Chapter 1

"Ms. Lewis, your follow-up results are in. It’s stage 2 stomach cancer. Are you sure you don’t want to inform your family?"

"No need."

As she stepped out of the hospital, a wave of hot wind swept over her.

Autumn slipped the report into her bag, her face a little pale.

In the third year of her marriage to Julian Carter, he had an affair, and she got cancer.

What a lousy script she ended up with.

But Autumn was afraid of dying, especially after getting cancer from being so angry at a man who couldn't keep it in his pants.

At this moment, she figured it out.

If she couldn’t hold the sand, then she would let it scatter.

After making all the arrangements, Autumn drove to the office.

She arrived at her desk, picked up a stack of documents, and headed to the office on the 17th floor.

She knocked on the office door.

"Come in."

Autumn pushed the door open and walked in.

"What is it?"

The man looked up, his eyes settling heavily on her.

Julian had a handsome face, sharp features, and years of experience in the business world.

He’d long shed the immaturity of youth and carried the steady composure and authority of a man in power.

Autumn handed over a stack of papers, her voice gentle.

"This is from the check-up last week. The hospital sent it over. It needs your signature."

She placed the report in front of Julian and thoughtfully clicked open the pen, placing it in his hand.

Julian rubbed the center of his forehead tiredly, didn’t even glance at it, and signed.

"Don’t bother me with trivial things like this in the future."

"Alright."

Autumn complied and tucked the papers away.

The moment she turned, she caught sight of a sliver of white fabric sticking out from under the large office desk.

She recognized that skirt—it belonged to her stepsister, Luna Lewis.

Autumn lowered her gaze, masking the mockery in her eyes, and strode away.

A few seconds later, a faint click echoed behind her as the door was locked.

They were that eager, huh?

Autumn’s heart plummeted like a stone into a deep lake, swallowed whole by the cold weight of it, leaving her chest tight with a breathless, suffocating pressure.

She looked down and pulled out the last two sheets from the stack in her hands.

If Julian had just looked a little closer, he would’ve seen not only her follow-up diagnosis confirming stage 2 stomach cancer, but also the final page—a divorce agreement.

Autumn met Julian when she was five.

That same year, her father had an affair, and her mother filed for divorce.

Her two older brothers were given to her father, and she was placed in her mother’s custody.

After the divorce, the mistress brought her illegitimate daughter, Luna, into the family.

Autumn and her mother moved to a new neighborhood, where she met Julian, who lived next door.

They had grown up together.

Julian once broke three ribs fighting for her.

Whenever she had a fever or caught a cold, he’d worry sick over her.

His social media was filled with nothing but pictures of her.

He had once promised to love her for a lifetime, and yet he was the first to break that vow.