Chapter 3

When Ezra met Gianna's hollow gaze, his own eyes flickered with unease. But the thought of Maya lying in a hospital bed as well made him grit his teeth. He simply turned and left. Adam stood there, stunned. He had admired Gianna for a long time, harboring quiet feelings for her. But he had always heard that she had a childhood sweetheart, a boyfriend she was deeply in love with. So, he buried his emotions, keeping them to himself. There had been a time when he envied that man, even though they had never met. Yet, never in his wildest imagination did he think that, in Gianna's most vulnerable moment, this man would abandon her to be with someone else. Her wound was still bleeding. But she sat there as if she couldn't feel any pain, and her eyes were void of light. Adam's lips trembled with sorrow. He couldn't fathom just how deeply Ezra had hurt her to turn someone who was once so bright and cheerful into this hollow shell. "Gianna, I'll go get some gauze to treat your wound." After he finished bandaging her arm, Gianna asked him to help her with the discharge paperwork. Before she left, Adam gently reached out and stopped her. He knew the Ramsey household was no longer a place for her. If she didn't mind, she could stay here for a few more days as he was willing to take care of her. But Gianna only smiled and shook her head. She didn't want to drag Adam into this. It was enough for her to be the only one hurt. … Gianna returned to the Ramsey residence. Just then, a string of messages from Christopher popped up on her phone. "Maya just got her stomach pumped. She needs someone to take care of her, so we won't be coming home tonight. "I left some food for you in the kitchen. Eat when you get home." She walked into the dining room and saw a few scattered vegetable scraps, chunks of fatty meat, and a bowl of cold soup sitting on the dining table. It wasn't food left specifically for her. It was Maya's leftovers. Gianna's face remained expressionless. She was long used to this. The moment Maya moved into the Ramsey residence, Christopher had doted on the scholarship student. He said Maya had grown up in the mountains with poor nutrition, so whenever there was good food, it should go to her first. Gianna, being older, was expected to be understanding. She was supposed to willingly give up everything. She never liked to fight over things, so she could only watch as Maya took everything from her. That included her old bedroom, which Maya now occupied while she was forced to sleep in a drafty attic on a hard wooden bed. Perhaps, in Christopher's eyes, a sweet-talking, people-pleasing girl like Maya was what an ideal daughter should be. Just then, the door swung open. Gabriel walked in, carrying a bag. Seeing Gianna, he paused for a moment before his expression twisted into a frown. He acted as if he had spotted something filthy and unlucky. "I came back to grab some toiletries for Maya. "Oh, and Ezra told me to pass on a message that things are over between you two. There are no hard feelings, so just move on. Maya's depression has relapsed, and he can't leave her side right now. "This was something you gave him. He asked me to return it." Gabriel pulled out a tape recorder and handed it to Gianna. It was the first gift she had ever given Ezra. She couldn't afford anything expensive when she was younger. She had saved up her breakfast money for six months just to buy this tape recorder, filling it with all of Ezra's favorite songs. She still remembered how he had hugged her with tears streaming down his face, promising he would cherish it for a lifetime. Yet now, not only had he broken that promise, but he wouldn't even go out of his way to return the gift to her himself.