Chapter 506 - Six Days Later

"You said you will protect me this time… but why do I feel you're going farther and farther away from me?" Bitterness flashed across her eyes as she ground her teeth. Her hand clenched on the sheet as her mind was in haywire.

Zoey couldn't understand what happened to him. What was the reason he didn't want to wake up? Why were his last remarks from two days ago were about something she didn't want to hear from him? Above all questions, Zoey hated the feeling that she was slowly losing him once again. 

It hurt. It was painful. 

"Say… do you really love me…? From then and now… was everything real?" Zoey bit her lower lip, trembling as she swallowed a mouthful of saliva while restraining the liquid tempting to fall from the corner of her eyes. 

"If you do, wake up now. If you really feel sorry for leaving saying nothing, then wake up and don't make me experience the same hell." Through her gritted teeth, Zoey stared at his figure.

Aside from his chest that was moving up and down, Matthew wasn't moving. He was just sleeping, like a prince who was in a deep slumber. Yet, although he appeared very much alive, her heart clenched tighter with every passing second.

"Darling…" Under her breath, she whispered, wiping the tears by her arm. "Can you please wake up?" She pleased in a low tone, her hand carefully slid towards his warm hands. "The doctor said there's nothing wrong… why do you want to sleep?" Her grip tightened as she felt like choking.

"Are you that tired to sleep for a long time? Wake up, my love. I'm here, see?" Still, Zoey forced herself to talk as the doctor said talking to him might help. Deep down, she hoped that she could reach him to wherever he was trapped in.

"Baby, I am here…" Every passing second that he wasn't responding, Zoey found it harder to talk. Even though she knew he was just sleeping, she felt like he would soon leave her if he didn't wake up. 

Just the thought of it terrified her to the core. "...alone." At this point, Zoey felt like breaking. She couldn't speak anymore as a stream of tears fell from her eyes. Her hand that was holding his, trembled uncontrollably as if she was holding onto her life line.

Although initially, Zoey prepared herself to be out of his life if that meant he would be out of danger. However, even if she put her mind into that mentality again, Zoey realized how naive she was ever since she came back to this lifetime.

She couldn't live without him. She couldn't live as someone who would only love him from a distance. She wanted his love as well. Zoey had experienced being loved by him and she couldn't go back to the time when she didn't know about him.

Even if her body returned to the younger version of her, her heart and mind didn't. The beautiful memories she shared with him… even if the world reset, she would never forget them. Indeed, no one could understand why she loved him so dearly because the people who were asking her hadn't experienced being loved by him.

They would never understand because they weren't in the same shoes as her. They were never in her shoes and they would never be.

****

Six days had passed and Matthew hadn't woken up yet. 

"How's Miss Z?" Outside the master's bedroom, Ryan inquired. 

Owen shook his head, holding the untouched tray of food that was Zoey's lunch. "Still the same." He answered, sighing heavily as he glanced at the food that had gone cold.

During these previous days, Zoey had worked relentlessly on Matthew's side. She would barely eat and even if someone came to talk to her, only Angelo was the one successful to exchange words with her.

However, their talk was mostly about business as what Angelo said. Thus, everyone was worried about her well-being because not only was she not eating, she had drowned herself into work. It was only a matter of time that her body would give in and collapse.

"Can I get in?" Just then, they heard Ivan's voice, which made the two turn their heads towards the stairs.

There, Ivan was approaching them. His hands shoved inside his pockets as his expression was blank. "Unfortunately, you can't." Owen shook his head sideways, letting out another heavy sigh. "Master is inside. You can't go in." He reasoned in the simplest words possible.

"But my sister is inside. She's been locking herself inside — that's her food, right? She barely ate these past few days." Unmoved, Ivan stopped in his tracks as he stared at Owen blankly. 

The two of them stared at each other, the air suddenly grew thicker. Sensing this, Ryan cleared his throat loudly to break the building tension between the two. "Uhm… it's Miss Z's orders; do not let anyone disturb her." Ryan said, looking up at Ivan, who was still staring at Owen.

"If she doesn't want anyone disturbing her, she shouldn't worry people." In a matter-of-fact tone, Ivan scoffed before diverting his gaze towards the door. Without further ado, Ivan strode towards the door. "If you want to stop me, try." 

Before Ivan could reach his hand towards the door's handle, he warned the two who were standing by the side.

Upon dropping his words, Ivan's hand then slowly reached for the door handle. However, before he could do so, the door slowly creaked open. "Sis!" As soon as he saw Zoey standing behind the door, Ivan called out in surprise.

"Great timing." When the door opened, Zoey stepped outside and closed it behind her. "Follow me." Without further ado, Zoey commanded, and without further ado, she strode away from them.

Ivan knitted his brows as he instinctively glanced at the two. Ryan shrugged his shoulders while Owen tilted his head to the side while watching Zoey walk away. 

"What's this?… I thought she was starving herself, but she looks fine." Before Ivan could follow suit, he mumbled and then left the two.

*****

Minutes before Zoey went out of the room, she held his hand. "Darling, it seems like Ivan will cause a ruckus. I'll talk to him and then come back. I might bring him to Professor Meng's party tomorrow." The side of her lips stretched into a subtle smile, staring at his peaceful side profile.

Zoey squeezed his hand lightly before guiding it under the sheet. "I'll be back." She whispered, leaving a soft peck on his forehead and then headed towards the door.

When the door opened and shut closed again, Matthew's eyes slowly opened.