Ashes Before Dawn

In the hospital room next door, Sheila Jenkins lay frozen in bed, as if she had been dropped into a world covered in ice.

Cecilia Zeller was the poor student the Stewart family had sponsored. She was also Joshua Stewart's secretary.

Joshua had always been famous for being hopelessly devoted to his wife. They had grown up together as childhood sweethearts, and everyone believed he loved Sheila more than anything.

She had believed it too. She never imagined that their marriage had been nothing but a lie from the very beginning.

He had never loved her. The reason he had pursued her so relentlessly and married her was because he did not want the Stewart family going after Cecilia.

The car crash had never been an accident, either. He had deliberately crippled her legs, all so he could secretly hold a wedding for the girl he truly loved without her ever finding out.

Even the child she had loved and raised for five years was not hers. The boy was the child of Joshua and Cecilia.

As for the baby Sheila had given birth to... the child had been strangled to death the moment he was born.

Sheila's world shattered, and everything around her spun violently. She coughed up a mouthful of blood as darkness swallowed her whole.

When she opened her eyes again, Joshua was sitting beside her bed.

The moment he saw her awake, his eyes radiated with tenderness and concern.

"Sheila, you're awake. Does it still hurt?

"The doctor said... you'll never walk again." His voice trembled with heartache. "However, don't be afraid. I'll find the best doctors in the world to treat you. Even if your legs never heal, I'll be your legs for the rest of your life."

She stared at him, her heart twisting in agony. His icy, heartless words earlier still echoed in her ears, carved so deeply into her memory that she knew she would never forget them.

He had never loved her. Every second of every day, his heart belonged to someone else.

He had lied to her for so many years.

He had fooled her so completely that she had never suspected a thing.

How could you act so well, Joshua?

How could you pretend so perfectly?

Seeing her too devastated to speak, Joshua assumed she was overwhelmed by the loss of her legs. He quickly pulled her into his arms and gently stroked her back.

"Good girl. Don't be scared. I'm here. I'll stay with you forever.

"As long as I'm here, you'll be okay. You don't have to worry about anything, all right?"

He kept whispering sweet promises, one after another. Sheila's tears kept falling, one after another.

Eventually, his assistant knocked on the door and informed him that an urgent matter at the company needed his attention.

Joshua reluctantly comforted Sheila, telling her to get some rest before leaving the room.

In his hurry, he forgot his phone on the bedside table.

Still crying, Sheila reached for it with trembling hands and unlocked the screen.

She had never once looked through his phone before. She trusted him completely. Because of that, he had never even bothered setting a password.

As the screen lit up, she discovered it was filled with proof of his love for Cecilia.

The wallpaper was a photo of the two of them kissing.

She had never seen that expression on Joshua's face before. It was so reverent, so completely devoted, as if he were kissing the most precious treasure in the world, afraid that even the gentlest touch might make Cecilia disappear.

Then she opened his hidden photo album. It contained over ten thousand pictures of Cecilia. The album's title read: The Love of My Life.

There were photos of Cecilia eating, reading, playing in the snow and walking beneath the trees in a flowing white dress.

Every ordinary moment of her life had been carefully captured through Joshua's photos.

Sheila suddenly remembered how, whenever Joshua looked at his phone, his expression would soften into something unbelievably gentle.

She used to tease him about it.

"What's on your phone? Some kind of secret?"

He would simply smile, tap her lightly on the tip of her nose, and say, "Yeah. My phone holds my favorite secret. The person I love most."

Back then, she had blushed, convinced he was talking about her. She had been too shy to ask another question.

Now she realized… that had probably been the only honest thing he had ever said to her.

Hidden inside that phone was Cecilia, the woman he loved most.

Tears streamed down Sheila's face. She clutched at her chest. The pain was so crushing, so suffocating, that she could barely breathe.

Joshua...

You loved Cecilia that much.

Then why… Why did you have to destroy my entire life?

She had no idea how long she sat there drowning in despair. Finally, with shaking hands, she picked up her own phone and dialed the number of her parents, who were thousands of miles away overseas.