LOGINI said nothing after hearing Dylan’s words. My mouth suddenly went dry. For several seconds, we simply stared at each other, as if the world had come to a standstill.Silence.The only sounds were the footsteps of the servants moving back and forth, the clinking of cutlery being arranged on the table, and the faint hiss of food cooking in the kitchen. Those sounds filled the space between us until Dylan finally stepped closer and cupped my face in both hands.“I’m serious,” Dylan whispered.My mind went blank.Lea’s name, everything she had said minutes ago, even the argument we’d just had—all of it seemed to disappear from my mind. There was only Dylan and the words that still hung between us.Dylan gently brushed his thumb across my cheek. My vision blurred, and a single tear finally slipped down my face.I never expected Dylan to say something like that. From the moment we made that agreement, I had known that I would be the one to leave him in the end. Because to me, it wouldn’t b
ANNADylan immediately stepped in front of me, blocking Lea from doing anything worse. The throbbing pain in my head still lingered from the forceful way Lea had yanked my hair.“Something that was supposed to be yours?” Dylan sneered coldly. Without hesitation, he pointed at Lea’s flushed face. “If you mean her father’s inheritance, don’t expect to get any of it. You’re not Rean McCalaway’s biological daughter.”Lea let out a derisive laugh. She casually folded her arms across her chest before glancing at me. “This is none of your business, Dylan. This is between Anna and me.”“Oh?” Dylan stepped toward Lea and leaned down slightly. “Anything involving my wife is my business too.”Lea suddenly burst out laughing. She shoved Dylan in the chest to force him back. “Wife?” she mocked. “A few months ago, no... a few years ago, you never even considered Anna your wife. If you need a reminder, you always saw Anna as nothing more than a parasite clinging to your family.”I gasped. My chest s
“On another matter, Mr. Dylan. Mrs. Jessy wants to see you,” Erwin said, making me let out a long sigh.“What does she want to talk to me about? If she expects me to drop the charges, tell her to come see me and apologize to Anna,” I said sharply, making Erwin fall silent on the other end of the line.Just as I was about to end the call, the sound of commotion coming through the phone made me raise an eyebrow. I could faintly hear a woman’s voice. Quickly, I pressed the phone back to my ear.“Dylan, I’m your mother! Do you really want to put your own mother in prison?” Jessy shouted. Apparently, she had gone to see Erwin herself.I rubbed my temple while Anna wrapped her arms around mine, resting her head against my shoulder. She gently stroked my arm, trying to calm me down.“Because you killed your own husband, Mom. You cheated on him and tried to kill my wife, too. Do you really think all of that can simply be forgiven?” I asked, trying to hold back the rage building in my chest.“
A cold silence instantly settled over the hallway outside Dr. Ryan's office. The desperate plea I had uttered hung heavily in the air.My thumb was still brushing away the moisture from the corner of Anna's eye. I could not stop her from shaking her head weakly. A clear sign that she would never accept my proposal.Vallen had been right. There was no way Anna would agree to terminate the pregnancy.“Anna, please...”“Dylan, the twenty-eighth wish,” she interrupted, and I could only shake my head frantically. No, no, no. Don't make another wish right now. But it was too late. Anna clearly wasn't going to give me a chance to refuse.“Never ask me to terminate this baby,” she said firmly.I fell silent. My heart seemed to stop beating. “But Vallen said...”“Vallen is only giving you hope. The truth is, whether I'm pregnant or not, I don't have much time left to live, Dylan.” Anna cut me off, her eyes glistening with tears, but her voice remained steady. “He cares about me, and he hates t
I had no idea what Vallen was going to tell me. But all kinds of terrible possibilities raced through my mind. I took a deep breath, then looked at Anna. My palm gently touched her pale cheek.“Wait here for a moment. I’ll be right back,” I said before pressing a kiss to her forehead, hoping to calm her.Vallen opened the door for me, then closed it behind us, leaving Anna alone in the room.We walked down the hospital corridor and stopped in a quiet hallway. Vallen rubbed his face and let out a heavy sigh.“You know what’s happening to Anna now, don’t you?” he asked weakly.“Yeah.”Silence. All I could hear was our labored breathing, the squeak of wheels against the floor, and the faint commotion that barely reached my ears. Neither Vallen nor I said a word for several minutes.I didn’t want to judge Vallen for the secret he had kept about Anna, because I was beginning to understand her reasoning after our conversation in the room. It would be damn unfair of me to call her actions se
The question made Anna’s breath catch. Her already pale face grew even whiter, as if all the blood in her body had suddenly drained away. She turned her face aside, unwilling to meet my eyes, clouded with regret and fear.“If I’d known your condition was this serious, I never would have let you get pregnant. And maybe…” I swallowed hard, the words catching in my throat. “…I never would have asked you for a divorce.”Anna froze across from me. I watched her lips tremble as she fought back tears.I cupped her cheeks in both hands. “Why… why didn’t you tell me from the beginning?”“Was our relationship good before this? No, right?” she admitted in a soft, trembling voice. “If I’d told you, I thought you might assume I was only using my illness to make you feel sorry for me.”God. Thinking about everything that had happened between us, I understood why Anna had thought that way. Guilt surged through my chest, and I pulled her into my arms again. This time, I wouldn’t let her face this pai
-ANNA-"I agree to divorce you.""Good. I'm glad you've finally changed your mind," said Dylan Danforth, my husband, who was currently sitting beside his lover, who also happened to be my stepsister, Lea G. McCallaway.The blonde woman with striking blue eyes ran a hand across Dylan's chest. Then s
"I'm fine, Father. I bumped my nose earlier," I lied.Fortunately, my father-in-law believed me without much question.Abraham glanced at the unmade bed behind me. His gaze softened. A faint smile touched his thin lips before he quickly pulled a handkerchief from his suit pocket."Use this to wipe
"Vallen, just pretend you never saw any of this," I said calmly."Damn it, Anna, what do you mean? How am I supposed to stay quiet after seeing something this unfair? You're fighting a disease while Dylan...""Vallen, this is my marriage."The firmness in my voice silenced him on the other end of t
I didn't know how long I had been lying on the floor.When I woke up, my head was throbbing and my entire body ached. Slowly, I pushed myself upright and rubbed my face. When I looked down, I found several dried drops of blood on the floor.Not wanting to dwell on it, I got up and walked into the b







