Chapter 1

The day I was diagnosed with a terminal illness, my wife Emily was at the hospital taking care of her first love.

The woman I had cherished for ten years was now cooking and caring for another man.

She was even willing to risk her career to have his child.

On the day she asked for a divorce, she questioned if I was afraid of dying a miserable death.

I calmly replied, "Then let me die a miserable death."

What she didn't know was that I was already dying.

The day after Ryan Thompson returned to the country, the news reported that my wife Emily had suddenly left the international stage and rushed to the hospital.

I sat on the couch, clutching a medical diagnosis report in my hand.

I had originally planned to tell Emily about my condition today.

But I never expected Ryan to come back.

Emily's decade-long obsession finally had an outlet.

With one last hope, I dialed her number.

But I couldn't get through.

After the long busy signal, the call was disconnected.

I didn't give up and kept calling.

Twice... three times... five times...

Finally, on the seventh try, the call connected.

"Jack! Why don't you just put a tracker on me! Please, give me some space, will you?"

"You're like a leech stuck to me every day. Don't you have your own life?"

"Stop calling me. I'll contact you later."

Emily's voice on the other end was anxious but quiet. The surroundings seemed silent.

She must have already arrived at the hospital.

"Can you come home for a moment? I have something important to tell you."

As soon as those words left my mouth, I regretted them.

Sure enough, Emily's patience on the other end had reached its limit.

"Ryan is in the hospital. He just got back and doesn't know anyone here. Can you stop causing trouble? Can't whatever you have to say wait?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a nurse could be heard calling out on the other end.

"Is Ryan Thompson's family here?"

"Yes, I'm coming right away."

Then, the mechanical tone of the call being hung up sounded.

The phone slipped from my palm as I leaned back on the couch, powerless.

Tears gradually blurred my vision.

In five years of marriage, she had never shown such anxious emotions for me.

My devotion had become a huge joke.

She watched me like an indifferent bystander, trapped in the dream I had woven, unwilling to wake up.

I was wrong.

I thought if I just stayed by her side...

Her heart would eventually settle.

I took a photo of the medical report lying next to me and sent it to her.

"Emily, I've been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Can you come back and stay with me?"

She quickly replied.

"Jack, when will you ever stop? How can you be so selfish at a time like this? Ryan and I are just good friends now. He's in the hospital with a stomach ulcer and needs someone with him. We were classmates after all, don't you have any compassion?"

Her words were full of impatience, making me seem petty.

At the same time, a text from my doctor popped up.

"If you choose conservative treatment, you can have family members accompany you for hospital admission in these last two months."

Family members? She seems more like Ryan's family now.

I collected myself and replied: "Thank you doctor, but there's no point. I won't be seeking treatment."

It was a double entendre, also telling myself.

Everything I had done for her was meaningless now too.

We had known each other for ten years and been married for five.

These last two months would belong only to me.

Suddenly, an intense wave of pain washed over me like a tide.

The uncontrollable pain engulfed all my thoughts, making each breath feel like a blade piercing my brain.

With difficulty, I took out some pills from my suit pocket and swallowed them.

Then I dozed off on the couch, drifting into a hazy sleep.

In my dream, I saw 17-year-old Emily.

She had argued with her family about persisting with dance and ran out into the pouring rain.

We ended up sitting under the same awning to escape the rain.

At that time, my parents had just died in a car accident. When she learned of my situation, she put on a brave smile to comfort me.

It was at that moment her appearance shone into my heart like a gentle moonbeam.

Only I didn't know then that her heart already belonged to someone else.

Later, I became her shadow.

I witnessed her subtle, shy crush in high school from afar.

After graduation, she confessed and was rejected.

Ryan went abroad to study, and I accompanied her as she drank herself into oblivion.

We spent an less-than-ideal night together.

It was then that Emily began to hate me.