Chapter 23
Dylan didn’t care about Vicle’s feelings. He continued, “If it weren’t for this repayment agreement, we’d have never crossed paths, and I’d be living my own life.”
Violet glared at him, a bitter taste forming in her throat. She tried to speak, but no words came out. She watched silently as Dylan opened the car door and got out.
Dylan was about to step into the villa when a bright light suddenly flashed in his face. Instinctively, he lifted his arm to block the glare.
Then, he heard tires screeching and Violet’s frantic voice. “Dylan!”
Valerie was behind the wheel; her resentment boiled over, clouding her judgment. Convinced it was all Dylan’s fault, she couldn’t take it anymore. She shook off the bodyguards, slammed the gas pedal, and headed straight for him. But Violet was fast. She pushed Dylan out of the way just in time.
He escaped with only a few scrapes. Yet, Violet paid the price. Valerie’s reckless driving left Violet paralyzed from the waist down. She was stuck in the ICU for over a month.
Before the Carlisle or Farrow families could intervene, Chester had already sent Valerie to jail upon hearing the news. No one knew when she’d be released. While Violet was hospitalized, Dylan visited her. After all, she’d risked her life to save him.
Seeing her lying there, surrounded by tubes, he let out a deep sigh, his heart heavy with mixed feelings. Violet had taken his words in the car to heart. But for Dylan, it was too late to change the past. Violet rescuing him was her way of settling the score. Dylan stayed for a while before leaving.
Because of the accident, he postponed his plans to return to Wales and spent the next few months recovering at the Farrow villa.
One morning, Dylan learned that Violet had woken up. When she learned that Valerie had hit her, paralyzing her legs, she didn’t say a word. Then, one day, while packing, he found a ring tucked away in a drawer.
It was the same ring he’d found years ago after diving into the sea. Later, Violet used that ring to propose to him.
The ring was in rough shape after seven years of neglect. The diamond was gone, and the band was tarnished.
Dylan ran his fingers over it. Maybe the ring itself was the best answer to the question Violet had asked him in the car.
In their five years of marriage, Dylan had done the work while Violet reaped the rewards. Without their working together, the marriage had grown stale long ago, just like the ring.
So, whether there was a wider factor or not, their marriage wouldn't have lasted without Violet's commitment.
Dylan put the ring back in its box and asked Galan to return it to Violet.
As far back as she could remember, she’d even given her only emerald to Archer. When Violet got the ring, she stared at it in surprise. She’d never given Dylan anything as precious.
When Violet’s friend visited the hospital and saw the ring, she gasped, “Isn’t this the one we tossed into the sea during that bet?”
Violet stared at the ring, and the memory of that day flooded back. That day, they had thrown the ring into the sea as part of a bet, saying that whoever’s date could fish it out would win the land in Northana.
Even though it was just a wager, they’d tied the ring to a fishing line before tossing it into the waves. But no one had the courage to dive in except Dylan. He casually asked the person who made the bet if it was for real. Once he got confirmation and the land transfer document with the pressed fingerprints, he dove in without hesitation.
Violet watched the waves engulf his frail figure, her grip on the railing so tight that her knuckles were white.