Chapter 2

Sometime later, I woke to someone calling my name and realized it had gotten dark.

My friend Linda was tapping my cheeks, tears streaming down her face.

It was too late for rescue teams to come up, but my friends had all arrived.

"Your fiancé came back with that woman, saying he couldn't find you. We knew something had happened. We've been searching with detectors for hours before finding you. Hang in there, Susie—we'll get you down for treatment."

The team leader held my hand, his voice breaking.

By then, I was barely breathing.

"Linda, do you have a voice recorder? I want to say something."

I'd been trapped between rocks for too long—I knew I wouldn't make it.

A part of my spirit drifted out, watching from above as Linda performed emergency aid through her tears.

I followed them back to camp. Henry had already taken Lucy down to the village at the foot of the mountain.

The friends who stayed behind were furious.

"Susie's fiancé said that woman wasn't feeling well and insisted on taking her first. He didn't care about Susie at all—you'd never guess he was about to marry her."

My friends sat in silence for a long while, doing their best to prepare my body before arranging transport to send me home.

Some strange force pulled my spirit away, bringing me to Henry's side.

He was sitting by Lucy's bed, feeding her medicine and offering candy to mask the bitterness.

"Henry, we just left like that—what about Susie?" Lucy asked, looking guilty.

"Susie's experienced. She goes on adventures all the time. I'm sure she's fine." Henry tried to give Lucy more medicine, but she playfully refused.

Henry smiled indulgently and drank it himself.

I remembered his germaphobia—he never drank from anything someone else had touched.

Suddenly, Henry's phone pinged with a message.

He opened it and my faint voice came through:

"Henry, I'm dying. I'll hate you forever."

It turned out that Linda had sent my recording to him.

Henry's face darkened as he shut off his phone.

"Henry, did something happen?" Lucy asked.

"Susie just loves these little tricks to get my attention. Ignore her—let her make a scene. If she can send messages, she must be back at her workplace. Why should we worry about her?"

Henry stroked Lucy's head and took the medicine bowl out to wash.

I followed him, watching him skillfully clean dishes with mixed emotions.

During our relationship, he claimed he couldn't do housework, so I handled everything.

For seven years, after dinner he'd go straight to the bedroom to rest—never washed a single dish.

He wasn't incapable. He just didn't want to.

Lucy only had a mild cold. After a brief IV treatment, she was fine.

Henry arranged her clothes and said he'd already bought tickets back to the city.

"Henry, aren't we waiting for Susie?"

"No need. She knows the way home—she'll make it back on her own."

After returning to the city, Lucy submitted her video and successfully secured her permanent position.

She smiled at Henry, "Thanks to you, I got the job. Let me treat you to dinner tonight, okay?"

"Of course," Henry replied, opening his phone to book a restaurant. He glimpsed a message from my friend and swiped it away.

A colleague noticed Lucy's hand and exclaimed, "Lucy, you're engaged? That diamond ring is gorgeous!"

Lucy glanced shyly at Henry and nodded.

Henry and I had been together for seven years. Last month, we made plans to get married, with both families' approval.

Six days ago, I found a box with a diamond ring in Henry's pocket and was overjoyed.

But Henry didn't propose for several days, until I saw Lucy's social media post:

"Thank you to my guardian angel! Finally have a diamond ring in this lifetime."

The photo showed that very ring.

When I confronted Henry, he explained that Lucy had asked him to buy it for her—I was misunderstanding.

Seeing how upset I was, he promised we'd get our marriage license in advance, so I reluctantly believed him.

"Keep it low-key—people at work gossip," Henry said to Lucy with gentle reproach.

"I can't help being excited! You've kept every promise you made to me. Of course I want to tell the world," Lucy said, linking her arm through his.

Henry didn't pull away. Instead, he put his arm around her waist.

After dinner, Lucy said she felt dizzy and wanted to rest.

Henry took her directly to what was supposed to be our new home.

The apartment was my parents' wedding gift to me. We had just finished renovating it, planning to move in after getting our marriage license.

As soon as they entered, Lucy swayed unsteadily, leaning weakly against Henry.

"Henry, can't you wait for me..."

She pressed against him with tear-filled eyes.

Henry froze, his breathing quickening as they moved closer together.

The phone rang, breaking the intimate moment.

Looking annoyed, Henry answered.

It was Linda, calling to say my body had been transported to the city and needed a family member to sign for it.

Henry laughed coldly, "Look, Susie's friend, you all must have nothing better to do. She must have gone to a lot of trouble to get you to act this out. Tell Susie if she keeps this up, I won't marry her."

Linda was silent for a moment, about to say something more, but Henry hung up.

Lucy seemed to have sobered up a bit. Leaning against Henry, she asked quietly, "Henry, are you really not going to marry her?"

Henry paused.

"That day at the beach, you were the one who saved me, but she took the credit and hurt you. I've always felt she's fundamentally selfish and immature."

He took Lucy's face in his hands and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"You're my princess."

So Henry was still suspicious of me.

Before Lucy went abroad, she invited Henry and me to the beach.

Lucy insisted on swimming in the ocean. Henry went with her but was swept away by waves and lost consciousness.

I swam out to save him and cut my arm on rocks—I still have the scar.

He was unconscious. I left him on the beach and went to find someone to take him to the hospital.

When I returned with the lifeguard, Lucy was sitting beside Henry, crying dramatically.

Later when I said I'd saved him, Henry frowned and showed me a photo Lucy had sent him.

She had a long scar on her arm, worse than mine.

After Lucy went abroad, I forgot about the incident. I never imagined Henry had been holding onto it all this time.

"Then why did you stay with her?" Lucy asked, her expression unnatural, which Henry failed to notice.

"Because I got used to her," he reflected for a moment. "Her parents promised me 500,000 as downpayment for a new house after we married.”

So that was it.

I watched them numbly. I'd loved this man for seven years.

How many seven-year periods do we get in a lifetime?

Lucy slept in the master bedroom.

She wore my pajamas, sleeping in the bedroom I'd carefully decorated.

In the middle of the night, Lucy said she had a fever. Henry couldn't find any fever medicine in the house and called me.

After more than a dozen unanswered calls, Henry grew angry.

"Susie, if you keep playing these games, I won't marry you."

He sent a voice message, only then remembering I hadn't been home since the landslide.

"Henry, I feel terrible," Lucy whimpered.

Henry immediately wrapped her in a coat and carried her out.

When I used to get sick, Henry never took care of me. He'd just pour me a glass of water and tell me to rest at home.

"Susie, you do outdoor activities all the time. A little cold is nothing—just tough it out."

Only when I passed out from a high fever did he frantically take me to the hospital.

After a night of chaos, Henry had nowhere to vent his anger, so he sent a stream of complaints to my chat.

"Susie, I'm giving you one hour. If you don't show up, we're done."

He turned off his phone and went to work with a grim face.

There was an important meeting that morning. Henry, excellent at his job, successfully completed his report. A colleague handed him a new document.

"Next item: On October 5th, a landslide occurred during an expedition at the city's cliff site. The accident resulted in one explorer's death. Authorities are investigating. Regarding the deceased female team member, Susie..."

Henry's voice grew quieter until he saw my name. His mouth fell open, unable to utter another word.