Chapter 3

Emma's pupils constricted as she grabbed the coach's sleeve.

"What do you mean?"

The coach, red-eyed, shook off her hand.

"What do I mean? You know very well! I never thought you could be so heartless. The biggest regret of Alex's life was falling in love with a viper like you!"

He pushed through the crowd, picked up my backpack that had fallen to the ground earlier, and left.

Having known the coach for ten years, he had always treated me like a son. Learning of my death, he must be the most heartbroken person.

Seeing the coach's hunched figure, I felt a pang in my heart.

Emma finally came to her senses. She looked at the flowers and cake in front of her, her expression wavering for a moment.

She lifted her leg to walk towards the medical room, but was stopped by Jake.

"My championship interview isn't over yet. Where are you going?"

Emma pursed her lips: "I'm going to check on Alex. We can do the interview later."

Hearing this, Jake's face turned cold for a moment, then he softened his expression and said in a low voice.

"What could be wrong with Alex? It's just performance-enhancing drugs. These drugs only cause a brief excitement, they don't harm the body much."

He glanced at the media, his voice getting even lower, with a hint of guilt.

"Didn't we try it before? Besides, Alex is in such good shape, he doesn't even catch colds. How could he suddenly need emergency care?"

Emma's expression was conflicted for a while, then slowly calmed down.

"You're right. When I saw him go into emergency care earlier, I thought he was acting. I didn't expect he would even get his coach to play along."

As she spoke, she became more convinced she had discovered the truth, and snorted coldly.

"I almost fell for it! He probably thinks the news about the performance-enhancing drugs is too embarrassing, so he's pretending to be sick to avoid appearing in front of the media, right?"

Jake carefully observed her expression before finally relaxing.

"It's good that you understand. Shall we do the interview now?"

Emma's eyes flickered, scanning the well-prepared proposal scene and the wedding planner, then said coldly.

"Tell Alex to stop playing these silly games!"

"I said I wouldn't break up with him, and I won't go back on my word. If he behaves himself, I might agree to the proposal."

"If he's still pretending to be dead after the interview, then let's just break up completely!"

She didn't hesitate anymore, stepping over the bouquet of flowers on the ground, crushing my heart in the process.

At the interview area, many people were already waiting.

For years, I had always been the champion of climbing competitions, with Jake always waiting on the sidelines.

Now, he had finally stepped on my corpse to claim the championship.

During the interview, someone mentioned me.

"What's your opinion on the news of Alex's death due to performance-enhancing drugs?"

At these words, both Emma and Jake were stunned.

Then, Jake's eyes flashed with wild joy. From now on, the mountain pressing down on him had finally disappeared.

Emma, however, looked like she had lost her soul. She tightly grabbed the reporter's sleeve.

"What did you say? Alex is dead?"

The reporter looked at her curiously.

"Aren't you Alex's girlfriend? Don't you know? He passed away during the award ceremony just now."

"I heard it was a severe allergic reaction to the performance-enhancing drugs. They couldn't save him."

Emma stared at the reporter, her face as white as paper.

"How is that possible? How could he die?"

"You're all lying to me, right? Did Alex put you up to this?"

She suddenly became agitated, startling everyone.

Jake quickly tried to calm her, pulling her into his arms.

"Alex's death was an accident, Emma. Don't get upset."

I saw a flash of panic in Jake's eyes, afraid Emma might say something she shouldn't in her agitation.

The people around also started to comfort her.

"Don't be sad, he's not worth it."

"Yeah, he brought this on himself. You should be glad you're free from him."

I smiled bitterly, watching everyone treat Emma as the victim, freely disparaging me.

In front of the cameras, Jake couldn't say much, but the hand on Emma's shoulder tightened slightly.

"Emma, you've always known how I feel. No matter what, I'll always be by your side."

Meeting his gaze, Emma bit her lip and said softly, her voice trembling.

"Yes, it was all an accident. He made the mistake himself..."

"You're lying!"

A voice suddenly rang out from the crowd, tearing through the turbulent atmosphere.

The coach, clutching my backpack, his eyes bloodshot, stared at Emma.

"I have a recording. Alex's death is directly related to you!"