Chapter 3

Arden's lingering attachment to Graham faded after he abandoned her twice for Irene.

The tests were finished quickly. Thankfully, things hadn't gotten much worse yet. Arden exhaled softly in relief after looking at the results. Then, she took a cab home alone.

Graham finally came back at around 10:00 pm. He looked slightly brooding but quickly smoothed his expression as he held out a velvet box to Arden as if he were presenting a treasure.

He said, "I bought this bracelet just for you. Come on, take a look. Do you like it?"

She didn't move, so he opened the box himself. Inside lay a diamond bracelet with a pink diamond set in the center. It dazzled under the light.

It was beautiful and probably very expensive, but what flashed through Arden's mind was Irene's latest Instagram story. She hadn't written anything; it was just a photo of her hand adorned with a pink diamond ring.

The diamond was flawless in clarity and cut. In comparison, the bracelet looked like it had been made from the leftover scraps after crafting the ring.

Graham looked puzzled when Arden still didn't move. "You don't like it?"

How could someone switch gears so seamlessly?

One minute, he was fawning over Irene, and the next, he was playing the devoted lover in front of Arden. What went through his mind all those nights he held her? Was he thinking about Irene, or about how else he could scheme against and use Arden?

These thoughts surged out of control, and Arden's stomach twisted violently. She shoved Graham aside and ran to the bathroom, dry heaving violently.

Graham sounded frantic as he followed her. "Ary, what's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"

Arden had just managed to steady herself a little when she caught a faint, sweet scent on him. Her stomach seemed to spasm again, and she vomited hard.

The pain that ripped through her body was almost unbearable. A cry slipped from her throat, and her tears almost fell. The flare-ups had been getting more frequent lately.

"Ary!" Graham cried.

Arden kept away from him, still trying to suppress her nausea. "I'm fine. It's probably just my stomach acting up because I haven't been eating regularly lately."

She did have stomach problems.

After being born, Irene had easily stolen all the attention at home. By the time she was two or three, she'd been so needy that she'd needed someone by her side 24/7, or she'd cry herself into fevers and illnesses.

Because of that, their parents and the house staff had constantly been on high alert around her. At the same time, they'd overlooked Arden.

She'd often gone hungry or eaten irregularly. Sometimes, she'd even had to eat leftovers for two meals in a row. Over time, she'd developed chronic gastritis.

Things had changed after Graham had shown up. He'd treated Arden's stomach like it mattered more than his own health. He'd learned to cook broth himself and had watched over her meals every day without fail.

When she occasionally lost her appetite, he'd have dropped everything, including contract signings, to rush back and coax her into eating.

Under his persistent care, Arden's stomach had improved, and she'd given him her heart.

She knew Graham wouldn't suspect a thing if she used it as an excuse now.

"Why haven't you been taking care of yourself?" Graham looked concerned. He draped a jacket over her shoulders. "Come on, we need to see a doctor."

"I'm fine," Arden said, frowning.

He wouldn't take no for an answer. "How can you be? Stomach problems can turn serious if you ignore them. It's my fault for being so busy with work lately. Let's go get you checked first."

He ushered her out of the house.

At the hospital, Graham had Arden run the complete set of tests. Once the results came out, her liver cancer would be impossible to hide. And then…

Arden fretted over that. As she wrestled with it, Graham's phone rang. She glanced at the screen. As expected, it was Irene.

Graham checked his phone and quickly stepped aside to take the call. During that brief window, Arden collected her test results and, unsurprisingly, saw the words "liver cancer" on the report.

She looked over at Graham standing by the window with the phone to his ear. An unexpected flicker of hope rose in her chest. If he found out about her illness, would he let go of Irene?

Graham soon hung up and came back to Arden, his face lit up with excitement. "Ary, Irene says the newly appointed governor, Governor Fulton, is attending an event on The Pearl tonight. She pulled some strings and got two invites. I need to head over right away."

His company had a project tied to the local government. It had been progressing smoothly until a leadership change at a critical moment had frozen everything. When they tried to revive it, it kept failing for various reasons.

Banking on the project's promise, Graham had poured a lot of money into it. Now that it was stalled, his cash flow was jammed. He'd tried multiple times to get a meeting with the governor, but he'd been rejected each time. He was desperate at this point.

Now that there was a chance to see him, Graham was over the moon. He swept a glance at the report in Arden's hand. "Go ahead and see the doctor on your own first. Come join me after you've picked up the meds."

With that, he hurried off.

Arden had just started raising her wrist to hold up the report, but she suddenly lost all strength and let it drop. She stared at his retreating back, then let out a self-deprecating laugh.

She'd just been deluding herself.