phone then slipped from her grasp, and just like that, the call connected.

She scrambled to grab the phone and hang up, but in the next second, Walker Grant’s smooth, magnetic voice came through the line.

"Chloe Reed, are you having second thoughts about the divorce?"