All Chapters of My Last 100 Sunsets: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

By the next morning, the replay of my livestream had spread throughout Rimevale. Locals, former guests, even bus drivers at the station were all talking about Eric and Denise.Denise went live, this time from behind the inn's wooden counter. She laid out four months of messages in chronological order for everyone to see. She faced the camera with no makeup on, looking pale."I admit I was the one who went after him. And I admit I kept pushing him to set a wedding date. Every time I asked about Alice, he told me she'd never really leave him."Denise lowered her head, picking at the edge of the counter. "I thought Alice's silence meant she was okay with it. And every time Eric stalled, I convinced myself he was getting everything in order for us."My phone buzzed. Eric was calling me on video.I answered without turning on my camera. His voice was tired, but there was an unmistakable note of blame in it."Alice, why did you have to let a bunch of strangers watch our private busines

Denise scheduled the final recording to go live.Eric sounded almost casual in it.Denise asked, "How long is this round of Alice's treatment going to take? What if she doesn't get better?"Eric laughed. "Relax. She's not actually going anywhere. Without Veylune Inn, she wouldn't even know where to go."The recording blew up across every major platform.At the airport, Eric posted a lengthy statement. For the first time, he admitted that he had known I was sick."I just kept convincing myself it wasn't that serious. As long as Alice could still keep the books and manage the rooms, I told myself everything was fine."He spun his own inaction as trust in my ability to handle everything.Denise came clean on her livestream too. She admitted that she had used my illness to force Eric to choose between us.The sympathy she'd been getting vanished almost instantly as the backlash poured in.I turned off all my direct messages and notifications, put on a heavy coat, and left the cab

My 101st livestream lasted barely 15 minutes. I didn't mention Eric or Denise once.The comments were flooded with the same questions."Is that guy still outside?""Alice, did you forgive him?"I stared at the screen, turned off the comments, and ended the livestream.By the next day, public opinion back home had shifted again. Denise posted all the evidence she had, along with a statement admitting what she'd done.In the lengthy post, she wrote, "I admit that I knowingly got involved with Eric. I knew Alice was his fiancée, and I knew when her chemo was scheduled. I chose to believe that, in the end, Eric would choose me."I wasn't waiting for Alice to die so I could take her place. I finally realized that when Eric told me to ‘wait' and told Alice ‘not to overthink it,' he was doing the same thing to both of us. He was just stringing us both along."Eric didn't delete his posts or try to pin all the blame on Denise. Instead, he posted a response from his main account."I ad

Early the next morning, fog still clung to Rimevale. I carried a small bag, ready to head back to the hospital in the city for more treatment.Eric sat on the steps outside the kitchen. It was the same spot where we had spent an entire night tending the fire six years ago, when a blizzard had stranded us on the mountain.This time, he didn't have an apology rehearsed. He didn't try to take my hand either. He stared at the battered old stockpot in the kitchen."Alice, I always thought the hot spiced cider you made me that night was proof that we'd never fall apart."He let out a bitter laugh. His eyes were bloodshot."Somewhere along the way, I started relying on you because of that memory. I convinced myself that as long as you were still at the inn taking care of me, you would never really leave."I stopped walking and looked at him. "When I first agreed to go to Varenia for assisted dying, it wasn't just because the pain in my bones had become unbearable."It was also because