Chapter 1

The night before my surgery, Blaine locked me in the basement.

Faced with my crying and fussing, the man frowned in irritation, holding Stella tighter in his arms.

"Myra, when did you become so delicate?"

"It's just one night in the basement, it's not going to kill you."

"This is Stella's only coming-of-age party, I can't let you ruin everything."

In the past, I might have screamed and demanded answers from him.

But now, I just pulled my sleeves down with indifference, hiding the needle marks on the back of my hand.

He doesn't know yet that I have leukemia and don't have long to live.

And tomorrow happens to be the day of my surgery.

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1

The following day in the evening, the butler opened the door to the basement.

I dragged my heavy body, slowly making my way back to the living room.

The moment I sat down.

Blaine burst in reeking of alcohol.

He walked straight towards me, carrying an exquisite cake in his hand.

"Haven't eaten yet?"

The man's somewhat cold words fell upon my ears.

I put away my phone, noticing the lipstick mark on Blaine's collar.

Blaine clearly noticed my gaze too, awkwardly pulling up his collar.

"You know how Stella is, always so careless."

"She doesn't have a scheming bone in her body like you do."

In the past, I would have surely made a fuss.

But now, I just quietly averted my gaze.

Blaine opened the cake box for me, revealing the already collapsed cake inside.

The cream and fruit were all mixed together, with even a few bite marks visible on top.

I suddenly laughed, remembering Stella's recent social media post.

In the photo, Blaine was smiling tenderly, embracing the petite Stella, as they kissed each other's cheeks.

In the bottom right corner of the table sat a cake that someone had already eaten from. Stella captioned her post: [Blaine is so generous, I hope you can always stay by my side~]

A wave of nausea churned in my stomach as I stood up and walked towards the guest room.

Behind me came the man's angry voice.

"Myra, who are you giving attitude to now?"

"I remembered you like the cake from that shop in the South End, so I drove an hour specially to buy it."

"Is this how you treat me!"

The delicate vase shattered at my feet, with many glass shards piercing my legs.

Blood slowly trickled down my calves.

The man was visibly stunned, his tone stiff as he spoke: "I'll take you to the hospital."

"No need," I replied without even turning my head.

But Blaine persisted, walking over and gripping my wrist tightly.

His grip was so strong, it felt like he would crush my bones.

"Still angry about that incident?"

As our eyes met, a cheerful ringtone suddenly rang out.

In an instant, Blaine's gaze softened, and he immediately answered the phone.

I knew better than anyone that this was Stella's personalized ringtone.

Her distinctly soft and coquettish voice came through clearly.

"Blaine, my goldfish is belly-up, is it about to die?"

"Babe, I'm so scared..." The intermittent sound of crying came from the other end.

Blaine panicked, grabbing his coat from nearby and rushing out.

He kept muttering, "Don't be scared, Stella. I'm coming right away."

Even though he was a mess of nerves, Blaine still managed to glance at me as he left.

He frowned, his eyes unable to hide his annoyance.

"This is your punishment for playing hard to get."

The door slammed shut.

The house fell quiet again.

More blood flowed, like a winding stream, a chilling sight.

I looked at it nonchalantly, then dialed a number.

"I'm giving up on the treatment, Doctor Harrington."

There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by earnest persuasion.

I apologized with a laugh.

Only I knew how difficult it had been to schedule this surgery.

I couldn't afford to wait for another appointment.

It was Blaine who had robbed me of my hope to live.

The next day, I drafted the divorce papers and sent the electronic version to Blaine.

It wasn't until the fifth day that Blaine opened the email.

The next second, he called.

The urgent ring of the phone seemed to herald something. The moment the call connected, Blaine's voice, filled with suppressed anger, came through.

"Myra, what are you up to this time?"