Chapter 18 In just three years , she seemed to have been stripped of her flesh and bones . Lying on the seat , she felt weightless . Her hair was shaken by the bumps of the mountain road and covered her face . Her sharp chin and delicate features were beautiful . But this beauty was tinged with a look of suffering . Unconsciously , Mason had been staring for too long , a fact even the driver noticed . Upon learning about Harper's high fever , Ava rushed to the hospital and cried by her bedside for a long time before leaving . With tearful eyes , she expressed her gratitude , " Mason , thank you for your trouble . " " It's no trouble , " Mason replied earnestly , " Ava , I wanted to tell you last time that Noah will never marry Harper . He was the one who orchestrated . this , and it almost ended in disaster . " " I never expected him to be so despicable . " Ava blamed herself more than anyone else , " I will demand justice from the Bennett family for this . I won't let Harper suffer this humiliation again . " Mason's lips curled slightly , almost imperceptibly , " It's getting late . I'll stay with Harper . You can come again tomorrow morning . " " How can that be acceptable ? " " Otherwise , Uncle Liam will definitely blame Harper for causing trouble as soon as she arrived . You wouldn't want her first thought upon waking Chapter 18 up to be self - reproach , would you ? " At this moment , he was thinking very thoughtfully . Ava nodded , " That makes sense . I'll come again tomorrow . If Harper wakes up " " I'll let you know . " - It seemed as if someone was sitting beside her , motionless , their shadow pressing on the seat , with broad shoulders and a wristwatch on the raised hand . This was what Harper saw while she was unconscious . When she woke up and recognized it was Mason , cold sweat immediately soaked her back . She instinctively shrank to the side , and this subtle movement was noticed by Mason . " Didn't you say you liked me before ? Why are you afraid of me now ? " A man who had wished for her death , cursed her to suffer and never have a good end - how could she still have the courage to like him ? This time . Harper would never throw herself at him without hesitation again . Mason suppressed an inexplicable sense of loneliness , " You didn't even fight back when you were pushed into the sea . When did you become this cowardly ? " Regaining her composure , Harper recalled the events of last night . She was taken to the seaside and pushed into the sea by a group led by Sophia . Even after being soaked and catching a fever despite taking a hot bath on the way back , she had no memory of how she was taken down the mountain . It turned out Mason was the one who brought her here . Was this a rare act of kindness ? But she didn't need it . " Mr. Brooks , did you bring me down here ? " Harper's throat was hoarse from the fever . " Thank you . " " You don't need to thank me . It was Ethan who begged me . " Mason acted as if he had meddled in something unnecessary . " Ava already knows and will help you break off the engagement with the Bennett family . You don't have to keep groveling to Noah anymore . " " What ? " When Harper was pushed underwater , she didn't cry . She endured being treated like a servant and humiliated , but she shed tears at this moment , " No , we can't break the engagement . " " Do you enjoy being humiliated that much ? " " We can't break it . " If she did , she would be driven away , sent back to that abyss of a swamp . She wouldn't allow the engagement to be broken , not at all . " Why , could it be that you actually like Noah ? " It was an unintentional remark from Mason , but Harper nodded through her tears . " I do like him , so we can't break the engagement . " As if punched in the chest , Mason felt a dull ache in his heart . Clearly , Harper had never told anyone else that she liked them except for him . She had only met Noah a few times - how could she talk about liking . him ? In the past , she had sworn to the heavens that she would only ever like Mason .