Chapter 1

I stood on a mountain that rose 25,561 feet above sea level. The strong gale and the blizzard whipped around me, suffocating me to no end.

Despair had already engulfed me by then. I was ready to embrace death. It was time for my pathetic and ridiculous life to end.

My vision began to blur. Soon, it was completely swallowed up by the stark whiteness that seemed to stretch on endlessly.

"Are you alright? Would you like some fruit? I'll peel it for you."

I was certain that I was dead, yet my vision cleared up at that moment. In fact, I even heard a melodic male voice booming right next to me.

It was such a shame that the man wasn't directing the question at me at all.

My vision sharpened once again. I found myself staring at a simplistic ward belonging to a makeshift hospital located at the base camp of the tallest mountain in the world.

Gerard Frost, my husband, happened to be caressing his best friend, Olivia Hallburg's cheek with his fingers. Worry was written all over his face.

I had been with Gerard for so many years, yet he had never looked at me this way before. For a moment, I spaced out while staring at him.

Olivia sat on the makeshift hospital bed. She was starting to feel better, as proven by her complexion. Still, she feigned illness with a frown.

"My chest still feels a little stuffy. You don't have to worry about me, Ger. But tell me—is Elly okay? We still haven't heard from her after all this time…

"At the end of the day, this is all my fault. I'm the one being such a huge burden to Elly. If not, you'd have been able to save her by now…"

But Gerard didn't seem to care about me at all. If anything, he looked rather impatient instead.

"A mountain of that height is nothing to Elliana. She'd made it to the summit in the past.

"The thing is, she had selfishly stopped me from giving you the oxygen tank when we were in dire danger! To think that she tried to attract my attention with that method! I didn't know that she was that kind of person!

"Olivia, you're too kind-hearted. You're still worried about others despite your condition!"

After Gerard was done speaking, he reached out to tuck a lock of stray hair behind Olivia's ear.

I couldn't believe that Gerard, my husband of seven years, became a jester who was willing to do anything to please his beloved Olivia. He wasn't worried about me at all, despite my condition being unknown, and that he never heard back from me. Instead, he didn't hesitate to blame and complain about me.

All Gerard cared about was Olivia—his fragile darling.

I had spent the past seven years taking care of Gerard and showering him with love and affection. Not only that, but I'd also given him everything I had.

All of my efforts were reduced to nothing but a laughingstock at that moment.

Meanwhile, Gerard kept chatting with Olivia just to lift her spirits. Neither of them brought me up ever again.

…

Someone knocked on the door early the next morning.

The night before, Gerard had stayed up late in favor of chatting with Olivia, so he had already ordered his subordinates not to disturb him early in the morning.

Furious, he went to get the door, only to see two elderly figures standing at the doorway. They… were my parents.

My elderly parents couldn't help shivering from the cold wind while struggling to get their bearings due to the thin air as they stood in the base camp of the snow mountain, which was 17,060 feet above sea level.

"Gerard, has Elly descended the mountain yet? How is she doing?"

"Elly hasn't contacted us for such a long time. I keep having this odd feeling that something's happened to her, so we decided to visit her."

Every time I returned to the base camp after my mountain excursions, I'd call my parents and let them know that I made it back safely thanks to the signal that was available in the camp.

My parents knew the exact date I'd descend the mountain. But they seemed to have predicted my death as well, for they had flooded my WhatsApp with countless calls and messages.

After all, there was a special telepathic bond between parents and their children.

My parents spent the night traveling via train and airplane just to reach the great plateau, where the mountain was located. They did all this in order to verify my safety with their own eyes.

But this time, I could only apologize to them silently. I couldn't bring them the good news they had hoped for ever again.