Chapter 6

The elevator plummeted from the eighth floor to the first, landing with a deafening crash.

Beatrixa and Bailee, trapped inside, hit the floor hard during the sudden descent, both twisting their legs.

Outside, Maverick heard the commotion and learned of the elevator accident, with Bailee and Beatrixa trapped inside.

Usually calm and collected, he lost control, calling emergency services and pleading for help.

Time ticked by agonizingly until rescuers pried open a small gap in the elevator door.

The opening was only wide enough for one person to pass through.

"Officer, save Bailee first-the tall, slender, beautiful girl!" Maverick grabbed a rescuer's arm, his eyes red with desperation.

The rescuer frowned. "Don't you see the heavier girl is hurt worse? If we don't get her out soon, she could die from blood loss! We're saving her first. Let go and stop interfering with our work."

Maverick refused to release his grip, his voice tight. "Please, save Bailee first. She's bleeding a lot. I'm begging you."

He dropped to his knees before them.

Inside the elevator, barely conscious, Beatrixa saw this through the small opening and heard his words.

Despite her worse injuries, Maverick only cared about Bailee.

She closed her eyes, a single tear sliding down her cheek.

The rescuers ignored Maverick, pulling him aside.

Beatrixa was extracted first. Maverick stood nearby but didn't spare her a glance, his eyes fixed anxiously on Bailee, still trapped inside.

When Bailee was finally freed, Maverick rushed to her, clutching her uninjured hand tightly. "Bailee, I won't let anything happen to you. We're going to the hospital now."

An ambulance arrived, and Maverick flagged it down, insisting they take Bailee first.

He climbed in with her, not looking back.

Beatrixa, left behind, felt her eyes sting with tears.

Yet, strangely, Maverick's favoritism didn't hurt as much as before.

Perhaps she had been wounded too many times, leaving her numb and exhausted.

At the hospital, Maverick stayed by Bailee's side, never leaving her room.

Beatrixa's parents rushed to the hospital.

Her mother, seeing Beatrixa frail and bedridden, wept uncontrollably. "Maverick dragged you out, got you into this accident, and doesn't even check on you! That heartless boy!"

She stood, ready to storm to Bailee's room. "I'm going to drag him here to apologize."

Beatrixa stopped her weakly. "Mom, don't. I don't want to see him. I don't like him anymore. We're leaving in five days anyway."

She stayed in the hospital for five days, her injuries half-healed but still too severe to walk.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Maverick stood there, his voice low. "What do you mean, leaving? Where are you going?"

His gaze bore into Beatrixa with intense pressure.

She met his eyes calmly. "Where else? I'm going home after I'm discharged in five days."

For some reason, her words seemed to ease something in him, and he relaxed slightly.

Maverick brought a bag of supplements and apologized to her parents.

They gave him cold looks, and after an awkward rebuff, he left.

Bailee, less injured, was discharged earlier.

Maverick tended to her diligently, even handling her discharge paperwork.

After they left, he messaged Beatrixa. "Bae, you're still recovering, so you don't need to come when I confess to Bailee. Stay in the hospital and focus on healing."

Beatrixa stared at her phone and replied with a simple "Okay."

The day she was discharged was also the day her family would board their flight to leave.

Before leaving, she took the box filled with Maverick's gifts-paper cranes, notes, and trinkets-and returned it to his house.

At the airport, before boarding, Beatrixa blocked and deleted all of Maverick's contact information.

Just before, she saw his social media post. "Confessing to the one I love today. Hope it goes as planned."

The plane ascended slowly, drifting toward the horizon.

Beatrixa sat by the window, gazing at the blue sky, white clouds, and the buildings shrinking below.

Her heart felt lighter.

She told herself, "Maverick, we'll never meet again."