Chapter 1

Before I could even process what was happening, the phone in Landon Law’s pocket, its screen shattered into a spiderweb of cracks, started ringing.

A message notification popped up on the lock screen.

[Clara]: “Landon, I’m scared being here alone…”

A flicker of panic crossed his eyes. He quickly turned off the screen.

When he looked up again, his face was full of guilt as he tucked the blanket around me.

“Stella, the foreman’s calling me back to the construction site. Just rest, alright? I’ll find a way to cover your treatment.”

Before, hearing those words would have made my heart ache.

I would have cried, then handed over every last cent I’d earned.

But now, all I felt was disgust.

Right then, a mechanical voice suddenly sounded in my mind.

[Detected male lead’s lie: “Returning to the construction site to earn money for medical expenses.”]

[Lie identified. Reward granted: Brain tumor progression has been halted.]

As the notification faded, the splitting pain in my head, the kind that felt like it might explode at any moment, actually eased, as if by a miracle.

He had barely left when my attending doctor walked in right after.

“Miss Ross, the tumor is already pressing on your nerves. You need to pay the full 60,000 for treatment by tomorrow. Otherwise, you won’t last a month.”

I took out my phone and looked at the remaining balance of 52 dollars and let out a bitter laugh.

For eight years, every cent I made had gone to him.

And in the end, all I got in return was a ridiculous act of playing poor.

I took a deep breath, pulled the IV needle from the back of my hand, and struggled out of bed, steadying myself against the wall as I stumbled after him.

The man who, just ten minutes ago, had claimed he was heading to a construction site stepped out of the general ward and, in the next breath, was dressed in an immaculate custom-tailored suit.

On his wrist was a watch worth a million, and he was striding quickly toward the VIP executive ward on the top floor.

Through the crack in the door, I heard a woman’s soft, delicate voice complaining, “Landon, the smell of disinfectant in this hospital is awful.”

Landon’s eyes were filled with a tenderness I had never once seen before.

He gently stroked her hair.

“Be good, Clara. I’m sorry you had to put up with this. I’ve already bought this private hospital. From now on, the entire building will be reserved just for you to recover in, alright?”

The laughter between the man and the woman inside the room pierced straight through my heart like a blade.