Chapter 1

I was alone at home. My wife, Queenie Sullivan, had said she had to attend a business function. It was already very late into the night, yet she still hadn't returned. Clutching my stomach, I fought through the pain as I dragged myself to prepare some ginger tea for her.

Queenie returned home drunk. She looked upset, as if something were weighing heavily on her.

I offered her the ginger tea, but for some reason, she reacted with sudden irritation. She slapped my hand away, sending the cup of ginger tea crashing to the floor. Then, with a cold expression, she kicked me right in the stomach.

I instantly felt an intense abdominal pain, leaving me unable to resist and soaked in cold sweat. Blood rose in my throat, and I coughed some up. The severity of the pain brought me to the brink of unconsciousness.

I was aware that although we weren't a passionate married couple, we had never fought before, much less turned to violence. I felt nothing but shock and fear as I stared at my wife, who now seemed like a stranger to me. I couldn't understand what had gone wrong.

I experienced another bout of abdominal pain related to my recent stomach cancer diagnosis, of which Queenie was aware. I begged her to call for an ambulance as sweat broke out on my forehead, but she only locked the door and looked down at me with cold indifference.

"H-Help me, Queenie…" I pleaded, not understanding why she had suddenly become so different after merely attending a business function. I couldn't see her expression clearly since she was standing against the light, nor could I tell what was on her mind at that moment.

Queenie suddenly said, "If it weren't for the car accident you caused years ago, Timothy never would have been forced into working in a mere factory, where he was nearly tormented to death.

"I just want you to know that you brought this upon yourself. I want you to know what true despair feels like, Zachary."

Queenie ground out the word "despair" through gritted teeth.

I could see the blood I coughed up and my cold sweat mixed together, appearing exceptionally striking on the floor.

I could also feel the piercing agony of Queenie's verbal assault that struck me like a blade. I was paralyzed by the pain, but I still fought to understand the motive behind her sudden cruelty.

It turned out that during her business function, Queenie had accidentally learned that Timothy Dunn was being bullied at the factory. She resolved to displace his suffering onto me, merely because I had declined her past suggestion to include him in our tutoring sessions all those years ago.

Queenie had blamed the accident on me and had held a grudge for years. I couldn't understand why she would marry me, then. How could she live with herself while accepting everything I did for her?

I bit my lip, unable to cry out for help anymore. I coughed up a mouthful of blood again, spreading across the floor and staining its clean surface.

Slowly, I closed my eyes in agony as my consciousness faded.