Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 11 - Chapitre 20

I lay quietly in bed. I had never been seriously ill before. The only time I ended up in the hospital was when I was nine. I went tree climbing with Zach and the others but fell and broke my leg.The tree had round, orange-like fruits. Cecilia had stood under the tree and softly said, “I’m thirsty.”Like a fool, I climbed up to pick some for her. It turned out that they were not oranges but calamondin, which were mostly used for making perfumes.I tried one, and it was so sour and bitter that I shivered and fell from the tree.While I was climbing, Cecilia went off to catch butterflies with Zach and the others. The grass below the tree was thick, so no one knew I had fallen. I lay in the grass for half the afternoon while the adults searched for me. No one realized that I was lying there in the grass.However, Cecilia knew that I had climbed the tree. She should have realized that I was in the grass.Back then, I was too young to think much of it. I just assumed that Cecilia had

Zach stayed the night in my room. He had a morning meeting at his office the next day, so he had already left when I woke up. It was Hayden’s turn to do the rounds today, so a group of young doctors and nurses were following him. Hayden himself was also very young. At twenty-five years old, he was already one of the surgical unit’s top talents. Sophie and I had privately discussed the reason for his success; it was a combination of his own hard work and his father’s role as the hospital dean. We would always make fun of him, but he was a good sport who never got mad over it.He solidified his status as a truly capable doctor after he completed a famous surgery perfectly. He had just graduated and started working at the hospital when it happened.Hayden stood before my bed. He could not directly examine my gastritis, so he glanced at my wound. “The wound from your surgery is very small. You won’t get a scar from it.” “Understood.” “Do take care of your diet. Take lighter mea

He was still staring at me in silence. His eyes were emotionless. After a while, he rejected my request, “No. You need treatment now.” “I’ll still die with treatment. The one thing I want to do the most now is to have our honeymoon. Otherwise, I’ll have regrets. You don’t want me to die with regrets, do you?” “Cassia…” he said my name and fell silent. From his grimace, I could tell that he was more annoyed than sad. Cecilia was sick, and it was absolutely disastrous news to him. However, he probably just felt a bit guilty after he learned that I was sick. He knew that I had loved him for many years, and it was very tough on me. I could not force him to love me, so I could only use his guilt to my advantage. In the end, I insisted on what I wanted. “Zach, you know that the treatments are useless with my current condition. This is my only request. I’ll discharge myself tomorrow.” He looked at me but still did not utter a word. He had rejected my request partially becaus

I was stunned, and I thought that I must have heard wrong.“What?” I asked.“I need to go back. Cecilia vomited blood.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “Stay here and enjoy yourself. I’ll get someone to book a plane ticket.”He then told Jon, “Take the boat back. I’m going to the airport.”I felt dizzy. Zach had suddenly pulled me back to reality in this beautiful, dream-like place.I gulped and asked, “What’s Cecilia suffering from?”“Breast cancer.”“Breast cancer? Why did she vomit blood, then?” I was doubtful. It was definitely fake. I thought that Cecilia would not do anything, but I was wrong. Instead of making a move before we left yesterday, she waited until we were already in Iceland. She wanted Zach to leave me here alone.She was truly ruthless.Jon looked troubled, and Zach told him, “Take the boat back now!”I did not say anything more in front of Jon. On the way back, I sat curled up in a corner of the deck. The beautiful aurora was still above me.I had alwa

Just then, Austin knocked on my door. I went to open it as I held the phone.He leaned against the door in a white bathrobe and looked relaxed. “The underfloor heating in my room isn’t working. I’ll stay in your room tonight.”I stepped aside to let him in. He was carrying his pillow.He had a pillowcase with a little bear print, and he took it wherever he went. Sophie and I used to tease him about being so attached to it.He placed his pillow on the bed and saw the phone in my hand. “Zach?”Before I could reply, he took the phone from me and put it to his ear. “Zach, since you’re with Cecilia, I’ll stay here with Cassia,” he said.Then, he hung up and tossed the phone onto the couch. Under the light, I could see the fine hair on his face.“Do you think this will make Zach angry? He doesn’t care.”“Even if he doesn’t care about you, he still cares about his reputation. After all, you’re his wife.” Austin’s words stung. He always had a knack for pointing out the painful truth.