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Love Was No Match for Convention
Love Was No Match for Convention
Author: BunBun Eats Well

Chapter 1

Author: BunBun Eats Well
Yvonne's POV

Less than ten minutes after James Zane left, a $100,000 transfer hit my personal account.

The sender was anonymous, but I knew exactly who it was.

I stared at the string of numbers for a long time, overwhelmed by conflicting emotions. In the end, I used the money to pay my hospital bills, buying this battered body of mine a little more time.

Once the paperwork was done, I dragged myself home.

Calling it a home was generous. It was nothing more than a tiny rented studio, cramped and damp, with a single north-facing window that never saw sunlight. Much like my life.

Ever since the choice I'd made five years ago, it seemed light had disappeared from it for good.

I'd barely managed to lower myself onto the old couch, which creaked under my weight, when someone knocked on the door.

The knock was soft, almost hesitant.

I sighed. I could already guess who it was.

Struggling back to my feet, I made my way to the door on my crutches. James's mother, Margaret Zane, stood outside, holding a basket of fruits and wearing a strained smile.

"Yvonne, I came to see how you're doing."

As she spoke, her gaze unconsciously swept over my shabby apartment and the crutches in my hands.

Something complicated flickered through her eyes, so faint it was almost impossible to catch. Then it vanished beneath a calm that bordered on indifference.

I stepped aside to let her in.

"Mrs. Zane, what are you doing here?"

She entered and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, as if she couldn't find anywhere suitable to sit. Only after I gestured toward the single wooden chair did she finally take a seat.

Her back remained perfectly straight, as though that posture alone could separate her from the run-down surroundings.

"Yvonne, I know I shouldn't have come to bother you." She took a deep breath, clasping her hands tightly in her lap. "But I really didn't have any other choice..."

I watched her calmly, waiting for the words I had already expected.

Seven years ago, she'd been exactly the same.

I'd just received my diagnosis, and it felt as though my entire world had collapsed when she stormed into my hospital room without a thought for anything else.

At the time, the Zane family was on the verge of bankruptcy after a disastrous investment. Everything they had was hanging by a thread.

The only thing that could save them was an injection of capital from the Shaw family, another business powerhouse.

There was just one condition: James had to marry Wendy Shaw, the family's only daughter.

James had been fighting bitterly with his family over me. That was when Margaret dropped to her knees in front of me.

"Yvonne, I'm begging you. Let James go! This is the Zane family's last chance. He can't only think about himself!

"I know you and James love each other, but you're an orphan, and... and now you're like this..."

Her eyes fell to the diagnosis in my hand.

She didn't finish the sentence, but there was no need.

"Please, Yvonne. Leave him. How much do you need for treatment? $100,000? $200,000? I'll give it to you!

"Take the money and find some reason to break up with him. Make him give up on you. Let him go abroad and save the Zane family. Please."

I'd only just found out I had cancer. My mind had gone blank, torn between overwhelming fear and the thought of losing James.

But as I watched Margaret sob in front of me, almost bowing her head to the floor, I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if James lost everything because of me and even dragged his entire family down with him.

It tore me apart.

I didn't take Margaret's money.

But I signed the agreement she'd prepared, the fake document stating that I'd accepted money in exchange for leaving James willingly.

Then I put on an act, making him believe I was greedy and had fallen for someone else.

I could still remember the look in James's eyes that day, filled with shock, rage, and betrayal.

He smashed the ceramic mug we'd made together, pointed at the door, and hoarsely told me to get out.

Not long afterward, he gave in to his family's arrangements and went abroad with Wendy Shaw.

And just like that, five years passed.

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  • Love Was No Match for Convention   Chapter 10

    Third-Person POVJames took Yvonne's ashes to the stretch of coast they had often visited back in college.Following her wishes, there was no funeral. James went alone.The sea wind blew hard, tousling his hair.He opened the urn and slowly scattered the fine white ashes into the waves."You're free now, Yvonne," he said softly.No more pain. No more suffering. No more being bound by the burdens of this world.The waves carried her ashes out to sea until they disappeared into the endless blue.James stood there for a long time, until the sun began to set.The phone in his pocket kept vibrating with calls from work.He didn't answer.Right now, he was simply a man who had lost the love of his life.He reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellowed note. He had found it not long ago while going through some old things, tucked inside one of his college textbooks.It was in Yvonne's handwriting, and the words were something he had never seen before.[James, if I go before you someday, d

  • Love Was No Match for Convention   Chapter 9

    I really didn't have much time left.The doctor quietly warned James that it could happen within the next few days.I spent longer and longer stretches unconscious, and the moments when I was awake grew fewer.Whenever my mind became foggy, I often couldn't tell the past from the present.Sometimes when I thought we were still in college, I'd reach for James's hand and insist that we go get ice cream from the place outside campus.Other times, I'd murmur things under my breath, words that made sense only to me.James stayed by my bedside the entire time, never leaving.He had lost a lot of weight. Dark shadows hung beneath his eyes, and stubble covered his jaw.The once confident young businessman now looked exhausted and unkempt.Yara came to see me, her eyes red as she fought back tears.She held my hand and called my name over and over.I tried to smile at her, wanting to tell her not to be sad.But I didn't even have the strength to lift my hand.That final afternoon, the sun was b

  • Love Was No Match for Convention   Chapter 8

    James used every connection and resource he had to transfer me to the best private hospital in the city, where he arranged consultations with top specialists.He tried to keep me alive with the best medical care money could buy, but the cancer had already eaten away too much of my body.My attending physician told him privately that my condition was extremely poor.The cancer had spread extensively. The treatments available could only slow its progression. They couldn't reverse it.I was able to get out of bed less and less. Most of the time, I could only lie there, relying on machines and medication to keep my vital signs stable.James canceled almost all of his work and came to the hospital every day.He stopped bringing up the past. He didn't ask about the future either. He simply stayed with me in silence.Sometimes he read to me. Other times, he just sat beside the bed, holding my hand without saying a word.His hand was warm around my cold fingers.In my haze, I would sometimes f

  • Love Was No Match for Convention   Chapter 7

    As I drifted in and out through the pain and haze, I heard frantic knocking at the door.It sounded as if it were coming from somewhere far away, yet at the same time, each knock seemed to strike directly against my skull.I didn't have the strength to answer. I couldn't even get up.Then the door seemed to burst open. Voices and hurried footsteps flooded into the apartment.Someone was shouting my name. The voice was familiar, filled with panic.Was it Yara? Or...I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt impossibly heavy.Someone gently lifted me into a warm, solid embrace.The feeling was unfamiliar, yet strangely familiar at the same time.Who was it?I tried to ask, but only a broken breath escaped my throat."Hold on, Yvonne. I won't let you die!"It had to be a hallucination.Just before I lost consciousness completely, something warm seemed to fall onto my cheek.Was it raining?...When I regained some awareness, I found myself lying in a hospital bed.The smell of disinfec

  • Love Was No Match for Convention   Chapter 6

    After James left, my world settled back into its stagnant calm.But beneath that calm, something was always stirring.My health continued to deteriorate. I coughed up blood more and more often, and the painkillers worked less and less.My doctor called and gently asked whether I would consider chemotherapy or getting in touch with hospice care.I declined.I didn't want to spend my final days in some unfamiliar place, covered in tubes and stripped of all dignity.I only wanted to stay in this tiny rented apartment, the place that had once held a brief stretch of warmth between James and me, and quietly wait for the end.Yara helped me contact a funeral home, and I made the arrangements in advance, paying the deposit myself.I chose a simple memorial, with nothing but my name and the years of my birth and death.I had no family. I didn't need any hollow words of mourning.Having a place to rest was already more than enough.Once everything was arranged, I felt much lighter, as if a heav

  • Love Was No Match for Convention   Chapter 5

    I leaned against the wall, my heart pounding wildly in my chest. Each frantic beat seemed to tug at every nerve in my body, sending pain through me."You're not going to open the door?" James gave a cold laugh. "Fine. I'll wait right here until you do."The hallway fell silent, but I could tell he hadn't left.The invisible pressure of his presence made it almost impossible to breathe.The minutes dragged by, the two of us locked in a strange standoff on opposite sides of the door.My strength was draining fast, and cold sweat trickled down my temple.In the end, I gave in.With a trembling hand, I turned the lock.The moment the door opened, James stepped inside, bringing the chill from outside with him.His tall frame nearly blocked all the light from the doorway. His gaze settled on me with an almost physical weight, moving slowly from head to toe. The disgust in his eyes was unmistakable, along with a faint trace of scrutiny."Hiding from me?" His lips curved, but there was no warm

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