Chapter 2

I forced a smile that looked as though it might break into tears.

Fortunately, spirits couldn't cry.

I followed Noah inside, but an unseen force drew me toward the framed photograph of his mother displayed on the mantel.

It was a photograph of Noah's mother. I never expected her to have passed away too.

When I was diagnosed with a terminal illness, I hadn't had time to tell Noah. His mother saw my diagnosis report first.

Her shrill voice felt sharp enough to pierce my eardrums.

"Belle, you need to divorce Noah. Our family simply can't afford to pay for your treatment!"

I had worn the same smile then, one that looked as though it might break into tears.

When I first married into the family, she called me their lucky star.

"I won't use your money for my treatment. I'll pay for it myself. I only want to spend my final days with Noah…"

"Absolutely not! Noah can't become a widower. People would say he was cursed—that any woman he married was destined to die!"

Noah's mother had always been superstitious about such things, and I stood there in a daze.

Part of me was helpless because I had only just learned about my illness. Another part of me didn't want Noah to carry such a strange accusation because of me. He still had a long life ahead of him.

I trembled as I prepared to agree.

But afraid I would refuse, Noah's mother crouched before me and begged first, her voice growing gentler.

"Belle, you're beautiful, and your family is far wealthier than ours. Please let Noah go and give him a chance at a better life.

"He's already been accepted for a fully funded scholarship abroad. If he finds out that you're sick, how will he be able to concentrate on his studies?

"Our family is poor. I'm a single mother, and raising him has already taken everything I have…"

That was when I learned that Noah's scholarship acceptance and my diagnosis had arrived on the same day.

His mother didn't want a dying woman to hold Noah back from his future.

I didn't blame her, not even a little.

But on the day I hired an actor to help me stage an affair, I could barely lift my head and cried the entire time.

What a melodramatic scene.

[But Noah, unless I made you suffer, neither of us would ever be able to move forward.]

Even the actor helping me put on the act had trembling hands that day.

"What a cruel twist of fate… This is awful… I won't take any money for this.

"Miss, I hope your treatment goes well. If you ever want to get back together with him, contact me. I'll explain everything!"

But in the end, I never got the chance to use his contact information.

That day, Noah was still holding the birthday cake he prepared for me.

He planned to celebrate my birthday and tell me that we could study abroad together. He wasn't going to abandon me.

Instead, I smashed the cake to pieces.

Noah watched me kiss another man with reddened eyes.

In the end, he signed the divorce papers with me and left without looking back.

He never returned home before I died.

Now he was back, and Linda was by his side.

Linda leaned against him dependently.

"I saw Belle in bed with another man back then. I told you, but you refused to believe me. You had to marry her and catch her in the act before you were willing to let her go.

"I've been worried ever since you came home this year that you still couldn't let her go and had returned to find her.

"But given how proud and ambitious she is, now that she's found someone richer, she probably has no intention of returning."

My eyes widened as I listened to Linda.

My spirit flew frantically around Noah.

When had I ever done anything like that? Even in that staged scene, the actor and I had only pretended to kiss!

Linda had been spreading lies about me to Noah even before I married him!

Noah stayed silent for a long while. When he finally spoke, his voice was slightly hoarse.

"Why would I look for her? She means nothing to me. Just remembering what happened makes me sick."

"If you have time to think about her, you should spend it taking better care of yourself."

It felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over me.

Linda was still half-convinced, but she finally settled down and placed a hand over her lower abdomen.

"That's good. After all, I came back so our baby could know where it came from."