Chapter 2

Five days ago, I was diagnosed with brain cancer with only seven days to live.

I had told Pierce about the cancer, but he hadn’t believed me. He claimed I was just copying Jessica, mocking her.

Since he didn’t believe me, I had stopped explaining.

The pounding pain in my head left me limp and powerless, my body heavy as lead.

Half-conscious, I heard a knock at the door.

When I opened it, I saw that Pierce had sent the senior maid, Margery Higgins, to deliver a bouquet of everlasting gold roses.

He even had Margery relay a message that the flowers were compensation for giving up the master bedroom and for taking Holly away from me.

Margery was the only person in the villa who still truly cared for me.

She forced a smile, hiding her distaste for Jessica, as she tried to console me.

“Mr. Ronan has just been blinded by that vixen. Giving you such an expensive gift shows he still has you in his heart.

“Maybe after this, everything will be fine again. Be strong and just endure a little longer, Mrs. Ronan.”

I silently placed the roses in the corner.

There were already four identical bouquets. I nodded perfunctorily.

Ever since the day Pierce had lied to me, he had secretly sent Margery every day to deliver such flowers.

Margery couldn’t see through it, but after sharing a bed with him for three years, how could I not?

This was just his way of easing his guilt as he continued his charade.

He didn’t even deliver the flowers himself. It seemed that he didn’t believe he had done anything wrong.

Looking at the corner where the flowers sat, I thought: only two more bouquets left.

Once they were all here, I would likely be dead. What would their symbolism even matter?

Brain cancer was torturous.

After enduring an entire night of splitting headaches, I had barely fallen asleep at dawn.

Suddenly, the piercing ring of my phone jolted me awake.

Pressing hard against my temples, I answered the call from my attending physician.

Dr. Frederic Watson’s excited voice burst through the line, “Ms. Lorien, a new drug has just been released overseas, and it can suppress brain cancer cells!

“Supplies are limited, but I pulled some strings and got a bottle. It might help extend your life a bit longer. If you need it, come pick it up at the hospital.”

I wept tears of joy at the news.

Even if it was just for Holly, I had to hold on a few more days.

I agreed and rushed to the hospital for the medicine.

Dr. Watson reminded me repeatedly that the new drug was one of a kind, so I had to safeguard it carefully.

He told me it could help me survive the next two days, maybe even last until the next production batch came through.

Eyes brimming with tears, I paid for the medicine and clutched it tightly in my palm.

As I left the hospital, I ran into Pierce and Jessica. The moment Pierce saw the bottle in my hand, he hurried over and anxiously grabbed my arm.

“Are you sick? Why are you at the hospital getting medicine?”

He turned me this way and that, scrutinizing me carefully to figure out what illness I had.

These past few days, he had kept flipping between me and Jessica, his behavior so inconsistent that, for a moment, I almost believed he still cared.

I found it quite laughable.

“Yeah. Cancer. I don’t have many days left.”

Pierce froze in shock, but Jessica reacted first.

Her tears fell instantly, streaming down her cheeks.

“You know I have cancer, Lorien. I live every day in agony, and you still joke about this with me?

“Of course, the sooner I die, the less I’ll burden Pierce with caring for me. I’m just a cursed, short-lived wretch! Let me die!”

As she spoke, she darted toward the corridor window, trying to climb up and jump. Pierce rushed forward and stopped her just in time.

When he turned to me, I could see that his face was twisted in anger and heartache.

“Why do you always use cancer to provoke Jessica? You’re alive and well! Do you even understand how torturous having an illness can be?” he hissed at me.

“You selfish woman — always pretending you’re about to die! Even the Devil wouldn’t associate with someone like you. Idiot!”

Then he snatched the medicine from my hands.

“I want to see exactly what kind of ‘terminal illness’ you’re claiming to have!” he said angrily.

“Don’t touch my medicine!”

Knowing how rare and precious the drug was, panic surged through me.

I lunged forward, desperate to grab it back, but Pierce shoved me aside in one swift motion, his eyes narrowing as he examined the bottle’s blank label.

The drug was still in its trial phase, so the bottle bore no markings.

Jessica, standing coyly at his side, sneered, “If you’re going to fake cancer, at least put some writing on the prop bottle. This is so clumsy.

“How’s Pierce supposed to believe you? Who knows what’s inside this thing, Pierce? You can’t let her take it. What if it kills her?”

I shot her a cold, biting glance. “Whether it kills me or not is none of your concern—”

Before I could finish, Pierce raised his hand in a sharp sweep and flung the bottle straight out the window.

Outside lay the artificial lake.

“Pierce! That was my medicine!”

My vision turned red and I let out a hoarse, guttural scream.

Pierce flinched under my fury.

Since we married, I've always been soft and gentle.

Even when I gave birth alone while he was away on a business trip, I hadn’t once raised my voice.

This was the first time I had ever lashed out at him.

I thought, just for a moment, that maybe he’d feel a flicker of guilt.

When he came back to his senses, he merely brushed my reaction off.

“Have you been pretending so long you’ve convinced yourself you’re dying of cancer?” he asked, looking completely unfazed by my outburst.

“Drop the act. You can’t fool me, Lorien. You’re disgusting!”

At that moment, my heart went cold.

Then Jessica came closer and leaned in with a cruel smirk.

“Now that the medicine’s gone, you might as well wait for death,” she whispered.

My head suddenly throbbed as blood rushed furiously to my skull.

Jessica knew I was telling the truth?

I stared at her in stunned silence.

She understood how important that medicine was to me, yet she’d deliberately helped destroy it.

And Pierce blindly followed her lead. Did that mean he knew too?

A wave of dizziness crashed over me.

My legs gave out, and I slumped to the ground.

Through the haze, I vaguely heard the two of them leave, but their voices still echoed clearly in my ears.

“What if she’s really sick, Pierce?”

“If she’s sick, she can get it treated. If it can’t be treated, then she should just die.”

Ah. What timeless, ancient wisdom.

The hope of life had been crushed under the hands of the one I loved most.

I felt as if I’d been cast into an abyss, one I could never climb out of.

I had thought heaven had granted me a chance to stay alive for Holly but now, that sliver of hope had been snuffed out.

I couldn’t even protect a single bottle of medicine.

Perhaps the Devil truly had his eye on my miserable life, telling me not to hold on any longer.

And perhaps… It was finally time to go.

I left the hospital and went straight to my lawyer’s office.

I gathered and consolidated all my real estate and investment funds, handing everything over to an appointed trustee.

Then I transferred all my liquid assets into the private account I had set up for my daughter.

With burning determination, I finalized my will.

Before I could even leave, Pierce called.

His voice, though serious, carried an unmistakable thread of panic.

“Why were you at the lawyer’s office?”