Love Behind Dangerous Avalanche

Part 3

When Hugo brought me some medicine, he had forgotten some vitamins, so I had to take a taxi to the hospital to retrieve it. I didn’t expect to run into Frederick and Lucia there. Lucia looked at me with an innocent, aggrieved expression.

“Sophie, Frederick told me about your breakup. Please don’t be angry with him—it’s all my fault. I didn’t mean for my asthma attack to cause problems in your relationship. If it weren’t for the avalanche, I wouldn’t have gotten sick. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Before I could respond, Frederick quickly jumped in to comfort her. “It’s not your fault. No one can control when they get sick.”

I couldn’t help but scoff. “Not on purpose, huh?”

Frederick turned on me. “Sophie, what are you implying? You think Lucia faked her illness? You saw how serious it was—she was barely breathing! How could that be fake?”

Lucia began to cry as if Frederick’s defense had given her strength. Watching them together took me back to the day we climbed the snowy mountain.

It was supposed to be a special day—our eighth anniversary. Frederick promised it would be just the two of us, that we’d finally go to the snowy mountains I had always dreamed of. I was so excited I couldn’t sleep. But when he arrived to pick me up, I saw Lucia sitting in the car. Frederick gave me an apologetic look.

“Lucia’s mom asked me to bring her along. She hasn’t traveled far because of her health, so...”

I stared at him, my face darkening. “Did you forget our agreement?”

He fumbled for words. “I know this was wrong, but if you don’t like it, I’ll send Lucia back right now. After I apologize to her mom, it’ll be just the two of us.”

He knew how much I’d been looking forward to a trip for just the two of us. And he knew that if I insisted, he would have to apologize to Lucia’s family, something I didn’t want him to go through. So, I grudgingly agreed to let her come along.

Back then, everything was according to Lucia’s whim. She sat in the front seat, ate the snacks and picked the hotel restaurant—her favorites, of course. To an outsider, it would have looked like I was the one tagging along.

The night before the avalanche, I mentioned that the weather didn’t look great and we might not be able to climb the next day. Frederick snapped, accusing me of targeting Lucia, knowing how much she wanted to see the sunrise over mountain.

Then the avalanche hit.

Now, at this moment, I couldn’t stand watching them any longer. I turned to them, my patience gone.

“You two should just get together already and stop dragging others into your mess.”

I looked straight at Lucia. “I told Frederick that you couldn’t handle climbing the snowy mountains that day, but he insisted on taking you. So, if you’re looking for someone to blame, start there. And aren’t you happy now that we’ve broken up? He’s all yours.”

I then faced Frederick. “And you, Frederick, you’ve been terrible. Our trips never went as planned. The ‘two-person’ trip always became a three-person trip. Beside the trip, you were never on time to pick me up, and every time Lucia called, you’d run off and leave me alone. On top of that, you catered to her every whim—she chose the front seat, the snacks, the hotel. You even cooked for her while your own girlfriend went hungry. Don’t you understand boundaries?”

Lucia’s face turned pale and Frederick froze, speechless. I wasn’t done.

“Have you seen the posts she’s made on Instagram? I can’t believe you still don’t know how she feels about you. Are you pretending not to see it or are you really that clueless?”

I pulled out my phone and sent him screenshots of Lucia’s posts. Then, without another word, I turned and walked away. Frederick didn’t even try to follow.

As I reached the nurse’s station to collect the medicine, a nurse noticed me.

“Ms. Sophie, how’s your leg? It was in such bad shape. Is that your boyfriend back there?”

I smiled faintly. “No, just a friend.”

The nurse nodded knowingly. “I thought so. If he was your boyfriend, you should’ve broken up long ago. You were in the ER for several days and no one visit or looked after you.”

After the nurse left, Frederick approached me, his voice quiet. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were really hospitalized.”

“I told you, but you didn’t believe me. Do I need to remind you of everything? You were too busy defending your “beloved” Childhood friend.”

He reached out to me. “I swear, I won’t see Lucia anymore. Can you forgive me this time?”

I looked at him seriously. “Frederick, I’ve given you too many chances. You didn’t take any of them.”

“There won’t be a next time. This time, we’re really over.”