Chapter 3

Naomi and Zoey were stunned to hear my demands. I didn't ask for money. I just wanted them to hold a press conference.

"I want you to admit to all the reporters in this city that you're an ungrateful and despicable coward. I want you to bow in apology to me in front of the press."

Naomi's expression hardened at once. "Don't you dare push it, Caleb! I already apologized to you just now, didn't I? I'm just trying to live! How can you rob me of my dignity like that?"

She was a well-known young entrepreneur in the city. What she valued most was the fabricated public image she'd crafted for herself. Forcing her to publicly admit her own depravity would be worse than killing her.

This was only the first step in my revenge plan. She needed to experience the humiliation I'd endured throughout these years.

Meanwhile, Naomi slammed her hand on the table, shooting up from the chair. She'd dropped her pitiful act.

"I didn't know you were aware of the concept of dignity," I said while calmly looking at her. "What happened to the nonchalance you displayed when you abandoned me at the hospital without the slightest hesitation?

"Did it ever occur to you what my life would be like after ending up in this state because of you?"

I turned to Zoey. "Didn't you tell her what life had been like for me for the past few years?"

Zoey hadn't expected me to turn the blade on her so suddenly. She opened her mouth but couldn't find the words.

Scoffing, I looked back at Naomi again.

"While I was scorned and looked down on by the rest of society for being a cripple, you were having a blast living your comfortable, glorious life, weren't you, Ms. Sutton?"

"I…" The words seemed to be stuck in Naomi's throat, and her face turned purple.

Zoey finally overcame the shock and immediately stepped in to mediate. She grabbed Naomi, who was trembling with anger, by the shoulder and eased her back onto her chair while soothing her in a gentle voice.

"Calm down, Naomi. The doctor said you mustn't get too agitated."

Then she turned to me with mixed emotions in her expression, her brows tightly furrowed.

"As you can see, Caleb, Naomi isn't doing too well right now. If she's emotionally distressed, her condition will worsen. Do you think… you can switch the condition to something else?

"How about some money or a house? Name your price. We'll give you as much as you want."

I snorted. "Zoey, after knowing me for three years, do you think it's money that I want?"

Zoey stiffened.

I slowly stood and looked down at Naomi, who was still burning with rage.

"It seems to me that you still don't understand the situation, Naomi. You're the one begging me to save your life, not the other way around."

I turned to leave.

"Caleb!" Zoey panicked and rushed over to grab my arm. "Don't be like this. Let's just talk things through."

I shook her off and eyed her icily. "Did I not make myself clear enough?"

The sharp look in my eyes made her avert her gaze, too scared to hold mine.

The tension grew in the silence. I knew Naomi was at war with herself. She was weighing the value of her life against that absurd pride she'd built by trampling on my dignity.

In the end, her desperation to live won.

"Fine…" Naomi feebly squeezed out the word through clenched jaws. "I'll do it."