LOGINFor seven years, Anna Reed loved her husband with everything she had. But Noah Reed never chose her. No matter how hard she tried, his heart always belonged to one woman. Clara. His first love. His weakness. The woman he could never let go. Then Anna’s world shattered. Stage four brain cancer. Six months to live. Terrified and heartbroken, Anna reached for the only person she wanted beside her. Her husband. But Noah never came. Again, he chose Clara. That night, Anna collapsed in pain and blood. Still, Noah chose Clara. Again. Again. And again. Something inside Anna finally broke. The woman who spent seven years begging for love stopped begging. Stopped crying. Stopped fighting. She decided to disappear from Noah’s life forever. Only after losing her did Noah discover the cruel truth. The wife he ignored was dying all along. Now regret is eating him alive. But when a man realizes her worth too late… Can love still survive?
View MoreThe hospital smelled of antiseptic.
Cold.
Silent.
Lifeless.
Anna Reed sat in front of the doctor, her fingers tightly gripping the edge of her chair.
Her palms were sweating.
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
The doctor’s expression had changed the moment he looked at her scan results.
That expression terrified her.
It was the kind of face doctors made when they didn’t know how to say something terrible.
Anna forced herself to speak.
“Doctor…”
Her voice shook.
“Please tell me what’s wrong.”
The doctor sighed.
He removed his glasses slowly and placed them on the desk.
Then he looked straight at her.
“Mrs. Reed… I’m sorry.”
Anna’s heartbeat stopped.
Three words.
Just three words.
But they shattered something inside her.
The doctor slid the scan results toward her.
“There’s a tumor in your brain.”
Anna stared at him.
Her lips parted.
But no sound came out.
The doctor continued.
“It’s malignant.”
Her breathing became uneven.
No.
No.
This had to be a mistake.
Her voice came out as a whisper.
“What… does that mean?”
The doctor hesitated.
Then he said the words that destroyed her world.
“Stage four brain cancer.”
Silence.
The room spun.
Anna felt as if someone had ripped the ground from beneath her feet.
She stared at the doctor blankly.
She heard his voice.
But his words felt far away.
Like she was underwater.
Stage four.
Cancer.
No.
No.
This couldn’t be happening.
Not to her.
She was only twenty-six.
She was healthy.
She didn’t smoke.
She barely drank.
How?
How?
Tears burned her eyes.
“There must be a mistake.”
Her voice cracked.
The doctor’s face softened.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Reed. We ran multiple tests.”
Anna shook her head.
“No…”
Her hands trembled violently.
“No…”
The doctor lowered his voice.
“The cancer has progressed too far.”
Anna’s chest tightened.
She could barely breathe.
She forced herself to ask the question she feared most.
“How long?”
The doctor went silent.
Anna stared at him.
Her heart pounded.
She already knew the answer would destroy her.
Still…
She needed to hear it.
“How long do I have left?”
The doctor looked down.
Then back at her.
“Six months.”
Anna froze.
Six months.
Just two words.
But they crushed her.
Her world ended in two words.
Six months.
She had six months left to live.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Her body shook.
She covered her mouth, trying to stop herself from breaking apart.
But she couldn’t.
Everything hurt.
Everything.
The doctor handed her tissues.
“Spend time with your loved ones.”
Loved ones.
Anna thought of one person.
Noah.
Her husband.
The man she had loved for seven years.
The man she married three years ago.
The man who never truly loved her.
Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
Even now…
Even now, Noah was the first person she thought about.
Funny.
Painful.
Pathetic.
Anna laughed bitterly through tears.
The doctor looked at her with sympathy.
“Do you want to call someone?”
Anna shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice was small.
Very small.
“No… I’ll go home.”
Anna walked out of the hospital like a ghost.
The world outside was alive.
Cars moved.
People laughed.
Life continued.
Everything looked normal.
But her world had ended.
She stood by the roadside, holding the medical report with trembling hands.
Stage four brain cancer.
Six months.
Her vision blurred again.
She wanted to scream.
She wanted to cry.
She wanted someone to hold her.
She wanted Noah.
Without thinking, she reached for her phone.
Her fingers shook as she dialed his number.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
No answer.
Anna swallowed.
She called again.
Ring.
Ring.
No answer.
Tears gathered in her eyes.
She called a third time.
This time…
The call connected.
Relief flooded her chest.
“Noah…”
But a female voice interrupted.
“Hello?”
Anna froze.
Her fingers tightened around the phone.
She knew that voice.
She knew it.
Her blood ran cold.
Clara.
Clara Hayes.
Noah’s first love.
Anna’s breathing stopped.
Why was Clara answering Noah’s phone?
Silence filled the line.
Then Clara spoke again.
Her voice was soft.
Sweet.
Mocking.
“Oh.”
She laughed quietly.
“Anna.”
Anna’s throat dried.
“Why are you answering Noah’s phone?”
Clara chuckled.
“Because Noah is in the shower.”
Anna’s heart dropped.
The world went silent.
Noah.
In the shower.
Clara.
Answering his phone.
Anna felt sick.
Her fingers trembled harder.
“Noah is busy right now,” Clara said casually.
“Call later.”
The line went dead.
Anna stood frozen.
Still holding the phone.
Still staring ahead.
Her face had gone pale.
Her entire body felt numb.
Then tears fell.
One after another.
Uncontrollably.
She laughed.
A broken laugh.
Even now.
Even today.
The day she found out she was dying.
Noah still chose to hurt her.
Anna slowly lowered the phone.
The medical report slipped from her hand.
It fell to the ground.
She didn’t pick it up.
She just stood there.
Broken.
Completely broken.
A cold wind blew past.
But Anna felt nothing.
Her heart had become numb.
After a long time, she bent down and picked up the report.
Her eyes landed on the words again.
Stage four.
Six months.
Anna wiped her tears.
Then something changed inside her.
A strange calm settled over her.
No crying.
No screaming.
No begging.
Just silence.
Deep silence.
She looked at the sky.
Then whispered softly.
“Six months…”
A bitter smile touched her lips.
She had spent seven years loving Noah.
Seven years.
She gave him everything.
Her love.
Her loyalty.
Her heart.
And what did she get?
Loneliness.
Coldness.
Neglect.
Pain.
Anna closed her eyes.
When she opened them again—
Something inside her had cracked.
Maybe this was enough.
Maybe she was tired.
Maybe she had loved long enough.
She whispered to herself.
“Noah…”
A tear slipped down her face.
“This is the last time.”
Then Anna turned and walked away.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Toward the end of everything.
Miles away, inside a luxury penthouse—
Noah Reed stepped out of the shower.
Tall.
Cold.
Handsome.
Water dripped down his chest.
He grabbed a towel.
Then noticed Clara sitting on the bed.
She smiled.
“Noah.”
He frowned.
“Why are you holding my phone?”
Clara smiled casually.
“Anna called.”
Noah’s expression hardened.
Clara tilted her head.
“She sounded desperate.”
Noah’s eyes darkened.
Clara stood and walked toward him.
“You know…” she said softly, “she calls too much.”
Noah said nothing.
Clara wrapped her arms around him.
“You promised to spend today with me.”
Noah’s face remained unreadable.
But his voice was cold.
“I did.”
Clara smiled.
Satisfied.
Noah looked at his phone.
Three missed calls.
From Anna.
His thumb hovered over her name.
For a second.
Just one second.
Then he locked the phone.
He put it aside.
And chose silence.
He chose not to call back.
He chose Clara.
Again.
Far away, Anna sat alone in her car.
Silent tears rolled down her face.
She stared at her wedding ring.
Then slowly…
She removed it.
Her hands trembled.
But she did not stop.
The ring sat in her palm.
Cold.
Lifeless.
Just like her marriage.
Anna stared at it.
Then closed her fingers around it.
Her voice came out broken.
Soft.
Barely audible.
“I’m tired, Noah.”
A tear fell.
“I’m so tired.”
She leaned back and closed her eyes.
For the first time in years,
Anna stopped hoping.
And somewhere deep inside her heart…
Love began to die.
The cold morning wind off the river blew across the concrete pier, carrying the bitter smell of burnt rubber and salty water.Noah stood entirely still, his arms dropping slowly to his sides. His heart pounded like a heavy hammer against his ribs as he stared at the young man standing on the truck ramp.Subject Zero-One looked so much like Noah that it felt like looking into a clear glass mirror. But there was no hesitation in Zero-One's eyes, no warmth, and no fear. He held the dark grey remote control steady in his right hand, his thumb resting lightly against the yellow toggle switch.Fifty yards out on the river, the black motorboat rocked gently in the tide. Sarah stood at the front rail, her face pale as she looked from Zero-One to Noah."Don't do it, Noah!" Sarah shouted across the water, her voice breaking. "Don't listen to him!"Zero-One didn't even turn his head toward her. His dark blue eyes stayed fixed straight on Noah's face."She always speaks too much," Zero-One said,
The cold concrete felt like ice against Noah’s bare hands.His knees buckled, dropping him heavy onto the hard ground. Every single muscle in his arms and legs went stiff, locking up as if his blood had suddenly turned to wet cement.All around him on the open pier, thirty-six young men hit the ground at the exact same moment. The heavy sound of thirty-six bodies crashing onto the concrete echoed across the empty waterfront like a falling wall.Noah tried to lift his head. The simple effort made his neck throb with a sharp, burning pain. Through the blur in his eyes, he saw Luke lying two feet away, gasping for air, his teeth clamped so tight his jaw looked ready to snap. Julian was on his side, his hands twitching against the rough ground, unable to lift his arms off the floor."Luke..." Noah managed to push the word out through his locked jaw. "Don't... fight it...""I... can't move..." Luke wheezed, his face turning red with exertion. "My legs... feel dead."On the far side of the
The cold river spray splashed against Noah’s face as the motorboat bobbed gently in the choppy water fifty yards from the concrete pier.The deep hum of the boat's dual V8 engines dropped to a low, steady idle.Noah stood on the front deck, his fingers gripping the cold stainless steel railing. Across the grey water, the high concrete wall of the Manhattan Bridge pier looked like a dark gray stage under the pale morning sun.Lined up along the edge were thirty-six young men. They wore matching black coats, dark trousers, and plain leather boots. Their faces were completely still, their arms hanging loosely at their sides, their eyes staring blankly out at the water without blinking.In the middle of the line stood Doctor Evelyn Reed. Her dark hair was messy, her clothes were stained with soot and grease from her escape at Pier 42, and her eyes burned with a wild, desperate light. In her right hand, she held a thick black plastic box with a bright red toggle switch guarded by a small p
The blinding white light vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind a thick, suffocating darkness inside the ruined shipping container.The pungent smell of burnt copper and cordite smoke filled the small room, making Noah’s throat burn with every breath. His ears rang with a sharp, high-pitched hum from the flash sphere's shockwave."Julian! Maya!" Noah shouted into the dark, sweeping his hands franticly across the top of the steel workbench."I'm here, Noah!" Julian called back, his voice coming from two feet to the left. He sounded disoriented, coughing hard as he stumbled over a fallen metal stool."Don't move!" Maya’s voice sharp and firm echoed from near the broken front entrance. "The shockwave blew out the main breaker! I'm turning on the emergency battery lights!"A soft CLICK sounded from the wall, followed by the low, mechanical hum of an auxiliary battery box.A dull, amber emergency light mounted near the ceiling flickered to life, casting long, spooky shadows






Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.