Chapter 1

"Mr. Winters, are you certain you want to donate your heart to Miss Seraphina Stone?"

The doctor looked up in surprise, attempting to dissuade me.

"Although you have late-stage stomach cancer, there have been successful treatment cases domestically. You might want to consider trying treatment..."

"That won't be necessary," I interrupted her with a smile. "Dying is fine, especially since donating my organs can save lives. It's my only wish."

Just as I walked out of the hospital, Seraphina called.

"Where the hell have you been? Get back here now!"

I was actually planning to return and ask Seraphina for some money to buy myself a burial shroud and a grave plot.

But when I got home, I discovered her childhood sweetheart Liam holding her as she straddled his lap, their posture intimate and inseparable.

Seeing me push open the door, they both froze.

Liam's face flushed red as he chided her for calling me back at this moment.

"We're out of condoms," Seraphina explained, hugging him reassuringly.

The next second, her cold gaze fell on me as she smirked and said:

"Dashiell, go downstairs and buy us a box."

————————

I was momentarily stunned, then let out a bitter laugh.

Seraphina's eyes darkened as she looked at me. "What are you laughing at?"

She climbed off of Liam.

Casually draping a towel around herself, she walked coldly towards me.

"Dashiell, are you regretting it now?"

"If you just kneel down and apologize to me, I won't have to torture you like this. The punishment can end here..."

Before she could finish, I softly interrupted her.

"Strawberry flavor, or mint?"

Her unfinished words caught in her throat as Seraphina glared at me, her face ashen.

She punched the wall with her fist.

"Dashiell, you've got some nerve!"

She stormed into the master bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

Her childhood sweetheart, on the other hand, got up with a light chuckle and gave me an amused look.

"I'll take strawberry flavor. Thanks for the trouble, bro."

With that, he pushed open the bedroom door, and the two of them quickly became entangled once again.

I wandered downstairs to the convenience store in a daze, paid for the items, but couldn't find the courage to go back upstairs.

Exhausted, I sat on the steps, lost in thought.

My stomach began to ache again.

I struggled to my feet and went to the pharmacy to buy a box of painkillers. The pharmacy owner looked up at me. "Young man, you've already bought five boxes of painkillers this month. If you're not feeling well, you should go to the hospital."

I forced a smile. "Thank you, but that won't be necessary."

After all, I'm just a dying man.

Going to the hospital would only be a waste of medical resources.

I stood in the cold wind downstairs for half an hour, waiting for my stomach pain to subside a bit before pressing the elevator button to go up.

Seraphina, who should have been in the bedroom, was waiting by the elevator for some reason, leaning against the wall and watching me.

"Dashiell, you're so slow. Anyone would think you'd died out there."

Wordlessly, I handed her the newly bought package.

Seraphina snatched it away, no longer showing me any kindness.

The noise from next door was deafening.

I knew Seraphina was making sure I could hear it on purpose.

I smiled miserably, curling up on the cold floor, comforting myself that I just needed to endure a little longer.

I don't know when I fell asleep.

I only know that when I was woken up, Seraphina had kicked open my bedroom door.

"Dashiell, there's a business dinner tonight. Liam's too tired and needs to rest, so you're coming with me."

As she spoke, she threw a suit at me."Give you ten minutes. If you're late, you know the consequences."

Seraphina's car was parked downstairs. Seeing me come down, she impatiently honked the horn at me.

Afraid she'd notice something was off, I shoved another five painkillers into my mouth.

But unexpectedly, Seraphina stared at me coldly, "You look awful. Didn't sleep well last night?"

I froze.

I looked up at her in disbelief.

Since that incident three months ago, Seraphina had never spoken to me in a caring tone again.

In our five years of dating, we had never fought, but since then, we'd become enemies who loathed each other.

She couldn't wait to see me dead with her own eyes.

I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, Seraphina's sneering laughter came from above.

"Don't think I care about you."

"I have some important partners at today's business dinner. If necessary, you'll have to play the role of a drinking companion. How can you do that with such a pale face?"

Realizing what she meant, I let out a bitter laugh.