Chapter 4

Impatience flickered in Molly's eyes. "If you die, I'll see you buried myself.

"Whether you take the picture or not, and whether or not you faked that report, none of it changes the fact that Tyler and I are getting married.

"For the sake of the portfolio I delivered for your photography competition three years ago, stop making trouble."

I froze. It felt like my heart had been blown to pieces with dynamite.

Even my voice trembled uncontrollably. "You think... I'm playing games to break you two up?"

The corners of her lips curved slightly, the look she gave me sharp and cold.

She said nothing, yet she'd said everything.

I wanted to laugh.

I wanted to cry.

But in the end, I just fought desperately to hold back the tears threatening to break free.

After a long while, she looked at me as if she felt a twinge of pity and added in a low voice, "I don't want him to know even the slightest thing... about you."

I let out a heavy breath.

I wanted so badly to tell her that the last frame on that roll was meant for me.

For my memorial portrait.

I'd stopped loving her a long time ago.

But my throat felt choked by the impatience in her eyes, and I couldn't say a single word.

What finally came out was, "I'll... take it."

The moment the last shutter clicked, I fled to my lounge and swallowed a few more painkillers.

But the pills couldn't touch my pain anymore.

Taking them was nothing more than a placebo.

There was a knock at the door.

"Dominic, come to the bachelor party tonight! I want to thank you properly!"

But with late-stage stomach cancer, I couldn't eat anything at all. Every bite was torture for my ravaged stomach.

I wanted to say no.

But before I could open my mouth, Molly's cool voice rang out. "Come. Tyler wants you there."

I froze, but under her forceful stare, I got in the car anyway.

By the time we arrived, plenty of people were already there.

Ignoring how stiff I'd gone, Tyler dragged me into the crowd, pressed a glass of liquor into my palm, and took one for himself.

"This one's for you. Thank you for capturing the way my wife looks at me. You made it look so full of love. I really love it!"

The hand holding my glass trembled slightly as I forced a smile.

The harsh, bitter liquor exploded across my tongue.

My first instinct was to throw up, but in the end I used every ounce of strength I had to slowly swallow the liquor down, along with the blood in my throat.

It felt like swallowing countless razor blades, slicing through my stomach and intestines one cut at a time.

He seemed completely oblivious and poured me another glass.

"This one's a toast to you finding your true love soon. Someone who'll hold you in the palm of their hand and treasure you, just like Molly does for me."

I listened to every single word, my eardrums aching as if pierced by needles.

Like a masochist, I gulped down another mouthful.

I let the pain and the taste of blood rage and explode inside me.

Suddenly, Molly leaned in close and whispered something in Tyler's ear.

Tyler nodded, gave me an apologetic smile, and walked off with his glass.

"Tomorrow I'm getting married. Congratulate me..." She raised her glass toward me, her expression unreadable.

I froze and looked up at her.

Under the refracted light, her eyes were dark and bright, exactly like a woman glowing from being loved.

I suppressed the trembling of my entire body and clinked my glass against hers. I stayed silent for a long, long time.

Then, with tears in my eyes, I smiled and said, "May you two grow old together."

After she left, I downed the rest of my drink in one gulp.

Facing the night wind, I walked out the door one step at a time.

The familiar stickiness trickled from my nose.

Tears streamed down my face, and countless shrill whistles rang in my ears.

But I couldn't make out a thing.

It hurt so much...

I was so tired...

…

On the day of the wedding, at Tyler's strong insistence, Molly finally called Dominic.

"Where are you? Tyler wants you at the wedding..."

But a cold male voice answered instead.

"Ma'am, this is Carvel General Hospital. Dominic Hillier passed away last night."