Chapter 2

Seraphina must have witnessed what just happened.

But when Brent slapped me a moment ago, she didn't come over.

Now that Brent has fallen, she rushes to his side.

I tell myself not to be heartbroken, I'm leaving anyway. There's nothing worth staying for in this world.

Seraphina walks over and scoops up Brent, who's lying on the ground, into her arms.

She coldly says to me, "Apologize to him."

The fans behind me are a bit frightened, their voices tinged with tears.

"But—"

Before she could finish, Seraphina cuts her off.

"I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to him," Seraphina says, staring directly at me.

"Brent, apologize to your brother-in-law."

I'm furious and stare back at Seraphina, mimicking Brent's earlier demeanor.

"He slapped me first. Shouldn't he be the one apologizing to me?"

Brent, cradled in Seraphina's arms, speaks with a tone of self-pity.

"Yes, Seraphina. I should be the one apologizing to him. It's all my fault for coming between you two. I deserve this."My family arranged this marriage for me. I knew you had someone in your heart. Yet I still chased after you. I should be the one apologizing."

The once dignified and composed man now spoke these petty words, making him seem particularly adorable, almost melting Seraphina's heart.

Seraphina gently patted Brent's head, her tone soft: "Brent. I won't let you apologize. Never."

She then turned her gaze to me. Her eyes were cold.

She threatened me:

"Brent. If you don't apologize, you can forget about participating in next month's ranking competition."

She was using my competition eligibility to threaten me for the sake of another man.

She had many disciples, but treated me differently from all of them.

She had become a judge for the competition. She had always been the one to review my eligibility to compete.

My competition eligibility, she always handled with extra care.

It seems this time, she's angry.

For her fiancé, she's even using false accusations to make me apologize.

The pain in my chest was particularly sharp.

Just this morning, she had hugged me and said,

"Melody. I won't leave you."

I let out a laugh. Enduring the physical pain, I stared at Seraphina.

"Then I won't participate."Seraphina. You said it. You told me not to participate.

The doctor says I have at most three months to live.

Anyway, this would've been my last tournament before I die.

I'm suddenly curious.

If you knew that because of you, I lost the chance to compete in my final tournament while alive.

How would you react?

Having left the competition behind.

My phone is still being blown up by my friends, basically saying.

I've become the strongest contender for Chess Grandmaster, on the verge of reaching chess's highest peak at just over twenty years old.

I lie in bed, my body aching in a hazy sort of way.

Seraphina knows that if I win the tournament a month from now, I'll earn the title of Chess Grandmaster.

She thinks I care.

Yeah, I do care.

The doctor says: My liver cancer is in its final stages. I only have a few months left to live.

In this lifetime, I'll never get the title of Chess Grandmaster before I die.

I take some of the medicine the doctor prescribed and drift off to sleep in bed.

When I'm sleeping, it doesn't hurt as much.

In my dreams, I hazily see my fourteen-year-old self.At that time, my mom took me to play chess in the park downstairs.

After I understood the rules, I easily defeated everyone in the park.

My mom looked at my talent with surprise.

Taking me around to bet on chess games, my mom told me, "Melody. You can't lose."

I looked at the kings and generals on the chessboard.

With such simple rules, I could easily defeat others.

Until I met another genius.

I lost on the chessboard.

My mom's disappointed look and the mockery around me made it hard for me to breathe.

Seraphina appeared in front of me at that moment.

"Chess isn't for beating others."

She set up an endgame position in front of me.

"Solve it. Chess is fun."