Chapter 1

Across the living room, Ethan stood by the window, talking on the phone.

"I know."

His voice was rough. He was obviously exhausted.

"Once the house sells, I'll get you the money next week."

After he hung up, he stood there in silence for a few seconds.

Then he turned around and looked at me.

His dark eyes were filled with exhaustion he couldn't hide.

"Lena, how are you feeling today?"

I didn't answer.

He came over anyway.

"The doctor said you can't skip your meds."

He sat on the edge of the bed, picked up a glass of water from the nightstand, and poured the pills into his palm.

"Take these first, okay?"

I looked at the pills he was holding out to me.

Suddenly, comments flooded my vision.

[He sold his wedding ring to buy Lena this bottle of pills.]

[He acts like it's nothing, but he's been scrambling nonstop to pay for her treatment.]

[The house is his last safety net, but he's selling it for her anyway.]

My gaze slowly drifted to Ethan's hands.

His fingers were red from the cold wind, and the skin had cracked open in a few places.

His ring finger was bare where his wedding band should have been.

Suddenly I didn't know what to say.

My illness had already run this man into the ground.

Yet he was still out in the cold every day, rushing all over town for me.

But...

But the comments had made one thing clear.

He might still love me now.

But one day, he would fall in love with someone else.

So I lowered my eyes.

"Ethan.

"I don't think I'm going to get better.

"So let's get a divorce."

Ethan froze, the glass still in his hand.

"Lena, don't say that.

"I've already sold our house and used the car as collateral for a loan.

"I've been scraping money together every single day.

"We're going to be okay."

But the comments in the air started scrolling like crazy again.

[He just spent ten whole minutes begging the pawnshop owner to give him an extra $2,000 for her meds.]

[He used to be the golden boy everyone envied. Now he'll do anything for Lena.]

[Stop dragging this out... Ethan won't truly be free until Lena's gone.]

[Once Chloe shows up, he'll finally know what real happiness is.]

Line after line slid past my eyes.

Each one felt like a needle pricking my eyes.

I looked down, took the water from him, and swallowed the pills one by one.

As soon as I swallowed them, my stomach began to cramp.

A sharp pain shot through my stomach.

I bit my lip hard to keep from crying out.

When Ethan saw that I'd finally taken the pills, some of the tension left his face.

He didn't say anything else.

He just dug a piece of fruit candy out of his coat pocket.

It was a cheap piece of candy, its wrapper worn from being carried around in his pocket.

He unwrapped it and put it in my mouth.

His fingertip brushed my lips.

His fingertips were rough and calloused from months of heavy lifting.

Ethan had never needed to do any of this before.

Those hands used to hold a paintbrush. Now, grease was always trapped under his nails, no matter how hard he scrubbed.

The candy was sweet, but all I felt inside was bitterness.

I had late-stage stomach cancer.

The doctors had told me long ago that those expensive new drugs could only slow the disease at best. They would never cure me.

But Ethan refused to believe it.

He clung to every last scrap of hope and was willing to try anything.

Selling the house.

Putting the car up as collateral.

Borrowing money from everyone he knew.

All to keep me alive one more day.

Only now did I understand.

All of this was part of the story's plot.

I was destined to die.

Only after Ethan hit rock bottom would Chloe appear.

She would be his salvation.