Chapter 7

Rowan hid in the shadow of a tree and frantically wiped her nose with tissues. Each time she cleaned away the blood, more came.

Fireworks burst overhead as everyone celebrated. Rowan fumbled with the tissues, her heart sinking.

When the bleeding still wouldn’t stop, she called Chase for help.

He answered quickly, asked her for her location, and hung up quickly.

Rowan was afraid Ian might see her, so she walked deeper into the trees. The fireworks went on for a long time. By the time they ended, Ian realized she was missing.

Everyone searched with flashlights.

Rowan heard Ian’s voice getting closer and panicked. Thankfully, the bleeding had stopped. She hid the bloody tissues and quietly emerged from another direction.

“Here I am! I was only playing a joke on you!”

Everyone was relieved to see her.

However, Ian looked ready to explode.

“Was that funny?”

Rowan’s hands still trembled inside her sleeves. She put on a carefree smile.

“Don’t be so serious. I just wanted to see whether you’d notice if I disappeared. Good news! You passed my test!”

Ian’s brow furrowed deeply, and his whole manner turned cold. He didn’t bother saying another word. He took Tina and left ahead of everyone else.

On the drive home, Rowan sat in the passenger seat of Chase’s car, lost in thought.

Her condition was worsening so quickly that she didn’t know whether she would live long enough to see the snow in Valdoria with Ian.

Chase kept telling her she would make it as long as he was there, but his voice began to break.

Rowan smiled through her tears and hugged him.

They both knew how far her illness had progressed.

She was running out of time. She really was.

Still, she fought to get through each day…

Each day, she vomited blood in the bathroom and kept going.

Each night, the pain sent her rolling off the bed, and she kept going.

Her hair fell out in handfuls, and still she kept going.

All so she could see the snow in Valdoria with the man she loved in the final days of her life.

As her birthday drew closer, Rowan stopped going out. She stayed home and packed every day.

There wasn’t much to pack.

In her condition, it would be a miracle if she lasted two or three days in Valdoria.

By then, the next dress she wore would be her burial dress.

She was packing when the door clicked open.

Rowan looked back at Ian and forced a smile. She held up a dress for him to see.

“Ian, what do you think of this one for the snow? Will you take a nice picture of me in it…”

A picture for her funeral.

Before she could finish, Ian snatched the dress from her hands and flung it aside.

“Rowan, what do you want from me?”

The force sent Rowan stumbling to the side.

She fought through the pain and stared at Ian, unable to understand his sudden anger.

“What did I do?”

He gave a cold laugh, his eyes sharp with accusation.

“You did it, so why won’t you admit it? You spread those rumors about Tina coming between us, didn’t you? I’m already with you, and she’s only my assistant. What more do you want? Will you only be satisfied when you’ve driven her into a corner?”