Chapter 2

After cleaning up, Katie came over and crouched beside me.

"Wendy.

"Once you're feeling better, let's take a picture together. The three of us."

I suddenly recalled something from many years ago.

The three of us had taken a picture together back then.

Katie had insisted on standing in the middle, saying that she was the oldest and would protect Duncan and me.

Duncan had refused and shamelessly squeezed in beside me.

Just before the camera shutter went off, he secretly took my hand.

After we got the photos back, I laughed for a long time.

I thought I was the happiest person in the world.

Now, I looked at the two exhausted faces before me and smiled.

"We'll take one once I get better."

Katie's tears immediately fell.

She quickly lowered her head and wiped the tears away.

"That's a promise."

I lowered my head and finished the last spoonful of oatmeal.

Deep down, I calmly thought, 'I'm never going to get better. There's no point in taking that picture.'

That's because I would soon disappear from their world completely.

That would be the time I gave them back their freedom.

I would also free myself from this painful love.

That night, I was woken up by an argument in the living room.

It sounded like Katie was crying.

"Back then, Wendy took that job at the factory contaminated by radiation just to pay our tuition!

"She developed pneumoconiosis because of us! We can't betray her like this!"

Then came the sound of clothes being pulled and disheveled.

Duncan's breathing grew heavier.

"We'll never be able to repay what we owe her, but can you honestly say you don't love me?

"This has nothing to do with her. This is between the two of us!"

Katie choked back a sob.

"I don't love you!

"Duncan, listen to me. I don't love you!

"I don't love you at all–

"Mmph!"

The next second, all her protests were silenced.

I lay in bed with my eyes wide open.

In the darkness, I could see the ceiling getting blurry before my eyes.

I heard them kissing in the living room.

I heard Katie crying as she pushed him away.

I also heard her resistance gradually fade.

At that moment, I finally understood that some betrayals didn't begin with physical intimacy.

They began with concern, a moment of compassion, an instinctive act of protection, and an uncontrollable moment of closeness.

Gradually, there would be no way to turn back.

I suddenly felt a violent wave of nausea in my stomach.

The pain in my chest followed.

It felt like a hand had seized my lungs and was slowly twisting them tighter and tighter.

I tried to endure it, but my body had already been tortured by this illness for too long.

The next second, a metallic sweetness surged into my throat.

I quickly reached for the tissues on the nightstand, but my whole body went limp, and I collapsed onto the floor.

The sounds from the living room abruptly stopped.

Duncan and Katie rushed in at the same time.

Katie's hair was disheveled, and her eyes were bloodshot. Her collar was a mess.

When they saw me lying on the floor, their faces instantly turned pale.

"Wendy!"

Katie ran over to help me up.

The scent of her perfume blended with the smell of Duncan's cigarettes.

It made my stomach churn even more.

Duncan ran over and picked me up.

"Wendy, Where does it hurt?

"I'll take you to the hospital."

I shook my head and used the last of my strength to force out a few words. "I'm fine. Go to bed."

The next morning, Katie's eyes were terribly swollen.

She carefully took my hand.

"Wendy, let's take the picture.

"You promised me yesterday."

Duncan frowned when he heard that. "She was coughing up blood last night. Don't make her go through with this today."

Katie's eyes immediately welled with tears.

"I just want a picture of the three of us.

"What if one day–"

Her voice broke before she could finish.

I smiled.

"Then let's go."

It would be perfect as my memorial photo.

They both looked at me simultaneously.

I pretended not to notice the guilt in their eyes.

Katie was the one who chose the photography studio.

The photographer had us stand in front of the backdrop.

Duncan stood to my left, and Katie stood to my right.

After looking at us for a few seconds, the photographer suddenly smiled and said, "You two should stand a little closer. You look like a couple."

He was talking about Duncan and Katie.

The air instantly felt tense.

The smile on Katie's face faded.

Duncan instinctively denied it. "We're not."

He denied it very quickly, but after the words came out, the first person he looked at wasn't me.

It was Katie.

It seemed like he was worried about embarrassing her.

Standing between them, I smiled and spoke.

"It's fine. The three of us are like family."

The moment I said the word family, Katie's eyes instantly welled up with tears.

Duncan froze as well, but I smiled naturally.

I acted as if I genuinely hadn't noticed the obvious spark of romance between them.

In the photograph, I stood in the middle, while Duncan and Katie were next to me on each side.

Yet their shoulders instinctively leaned toward each other.

Only I stood perfectly straight like someone who had finally learned how to make a dignified exit.

I slipped the photo into my bag.

Right then, my phone vibrated.

I received an email from the hospital.

[Ms. Joseph, your treatment refusal request has been verified.]