Chapter 1

Amid the rowdy cheers of his crew, Leo got down on one knee and devoutly slipped the ring onto Nina’s finger.

The diamond ring looked flawless against Nina’s slender hand.

Once upon a time, I’d imagined Leo proposing to me countless times. Now, I stood on the sidelines like a stranger, watching him and Nina exchange happy smiles while my heart sank with sorrow and disappointment.

After the proposal, Leo came back to me and wrapped me in his arms to offer reassurance.

“Don’t read too much into it. Nina’s been diagnosed with advanced medullary cancer. Ever since she was a little girl, she has been dreaming about the day she would be proposed to. It’s her only wish. I’m just helping her make it happen.

“I need you to be the bigger person here.”

I murmured quietly, “Mm.”

Apparently, Nina’s dream mattered. Mine didn’t, though.

If that was how it was, I’d rather wake up from this dream.

Nina strutted over in her heels, the ring blinding under the streetlight.

She met my gaze tearfully.

“Ayla, I know you’re upset because I took away your proposal, but I swear I’m not making this up. I pray every day that this diagnosis is just a big mistake.”

Spotting her tears, Leo scowled and turned to me like I was a child throwing a fit. “Ayla, Nina wouldn’t joke about something like this.”

I kept my eyes on the ground. “Right.”

Refusing to drop the matter, Nina pulled a file from her bag and looked at Leo. “She won’t believe me! I brought my hospital records. Just look—”

Leo released me and pressed his hand against the folder. “There’s no need for that. I believe you.

“She’s just a junior doctor. She wouldn’t understand what’s in the file.”

I stood there in a daze, my fingers stiff with the November cold.

My mind went back to the night Leo and I first met.

He’d been shot in an attack by a rival outfit and rushed to Weill Cornell, where I removed the bullet and stitched him up.

At the time, I was a first-year emergency medicine resident. It was my first time removing a bullet on my own. My hands were shaking, but my technique never faltered. When I extracted the bullet with the forceps, he smiled.

“You’re pretty good at what you do, doc. You're going to be one of the best ER doctors out there someday.”

His words stuck with me. Even though several departments wanted me, I chose to pursue a career in emergency medicine.

“It’s getting late. It’s not safe for Nina to take a cab home on her own. I’ll take her back.”

Leo brushed a quick peck on my cheek before helping Nina into the car. He didn’t so much as look back to check on me.

Nina flashed a smug smile at me, her eyes gleaming with victorious disdain.

Saying nothing, I stared silently as Leo’s sports car disappeared around the street corner.

The November night air was bitter. As soon as Leo was gone, his men disappeared, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the square.

I took out my phone, opened my inbox, and located the email that had been sitting there for a while.

“International Medical Relief Mission—Emergency Deployment”

Due to a cholera outbreak in Central Adubrica, the mission was urgently seeking emergency physicians. After passing the qualification screening, I'd been added to the standby list.

I had planned to go, but the deployment date conflicted with my wedding. On top of that, Leo would never have allowed me to leave, so I put the opportunity aside.

Now, if Leo could propose to someone else, what was there that I couldn’t walk away from?

I opened the assignment notice. It was a five-year deployment, with my departure set for the following week.

I pressed the “Accept” button.

The screen refreshed with a message. “Your deployment has been confirmed.”

Seven days.

It was enough time to hand over my work, pack my bags, and disappear from Leo’s world.