Chapter 2

It was under these circumstances that Rosalie and I got together because of our parents' arrangements. Although we had been married for five years, her treatment toward me was lukewarm, and she didn't like talking to me.

I took meticulous care of her, assuming she would open her heart to me one day. But it turned out to be nothing more than wishful thinking. In our lives, I was constantly the giver, while she was just the perfunctory receiver.

I was over the moon with joy when Rosalie suddenly got pregnant a year ago. She had gotten pregnant when we accidentally slept together after she got drunk. Although we were married, we still slept in different rooms.

However, Rosalie contacted a doctor and aborted the child even before I could share the good news with Mom and Dad.

What did she say at the time?

"Do you really think that we should bring a child into a marriage like ours, Nathan?"

I didn't understand. Was our marriage truly that terrible?

When we got into a fight a few days ago, the topic of a child was brought up again. Besides wanting to be like a regular married couple with Rosalie, our parents were also rushing us to conceive. They were constantly hinting that we should settle down and have a child, especially since we had been married for five years.

Mom was especially pushy. She was diagnosed with stomach cancer two years ago and had to undergo surgery to remove a part of her stomach. She was always worried that she would have a recurrence and constantly nagged me about wanting to have a grandchild.

When I told Rosalie about our parents' wishes, she scoffed and said, "You can't be too greedy, Nathan. I already married you on your terms. I can't give you anything more than that."

Her constant indifference hurt me deeply.

"Why did you agree to this marriage of convenience if you weren't willing to marry me at the time?" I roared furiously. "Why are you giving me attitude when you've already agreed to it?"

A frosty expression appeared on Rosalie's face. "You should know better than anyone else what underhanded tactics you used. Stop pretending that you're innocent."

"I used underhanded tactics?" I repeated with a bitter smile. "You should know better than anyone else how I've treated you since we got married years ago. The only thing I haven't done is carve my heart out of my chest and give it to you!"

Rosalie let out a mocking laugh upon hearing my words. "Everything that you've done is just to soothe your own ego. It's not actually what I wanted."

"Tell me then," I said pleadingly. "What do you want? Tell me, and I'll give you whatever you want as long as it's within my power to do so."

"Are you willing to die for me?" Rosalie asked with eyes that were full of venom.

I went rigid, feeling as if I had been plunged into a deep abyss as a freezing sensation spread through my body.

Rosalie made her way toward the door and changed her shoes. Right before she left, she looked at me and said, "Don't talk to me about having a child again, Nathan. Who do you think you are? Do you really believe that you deserve to have a child with me?"

Her look of disdain was like a knife that stabbed itself into my heart. I collapsed onto the chair in a boneless heap.

…

It was bright and early the next day when I waited in front of the courthouse.

Rosalie and I were the first couple to file for a divorce that day. The process went by quickly. We could get our divorce certificates after the 30-day cooldown period.

As we stood in front of the courthouse, Rosalie put on her sunglasses and said coldly, "Move your belongings out of the house as soon as possible. I'm going to hire a realtor to sell the house, and I don't want you getting in the way of potential clients.

"My assistant will wire the money to you according to the terms in the agreement. I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore."

She paused for a moment before continuing, "Let's not see each other again if there's no need to from today on."

My heart throbbed painfully. I forced myself to smile as I said, "Don't worry. We won't."

My eyes stung terribly as I turned around and left. I couldn't help but think about what the doctor told me yesterday.

"It's impossible to determine how much longer you have to live since you're dealing with late-stage pancreatic cancer. A cancer cell outbreak might occur at any given moment."

I wondered if I would live long enough to get my divorce certificate. I turned my head at the thought, wanting to take a look at the woman whom I had loved for more than a decade.

However, Rosalie had already hopped into her car and zoomed off into the distance. All I could see were the taillights of her red sports car.

…

The air in the house felt heavy when I returned home. I stood in the middle of the living room and looked around. I could almost recall how elated I had been when we moved into the house for the first time after I married Rosalie.

The house was decorated with many things. I had bought most of them as gifts for her, thinking that she would like them. However, she had never really looked at any of my gifts.

I packed up all these gifts and my own belongings before contacting the property's cleaning team. At least they wouldn't go to waste if the cleaning team could use them.

After all, I was going to die soon. It was pointless for me to keep these material things.