Chapter 2

Isolde's POV

I don't know how long had passed when a bone-chilling cold woke me from unconsciousness.

I struggled to open my eyes. The heater in the car had stopped working. It was as cold as an icebox, and my breath turned into white mist.

I turned my head to look at the digital clock above the driver's seat: 3:15 AM.

Louis still hadn't come back.

His "I'll be right back" had turned into hours of complete abandonment.

My throat was painfully dry and sore. Every breath felt like swallowing broken glass.

I needed water. If I didn't drink soon, I felt like I would die in this seat.

I bit my lower lip, braced my hands on the table edge, stood up, and slowly moved myself to the sink.

I turned on the tap, and ice-cold water flowed into the cup.

I couldn't wait to lower my head and gulp it down my throat.

I held onto the wall, turned and moved to the storage cabinet under the bed, pulled out a thick blanket, and wrapped myself up tightly.

The blanket still carried a faint scent of cedar—Louis's scent.

A scent I used to love, but now when I smelled it, my stomach felt queasy.

My body temperature kept rising. My forehead was burning hot, but my hands and feet were so cold I could barely feel them. My vision started to blur.

In my mind, I saw Louis in his red jacket, chasing and playing with Lily in the snow.

Since childhood, Louis had always been the center of attention.

He raced cars, played guitar, and seemed to have endless energy.

And me? I was just the person standing in the corner, waiting for him to occasionally look back.

After all these years together, I should have understood long ago.

In his eyes, I was someone who needed careful protection.

But what he wanted was someone who could play wild with him.

Like Lily—healthy, lively, not dragged down by illness.

I curled up in the blanket and closed my eyes. Hot tears slid down, soaking a patch of wool.

Isolde, what are you doing?

Making yourself like this just to test whether he still has you in his heart?

How ridiculous.

Time slowly passed. My consciousness drifted between drowsiness and wakefulness.

Every time I was about to fall asleep, the aching pain drilling out from my bones would wake me up again.

I don't know how much time had passed when the RV door was pulled open from outside, and cold wind rushed in.

"I'm freezing to death!" Louis's voice rang out at the door, bringing with him a heavy smell of alcohol.

As he approached, mixed with the alcohol was a sweet, cloying perfume scent.

It was rosemary—Lily's favorite perfume.

My stomach churned with nausea. I could only bite my lip hard, forcing myself not to throw up.

The lights in the car turned on. The glaring white light made me instinctively close my eyes.

"Isolde? Asleep?" Louis said, walking toward me. "You didn't see how fun it was just now. Those guys lost the game and had to run around in the snow with their bare butts. Lily laughed so hard her stomach hurt..."

Louis was still excitedly sharing what happened outside, completely oblivious to my condition.

When he reached the table, Louis finally stopped and saw me shivering in the corner.

"Hey, why are you sleeping here? You'll catch a cold." There was a hint of blame in his tone as he reached out to pull my blanket.

My feverish red face was exposed.

Louis's movement froze, and his eyes widened: "Isolde?"

He immediately bent down, his ice-cold palm pressing against my forehead.

In just an instant, he jerked back as if electrocuted.

"Damn! Why are you so hot?!" Louis cursed under his breath. "You're sick again! Why didn't you call me?!"

Sick again?

Yeah, I was his burden, only bringing him trouble.

I barely lifted my eyelids and tried to smile, but only wheezing sounds came from my throat.

Seeing my half-dead state, Louis frantically wrapped the blanket around me tighter: "Don't be scared, I'll take you down the mountain right now! We're going to the hospital!"

While shouting, he rushed to the driver's seat and forcefully turned the key.

The car's starter motor made a muffled sound, then went completely silent.

Louis's movement froze. Refusing to believe it, he turned the key again.

The engine had no response.

The mountain temperature was too low. This diesel RV had been parked outside in minus 58 degrees Fahrenheit all night. The fuel line was frozen, and the battery was dead.

It wouldn't start at all.

"Move! Damn it, move!" Louis roared angrily, pounding his fists on the steering wheel.

We were trapped on this snowy mountain.

Louis grabbed his phone and called Lily and other friends. They were either too drunk to function or their RVs couldn't start either.

I leaned against the seat, my breathing getting weaker, my vision starting to scatter.

"Call a car... right, call a car." He opened a ride-hailing app and entered the address of a hospital downtown.

Unfortunately...

The system notification sounded: "Sorry, there are no available vehicles near you. Please try again later."

Louis stared at the screen, his eyes instantly reddening: "No cars... what do I do..."

3:30 AM, thousands of feet up in the deep mountains—how could there possibly be any cars willing to pick up a ride here?

He pressed call again. Same notification.

Louis threw his phone at the dashboard, held his head in his hands, and painfully pulled at his hair.

I watched him lose it through my drowsiness. This was Louis.

He could give you the most passionate romance when things were good, take you to see stars, go to concerts, play the most heartfelt love songs under fireworks filling the sky.

But when things went wrong, he could only panic.

He was spoiled by his parents and his brother Graham Cox. He simply didn't have the ability to solve difficult problems.

My eyelids grew heavier and heavier. I was about to pass out again.

Just then, Louis froze and muttered to himself: "Right, Graham is back home on leave from the military. He'll definitely have a solution!"

Even though it was the middle of the night, the call connected quickly. A familiar deep voice reached my ears.

"Louis, what happened."

Just one sentence, that bone-deep calmness, instantly settled all of Louis's panic.

Graham was the eldest son and heir of the wealthy Cox family, Louis's brother, and also an active duty major in the special forces.

No one knew why he, as the heir to a wealthy family, would suddenly join the military, and the most dangerous special forces at that.

Even though his parents strongly opposed it, they couldn't change his mind.

And he proved himself worthy. In just a few years, he repeatedly distinguished himself and became the youngest major before turning 30.

The Cox Group's daily operations were handled by professional managers he hired. He only returned during leave or emergencies, always calm to the point of seeming heartless.

So it was time for his leave again.

Hearing this voice, Louis quickly answered: "Graham! Help! Please save Isolde!"

There was a one-second pause on the other end, then his voice darkened: "What happened? Where are you?"

"Isolde and I are at North Ridge Campground!" Louis got more agitated as he spoke. "Isolde has a really high fever! The RV is frozen and won't start, and I can't get a car on the app!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

Even through the phone, I could feel an icy coldness spreading from that side.

"Did you leave her alone in the RV and go play by yourself?"

Louis's whole body stiffened. He stammered in defense: "I... I didn't know this would happen. She said she wanted to work on design drawings in the car..."

"Shut up." Graham cut him off mercilessly. "Go feel her carotid artery and tell me if her heart rate is fast. Take her temperature. If you don't have a thermometer, use the inside of your wrist to feel it."

Graham's instructions were clear and precise, immediately giving the panicked Louis direction.

Louis scrambled over to me and pressed his fingers against the side of my neck.

"Her heart rate is very fast... her temperature is extremely hot!" Louis shouted into the phone.

"Wrap her in everything warm you can find in the car. Wet a towel and put it on her forehead to cool her down physically."

Along with Graham's calm voice, clear footsteps and the sound of a door opening came through the phone.

And the rustling of clothes. I guessed he was putting on his coat while heading out.

"I'm coming now. Helicopter flight path approval takes time. I'll drive the mountain road—fastest is forty minutes."

"Louis, listen carefully." Graham paused. "In these forty minutes, no matter what method you use, keep her safe for me. If anything happens to Isolde, you never need to come back to the Cox family again."

The call was cut off. Louis was scared pale by that warning and frantically searched through cabinets for blankets and towels.

I leaned against the seat back and slowly closed my eyes.

Darkness surged in again. Graham's deep, calm eyes appeared in my mind, and suddenly I didn't feel so panicked.

He said forty minutes, so it would definitely be forty minutes.

I'd wait for him.