Chapter 3

Staying alive had become a struggle in itself, let alone continuing my boxing career.

Betty went over the precautions I needed to follow. "You'll have to blanch your fruit before eating it, limit your salt intake to two grams a day, and even watch how much water you drink."

Tears streaming down her face, Carla scribbled every instruction in a little notebook.

For a brief moment, I thought I saw regret in her eyes. But then again, I must have imagined it. After all, she should have been happy to see me reduced to this state and felt that she'd finally gotten her revenge.

But for the next two weeks after we returned home, she took care of me around the clock. In fact, she was even more attentive and patient than ever.

Since I had to eat small meals throughout the day, she put her work on hold to cook for me herself. In short, she took care of everything and wouldn't let anyone else help.

Just when I was starting to believe she'd truly changed, my condition took a turn for the worse.

On a bright, sunny day, I vomited until I passed out.

As I drifted in and out of consciousness, I could faintly hear my doctor, Evan Mackey, yelling beside me.

"Trevor's been getting dialysis on schedule, so how could his condition have progressed to kidney failure this quickly? As his wife, can't you show a little more concern for him? Don't let him eat whatever he wants just because you feel sorry for him! You're going to kill him if you do that!"

I let out a bitter laugh, and the image of the woman I'd spent my life chasing shattered completely in that moment.

I'd been a fool to think otherwise, because Carla hadn't been taking such good care of me out of guilt or to make amends. Rather, it had all been part of her plan to take her revenge even further.

She'd fooled me again.

But there wouldn't be a next time.

When I woke up again, Carla was nowhere to be seen.

After a moment of silence, I took out my phone and made a call.

"I remember you said you'd do me a favor. Does that offer still stand?"

Hearing this, the man on the other end immediately replied with excitement, "Mr. Draper, your father, Jonathan Draper, saved my life! You could ask me for one favor or 100. I'll do anything for you!"

Who could have imagined that the boy Dad had once rescued from drowning out of sheer kindness, Noel Denton, would grow up to become a wealthy tycoon who was practically chasing me down for a chance to repay the favor?

At first, I'd had no intention of using Dad's good deed to demand anything in return.

But now, all I wanted was to live. I wanted to keep living so I could stand in the ring again and reclaim the glory that had always been mine.

After hearing my request, Noel immediately got to work arranging my transfer to another hospital and finding me a kidney donor.

Only after ending the call did I finally breathe a genuine sigh of relief.

Suddenly, I heard a phone vibrating.

I thought I'd received a message from Noel. But on closer inspection, I realized the sound was coming from Carla's phone on the table.

A message from Ivan was displayed on the screen.

Curious, I tried entering Carla's birthday as the passcode. But it was incorrect.

With a bitter laugh, I tried my own birthday. That failed too.

I even tried the anniversaries of our confession and wedding, but none of them worked.

Finally, I entered Ivan's birthday.

The screen unlocked instantly.

"Once you've completed this final act of revenge, you'll be free to leave Trevor for good and come back to me."

"Come back"? I frowned at those two words.

Almost as if possessed, I began scrolling up through their chat history.

That was when I discovered that Ivan wasn't merely Carla's secret crush, as she'd claimed. In reality, they'd been childhood sweethearts and had been dating for years. However, they'd kept their relationship a secret and never made it public.

No wonder she'd turned down every confession and even seemed disgusted by my advances. Yet, after I'd pursued her relentlessly for three years, she suddenly stopped keeping me at arm's length one day and accepted my confession.

I'd always believed she'd finally been moved by my sincerity, but now I knew the truth. Hoping to beat me and take the championship for himself, Ivan had deliberately sent Carla my way to sabotage me.

But back then, despite being hopelessly in love with Ivan, Carla hadn't been willing to resort to such underhanded tactics. Instead, she'd simply showered me with affection, whispered sweet nothings in my ear, and begged me to throw the match.