Chapter 1

At noon, at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Aaron Jones stood beneath the blazing sun, yet he felt as though he was trapped in an icy tomb. The test results in his hand were nothing short of a death sentence.

They confirmed that he had AIDS.

The initial screening at the public hospital had already come back positive. When the follow-up test at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the result, he was officially diagnosed with AIDS.

Aaron looked up at the dazzling sun, unable to feel any of its warmth. Instead, he silently questioned the heavens, wondering why they had to be so cruel to him.

He was only twenty-eight, yet he had already earned his doctorate and risen to the highest professional rank at his institution. His future had seemed limitless.

He never even got the chance to make his mark before a terminal illness struck.

To see all his ambitions cut short before he could even begin was both devastating and infuriating.

“There are only a few ways this disease can be transmitted. Based on what you’ve told me, your wife was most likely the one who infected you.

“Have her come in for a screening immediately and begin treatment as soon as possible. With a disease like this, every minute counts.”

The doctor’s words were cold and sharp, like needles driven straight into his heart.

But aside from sexual transmission, Aaron could not think of any other way he could have contracted the disease.

His wife, Vanessa Hart, was twenty-eight as well.

With her breathtaking beauty, she was known as the most beautiful woman in Eastbridge City.

Three years earlier, Aaron had gone to the Commercial Development Bank to handle some business, where he met Vanessa by chance. They quickly fell in love and soon married.

For the past three years, Aaron and Vanessa had been deeply in love, their marriage harmonious and affectionate.

Because Vanessa was constantly busy with work and business engagements, they had decided not to have children right away.

Aaron threw himself into his career, determined to take it even further. Earlier that year, he left on a business trip soon after the holidays. If he hadn’t fallen ill, he would still be working in some remote part of the country.

After getting into his car, Aaron called Vanessa and asked her to come to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention for a screening as well. But just before the call connected, he abruptly hung up.

He had told no one about his return for the follow-up examination, not even his wife.

He wanted to see what she had really been doing while he was away.

When Aaron got home, Vanessa was nowhere to be found. The thick layer of dust covering everything suggested that no one had set foot inside for at least a month.

They bought the house as their first home together three years ago. It was only a ten-minute drive from the bank where Vanessa worked.

Aaron turned around and drove to the bank. When he failed to spot Vanessa’s car in the executive parking area, he slammed his hand against the steering wheel. Then he remembered that her car was equipped with GPS tracking.

She was at the Eastbridge Grand Hotel?

When Aaron arrived at the hotel, he immediately spotted Vanessa’s car. He looked up at the imposing building, its grand architecture and lavish decor suddenly conjuring a horrifying image.

Somewhere in one of the rooms above, his beautiful wife might be with another man, doing God knew what.

Suddenly, his car jolted, and he hurriedly slammed on the brakes.

When he got out, he saw that he had collided with a Volkswagen.

He had been distracted by his thoughts and failed to notice the vehicle backing out in front of him.

The other driver was an ordinary middle-aged woman. After taking a quick look at the damage, she stepped aside to make a phone call.

Aaron intended to settle the matter privately, but the woman refused. She insisted on calling both the insurance company and the police, refusing to compromise no matter what he said.

“Don’t even think about leaving!”

The middle-aged woman refused to let Aaron leave, preventing him from entering the hotel to catch his wife in the act.

The traffic police still had not arrived, and Vanessa might be inside the hotel meeting another man. The thought left Aaron increasingly agitated.

A moment later, Aaron’s eyes widened when he saw Vanessa walk out of the hotel lobby with an unfamiliar man. She had her arm linked through his, and the two of them chatted and laughed as they walked.

So, she really came to the hotel with another man!

Aaron was furious and was about to rush over.

But the middle-aged woman blocked his way. Two “righteous” onlookers also took advantage of his distraction and twisted his arms behind his back, preventing him from breaking free.

Aaron was weak, and he still wanted to preserve what little dignity he had left, so he did not make a scene. All he could do was watch Vanessa get into the stranger’s car and watch them speed away in a cloud of dust.

After finally breaking free, Aaron examined his hands and arms.

When he saw that he had no open wounds, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Otherwise, any open wound could have exposed others to the virus, while contact with their blood might have left him vulnerable to a secondary infection—something that could have been fatal in his condition.

Once the insurance claim had been settled, Aaron cast a cold glance at the middle-aged woman before entering the hotel. He found the manager and asked to see the security footage, but his request was firmly refused.

After taking a moment to calm down, Aaron realized that knowing who her lover was no longer mattered.

Since Vanessa was infected, the man she’d slept with had most likely caught it too. He wouldn’t escape the same deadly fate!

AIDS was an incurable, terminal disease!

Overwhelmed by despair, Aaron sat in his car and cried for a long time. Eventually, exhaustion overtook him, and he fell asleep. When he woke, night had already fallen.

When he returned home, he found that Vanessa still had not come back.

Bitterness filled his heart. It was obvious that she had found someone else and no longer even cared about coming home.

A woman who cheated always abandoned her marriage in every way that mattered!

Aaron wanted to call Vanessa, but his phone had run out of battery, so he plugged it in to charge first.

Unable to sit still, he thought about it and decided to go to his in-laws’ house. Vanessa might be there.

His in-laws lived in an affluent neighborhood, in an impressive three-story villa with a private entrance garden.

Aaron entered the gate code and had just opened the courtyard gate when Vanessa happened to walk out of the house.

She was wearing a simple house dress. Her features were delicate, her skin smooth and pale, and her bearing extraordinary. She looked incredibly sexy.

Her long, slender legs were perfectly proportioned.

His wife was the most beautiful woman in Eastbridge City.

“Aaron? Why are you back? Why didn’t you tell me you are coming over?”

Vanessa looked startled to see him.

Aaron suddenly covered his mouth, turned away, and stumbled toward the flower bed, where he vomited.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

Vanessa frowned, clearly disgusted by the smell, but she still pinched her nose and walked over. She gently patted Aaron’s back and asked him with concern.

Aaron’s neck and the side of his face were covered in sweat.

Nausea and sweating were among the symptoms of AIDS!

Aaron had barely eaten anything all day. By then, he was vomiting nothing but bile, leaving him in unbearable pain.

It took him a long while to recover before he finally composed himself and went inside.

His eyes swept across the room. “Are you alone?”

“My parents went to one of their gatherings and haven’t come back yet. And look at you. You didn’t even change your shoes.

“Mom will lecture you when she gets home. What’s that smell on you? Why do you stink so badly? You haven’t changed your clothes in days, have you? Your collar is covered in grime. You’re filthy! Go take a shower!”

Vanessa waved a hand in front of her nose. She had originally wanted to hug Aaron, but the dirt and foul smell clinging to him dampened most of her enthusiasm.

Filthy?

She slept with another man in a hotel this afternoon. Wasn’t that filthier?

Vanessa’s obvious aversion irritated Aaron for reasons he couldn’t explain.

He clenched his teeth and asked, “When was the last time we slept together?”

The corners of Vanessa’s lips lifted. “Before you left on your business trip. Hmph. At least you still have some sense of responsibility. You do remember that you have a wife at home!”

“Have you had a medical checkup recently?”

“I have one every month. Why?”

“Then there’s nothing wrong with your health?”

“Of course not. You ask too many questions. Go upstairs, take a shower, and change your clothes. Then come back down and talk to me.”

Vanessa wanted to be intimate with Aaron, but every time she came close, the foul smell clinging to him killed the mood.

Aaron asked, “Where did you go this afternoon?”

Without hesitation, Vanessa replied, “I stayed home and rested!”

“Did you? I came home this afternoon and found the place covered in dust. How could you have been resting here? Besides, I was at the Eastbridge Grand Hotel, and I saw you there. Who was that man?”

Vanessa froze in shock, and her phone slipped from her hand onto the carpet.