What Separates Me and You
Chapter 92

Chapter 92 The Outside World

Lewis remained silent.

The argument exhausted Sierra, but because her drink had been spiked, she couldn't help wriggling around and moaning.

Any man would have given in to their sexual urges upon seeing her in that state. However, Lewis didn't waver, his expression still stoic as he drove to the hospital. Once there, he opened the door and carried Sierra out.

"I'm unhappy too..." She wrapped her arms around his neck, deliberately brushing her lips against his while snuggling closer to his chest. "Don't you love me-no, it doesn't matter; I don't need you to take responsibility for me. All I want is you. I don't want anything else, just you."

Lewis frowned, abruptly turned to put her into his car, then took off his necktie to bind her wrists.

Sierra was stunned momentarily, not realizing Lewis had picked her up again and brought her into the hospital. When she finally snapped to reality, she kicked her legs around but to no avail. Left without a choice, she lowered her head to bite Lewis' arm hard.

Lewis' face grew stormy as he held back his rage, snarling, "Sierra, I'll dump you on the ground here and now if you keep up with this tantrum."

Blinking, Sierra fell into another daze. Although she didn't let go of him, her jaw had loosened significantly.

The next day, Josephine awoke, her dull eyes greeting the white ceiling. It took her some time to clear up her brain fog, which still heavily impeded her consciousness. She couldn't differentiate between dream and reality. Eventually, what happened the day before seeped into her mind, causing her to tense up.

"Mrs. Alvarez, you're awake!" the doctor exclaimed with relief, causing Josephine to look toward him. He whipped out a thermometer, handing it to her. "Let's take your temperature and see if your fever has gone."

Josephine glanced at the thermometer, trying to reach out and grab it, but she didn't have the strength at all.

The doctor hesitated briefly before holding the thermometer in front of her mouth, saying, " Here. You can do it orally. However, know that oral testing won't yield accurate results."

He extended the thermometer toward Josephine's mouth.

Josephine willed herself to bite down on it lightly. She watched as the doctor turned to do

other things, a gleam of disappointment flashing in her eyes as she mused, "Who am I

kidding? There's no way I could've ended my life successfully. I guess fate wants me to endure this world's endless torture."

Her head felt heavy, so she shut her eyes and gave up on thinking about things.

Minutes later, the doctor returned to take the thermometer from her lips. After examining it, he sighed, shook the thermometer, then set it down. "Wonderful. The fever has subsided, so you won't require any medication. But I'll need to keep you for subsequent examination, just to be on the safe side."

He then sat beside her, hesitantly asking, "Mrs. Alvarez, I'm not sure if it's okay for me to ask, but-have you had a miscarriage before?"

Josephine froze, her eyes darting toward the doctor at once.

"N-Not that I'm prejudiced against it," the doctor quickly explained. The situation made it challenging for him to conclude her health, so he had to check everything. "I merely asked to know your general health. After all, your body's weak now and requires proper care for recovery. Otherwise, you may experience more problems in the future."

Josephine remained silent while her eyes swept from the doctor's head to his toes. He seemed young, at around 27 years old. The doctor had plenty of hair on his head, wore glasses with black rims, and carried himself submissively. Something about him gave the impression that he was gullible. Following those observations, Josephine reached out from her blanket and gestured, "Do you understand sign language?"

The doctor stiffened for what felt like forever before he muttered, "I...don't understand, Mrs. Alvarez."

Josephine retracted her hands, no longer signing anything.

That left the doctor scratching his head. Even so, he didn't seem shocked or bothered, which only made Josephine uncomfortable.

"Oh, by the way, your phone kept ringing. It seems like someone's been texting you. Why don't you take a look?" The doctor handed Josephine's phone to her.

Upon accepting it, Josephine scrolled through the message notifications, unsurprised that they were all from Avery. The latter had asked how much longer before Josephine would arrive at Hampden, where she was, why she wasn't replying, and whether she had gotten into trouble. Josephine soon got to the bottom of the notifications list. By then, she pursed her lips and typed up a reply, "Sorry, Avery. I'm home and am not going to Hampden anymore."

Avery was resting in the staff room when she saw the text. At once, rage erupted in her chest as she replied, "What do you mean?"

It was evident the former was pissed off. Thus, Josephine shut her eyes and took a break before responding, "I realized I couldn't bring myself to leave him. Sorry, Avery. Please take care of yourself out there. If we ever get the chance to meet again, I promise to make it up to you in person."

After sending that text, her hands slumped, and tears blurred her vision. At first, Josephine wanted to leave Elysium and see the world with Avery. She figured that wandering homelessly to tour the world was better than devoting her life to Lewis. It had been twenty years; her entire youth had been occupied with Lewis' presence. Anything and everything she experienced involved him. One could sum up Josephine's identity as Lewis' wife, the mute of the Alvarez family, and a pitiful orphan. Not once did anyone see her as herself, independent from Lewis. The city of Elysium had become a cage for her, locking her by Lewis side and preventing her from ever going elsewhere. It had always been that way, so much so that she didn't dare leave. She couldn't allow herself to run away with Avery and potentially cause the latter to get caught too.

Josephine felt this was for the best. Avery could travel far away alone and see the outside world on Josephine's behalf.

On the flip side, Avery stared at the message for a long time, unsure how to respond. It felt like ages had passed before she finally mustered the strength to type, "Whatever. I don't blame you. It's your choice, so I'll honor it. Promise me to take care during this treacherous path you've chosen to take. You'll need to face things alone from now on."

Once she sent that text, she frustratingly tossed her phone away. After all, her plans to travel meant she would only return to Elysium several years later. Still, she worried that many things would change in her years of absence.

A sharp sensation broke out in Josephine's nose as she gazed at her phone, unable to hold back the tears. She wasn't sure if she had saved Avery or if Lewis had set this whole thing up and forced Avery away from her. Josephine suspected the latter was true since Lewis had

coincidentally shown up three days after Avery left her.

Nonetheless, Josephine shrugged those thoughts away, not wanting to worry about it anymore. "There's no escaping Lewis. No matter how hard I try, I'll never win at his twisted games. I can't even beat Seth." The doctor couldn't help sighing as he watched the former from aside. Still, he tried to comfort her, "Please stop crying, Mrs. Alvarez. Being sad all the time is bad for your health. You should cheer up and recover faster instead of letting your health dwindle."

Josephine turned to face the doctor. A tear streamed down her face and landed on her pillow just then.

Upon seeing that, the doctor's chest constricted at once. He couldn't understand how a human could end up in this state. Unable to hide his concern, he urged, "You might not live long if you keep that up..."

That was when Lewis entered the room.