Chapter 2370
“Balfour, are you hanging in there? Does it hurt a lot?”
Victoria had silently made up her mind that once they were both safely out of this mess, she was going to stick with the boy who had protected her, no matter what it took.
“Cough, cough-“Balfour spat a mouthful of blood and collapsed face down on the ground, motionless.
It felt like every muscle refused to obey him, and there was this dull ache in his chest probably a couple of broken ribs.
“How are you feeling? Can you get up, or do you need my help?”
Balfour seemed even weaker than she did. Victoria knew it was up to her to take charge.
With a pale, pained smile, Balfour said, “Your wrists are bound just like mine. What can you possibly do to help? Let’s just… let me rest a bit.”
Even though he didn’t say it, Victoria could see he was fading fast. His skin was turning ghostly white, and his lips had lost all their color. The guy who hit him had been ruthlessly thorough.
“I told you, we should’ve just waited for our families to come save us, but no, you wanted to make a run for it. Look where that got us. Maybe if we’d stayed put, that guy wouldn’t have flown off the handle like he did.”
Victoria was a mix of heartache and regret.
She knew Balfour had his pride; he hated feeling threatened. If it hadn’t been for h might have had a chance to fight back. But now, with her there, it was like he was an extra weight.
“Just wait,” Balfour said weakly before closing his eyes.
His breathing was heavy and ragged, and each breath sounded like a thunderclap to
Victoria’s anxious ears.
“Balfour? Balfour!” she’d call out from time to time, terrified that if he fell asleep there, he might never wake up again.
Things got a little hazy after that. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in a hospital bed with Victoria lying beside him. How they got rescued was a blur.
Balfour got up and went over to Victoria’s bedside. Her breathing was frail, as if she could slip away from the world at any moment.
And there it was the whole ordeal flashing back as he saw Mara collapsed on the ground. Mara and Victoria were sisters, practically twins in appearance.
08.08
Balfour crouched down, numb and unsure where to begin in lifting Mara up.
Ivy couldn’t believe the toll the scene was taking on Balfour. Leaning on her crutches, she wasn’t in the best shape to bend down herself.
“She just… fell,” Ivy said, her voice betraying her unease. The truth was, she had no idea why Mara, who had been standing behind her just fine, suddenly went down like a tree felled.
She had barely touched Mara, exerting no real force.
But what Ivy hadn’t expected was the icy glare Balfour shot her way, as if she had committed an unforgivable sin.
Instinctively stepping back, Ivy even avoided his gaze. She couldn’t bear the accusation in his eyes.
“Mara went to the restroom with you, and you have no idea why she went down so hard? Unless someone pushed her, how could she possibly fall like that?”
Ivy’s frown deepened as she fought back tears and a sense of injustice that welled up inside her.
