Chapter 1

Edison's POV

My entire body throbbed with a dull, agonizing ache.

The pain from all the surgeries, which had finally started to fade, came rushing back.

I remembered when the doctor first found the melanoma on my back. He warned me about the risk of malignancy and urged me to have it surgically removed at once, but I chose to stall.

My stomach was recently acting up, too, and I figured I would just wait and get everything taken care of all at once when I had the time.

Well, I knew the risks, and I was just gambling on my own luck. I had this stubborn belief that people like me, as hardy as weeds, could survive anywhere.

I was convinced that batching the surgeries together was a bargain, and doing them separately meant paying for multiple hospital stays and consuming twice the dosage of painkillers. So, I kept putting it off.

After delaying for ages, I finally had time to undergo five surgeries back-to-back.

When I first made the request, the doctor tried to talk me out of it.

"Going under anesthesia five times in five days before the last dose clears your system is going to wreck your body. It's technically safe, but you'll be in an immense amount of pain."

But all I did was smile back at him.

Back then, all I could think about was celebrating Jayne Atkinson's work promotion. She told me she would get a bonus and an extra 1,000-dollar pay every month.

Now, looking back, it was honestly laughable. She was a phenomenal actress who put on such a great act that it nearly moved me to tears.

I thought we were one step closer to our dream. After being in love for five years, I truly believed we were both working toward the same happy future together.

I even scheduled my surgeries during the week she would be away on a business trip, just so she wouldn't worry. And I never expected to witness such a scene.

A wave of fury rose in my chest, mixed with bitter resentment. It felt as though Jayne and Bianca Lambert could toy with my emotions on a whim and strip away my basic right to love as an ordinary human being.

I could still hear them mocking me for punching above my weight and calling me a pathetic loser trying to climb the social ladder.

When I dated Bianca, I did have a shred of hope. I was only 18 years old back then and had just started college. It was easy to fall fast and hard for a beautiful and lively classmate.

I used to believe that if I loved her with everything I had, things would eventually work out.

The foolish belief stuck with me until graduation, when she dragged me to a party, claiming she wanted me to meet her family. Her mom had splashed a glass of red wine all over me and tried to dismiss me with a few hundred dollars.

"This is the usual rate for young men like you, right?"

All Bianca had done was stand aside and watch in silence. She never reached out to me again after that, and though she never said a word, her silence speaks volumes.

While everyone else at the party whispered and pointed fingers at me, Jayne was the one who had shown up.

She had draped her jacket over my shoulders and furiously yelled at the crowd, "So what if you have money? Does that make you better than everyone else?"

Now, my chest ached painfully at the memory.

I made my way back to the regular ward in a daze. When the nurse saw me, she quickly ushered me back to my bed.

"Don't even think about getting discharged early. We'll let you go tomorrow if your vitals look good."

I nodded numbly as scenes over the last few years replayed in my mind like a cinematic reel.

That night, Jayne texted me.

"Everything's going well on my end. Do you want me to bring you any souvenirs?"