Chapter 1

Once again, I had an episode. My best friend rushed forward and snatched the knife from my hand, her face twisted with resentment.

"How long are you going to keep this up? You think you can act however you want just because you have depression? No wonder Nolan left you!"

I froze.

My best friend, however, looked relieved.

"I should have told you sooner. Nolan specifically asked me to stay with you today because he was afraid you'd try to ruin his wedding to Evelyn."

She blocked the doorway, looking self-righteous.

"Let me make this clear. Even if you cut your wrists and died right here today, you still can't keep trying to come between them. So what if you once helped Nolan? After all these years of him taking care of you, he's more than paid you back!"

Not long after, my mother hurried over to take my best friend's place. She was supposed to be one of the bridesmaids.

My mother pleaded with me. "Our family wouldn't have made it this far without Nolan. You have to be a good person and let him go find his happiness."

A crushing sense of absurdity washed over me.

Nolan Drake's message was still sitting quietly on my phone.

"Honey, I'm going overseas to see a doctor who's important to you. Don't worry. I'll make sure you get better. Once you're well, we'll get married."

I collapsed to the floor, tears falling silently onto the screen.

They had no idea I had cancer. I had already decided I did not want to become a burden to Nolan.

I gave my mother a bitter smile. "Fine. I promise. I'll give Nolan what he wants."

Chapter 1 The Wedding

"R-Really?" My mother looked at me suspiciously.

For all these years, I had barely spent a moment away from Nolan.

Even today, on the day he was getting married, he had only been able to leave after staying with me for an entire week.

I gave a bitter smile. "His heart isn't with me anymore. What's the point of holding on?"

My mother's expression finally relaxed. She wrapped her arms around me and sobbed uncontrollably.

I did not know how much time passed before she finally spoke hesitantly. "Then… are you really okay staying here by yourself? I… Nolan wants me to officiate his wedding…"

That was when I learned that my mother had personally introduced Evelyn Brook to Nolan.

I nodded numbly. I could understand her. Relatives throughout the Swift family worked for the Drake Group.

Maybe, to her, Nolan was more important than her own daughter.

My mother left, visibly relieved.

…

However, after all those years with Nolan, I somehow ended up following my mother to the wedding.

White bellflowers and blue balloons. It was exactly the kind of wedding Nolan and I had once planned.

"Chloe?" Sasha Wingate, my best friend, was the first to notice me.

I clutched the hem of my dress, suddenly exposed beneath everyone's gaze with nowhere to hide.

Nolan had been about to kiss the bride, but he instinctively backed away. He turned stiffly and forced out a few words. "Ho—Chloe? What are you doing here?"

The entire room was filled with contempt and disdain.

He stumbled toward me, words tumbling out as he tried to explain. "Chloe, listen to me. This was just an accident. I…"

Before I could say anything, my mother screamed and rushed over, pinching the soft flesh of my arm hard. "You promised me you wouldn't come! Why are you here?"

I hissed in pain.

"Mom… Mrs. Swift, don't hurt Chloe!" Nolan instinctively stepped in to defend me.

But Sasha frowned. "Hasn't she dragged you down enough? It's been three years. When was the last time you got a good night's sleep? She's using her depression to make your life miserable every single day."

She paused, then muttered a few words under her breath. "A woman who's already been raped, and she still has the nerve to show up at the wedding and defile it…"

My fingertips went white.

Three years ago, I had risked my life to save Nolan after a rival kidnapped him.

I was assaulted.

From that day on, I was plagued by nightmares.

Whenever I bit Nolan's hand until it was covered in blood, I would come back to my senses and feel terrible. He would only shake his head and say, "I owe you this."

"Enough!" Nolan snapped at Sasha.

But then a soft voice rang out, taking away whatever strength Nolan had left to defend me.

"So, you must be Ms. Swift. Welcome to my wedding with Nolan."

She held out a glass of champagne to me with perfect composure. Her beautiful wedding dress outlined her elegant figure.

Then, I looked at myself, gaunt and wasted from cancer. I instinctively took several steps back.

Evelyn's hand remained suspended in the air as she looked toward Nolan.

He frowned and pulled me aside. "Go home for now. I'll explain everything later. Don't put everyone in an awkward position."

"Okay."

My quick agreement seemed to catch Nolan off guard.

But at that moment, a sudden, excruciating pain churned through my stomach. My face went pale, and I doubled over.

Nolan's expression changed. He quickly pulled me into a corner.

"Please. Don't make a scene here, okay? If you do, the Drake family won't let us be together anymore."

Sasha strode over and stepped in front of Nolan, shielding him from me as she glared at me. "Didn't you promise me you wouldn't put on an act? Are you having another episode?"

I did not dare speak. I was afraid the metallic taste of blood in my throat would escape.

At that, Sasha shoved me out of the reception hall. "You promised me. Don't use your depression to get sympathy! Chloe, I really regret ever being your friend."

The strong metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, and I could only swallow back my tears as I hurried away.

If everyone had already given up on me, there was no need to say goodbye.

I bought a ticket back to my hometown.

For whatever time I had left, I no longer wanted to be anyone's burden.

Chapter 2 The Life He Planned Without Me

I returned home in a daze and started packing.

On the bedroom table lay our wedding plan. Whenever I had an episode, Nolan would use that plan to comfort me.

I had asked him before why we had to wait until I got better before getting married.

He only said it was what his family wanted. He asked me to understand.

I knew the Drake family had never approved of me.

Nolan had even been kicked out of his family home for choosing me and had started his own business from nothing.

The heir to the Drake family had once squeezed into a tiny rental apartment with me, eating nothing but instant noodles.

Now that he had finally made something of himself and his relationship with his family had begun to mend, I did not want him to have any more trouble with them because of me.

So I swallowed my hurt.

Looking back now, I realized he had never intended to marry me.

The truth was, I had met the bride before. She was one of my mother's students and worked at Nolan's company.

Once, when I went to visit Nolan at work, I saw him personally guiding her through a proposal. He had never had much patience with his employees, but with her, he was gentle.

A woman's intuition told me there was something more between them.

Nolan and I even had a falling-out over it.

My mother stepped in to smooth things over. "Even if you don't trust Nolan, don't you trust me? Evelyn has a boyfriend. What are you making such a fuss about? You're embarrassing yourself!"

Sasha even texted me to say she had gone out with Evelyn and her friends before, and Evelyn and her boyfriend were very much in love.

Under pressure from my mother, I even apologized to Evelyn.

At the time, Evelyn turned her face away, afraid to meet my eyes. Only now did I realize she had been afraid I would see her laughing.

Everyone closest to me had known. All of them had helped make a fool of me.

It was late into the night when I heard the bedroom door open. A warm embrace wrapped around me, making me flinch.

"Chloe, you're leaving? You really want to go?"

Even though I was already sick enough to be dying, the pain of betrayal swept through me. I shoved him away. "Enough! Are you really going to keep pretending? What, you want me to be your mistress?"

Nolan froze. Then he let out a weary sigh and slumped onto the couch. "Chloe, I've taken care of you for years. Can't you try to understand me? Sometimes, being with you is exhausting. The Drake family needs a respectable Mrs. Drake, not…"

He trailed off.

My hands clenched into fists. I knew what he was going to say.

Not a wife who could have an episode and lose control.

"But Nolan, if you're tired of me, you could have broken up with me sooner. You didn't have to do this—"

"Chloe." He cut me off gently and approached with caution. "How could I be tired of you? You're the person I truly intend to spend the rest of my life with. Don't worry. Evelyn knows about us. She's only there to keep up appearances for me. Once we have a child, I'll divorce her."

"A child?"

"Yeah. There's nothing I can do about your illness. What if our child inherits it?"

I stared at Nolan in disbelief. It was as if I were seeing him for the first time.

Keep up appearances. Not good enough to be the mother of his child.

One by one, Nolan had already erased me from his future.

Suddenly, it felt as though a pair of hands had reached into my stomach and twisted everything inside me.

I turned away, grabbed the trash can, and vomited into it.

"You think I'm disgusting?"

He looked at me with wounded eyes and suddenly pulled up the sleeve covering the arm I had bitten until it was covered in scars.

"But Chloe, how much longer was I supposed to take it? Five years. Five years of this. How many nights have I gotten through after you bit me like this? Is it really too much to ask for a normal wife and a normal child?"

He gasped for breath, finally letting five years of pent-up resentment spill out.

Of course I knew.

On countless nights, I had watched the look in his eyes change—from pity, to helplessness, to exhaustion, and finally, to flashes of disgust.

The things my best friend and my mother had said felt like a tightening band around my head, squeezing until I thought it might split open.

My stomach hurt terribly, but it was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

I did not dare lift my head.

I was afraid Nolan would see what was in the trash can and accuse me of trying to gain sympathy, just as Sasha had.

I did not know how much time passed.

Nolan closed his eyes for a moment. Then, he grabbed his clothes and left, leaving me with a few final words. "I know you need time to accept this. I'll wait. Chloe, after all these years, we can't just walk away from each other."

Chapter 3 The Lie They Told the World

The moment the door slammed shut, it took the last trace of love I had for Nolan with it, but I did not even have time to grieve for myself.

The next instant, Nolan showed up with Evelyn, demanding an explanation. "Chloe! I told you Evelyn and I are only doing this for appearances. Not only did you show up at my wedding, but you actually tried to ruin Evelyn?"

I had no idea what he was talking about.

Sasha came running in after hearing the commotion and slammed her phone down in front of me. "Look at what you did! Who's the other woman here? You're the one who's clinging to Nolan without a marriage certificate. You're the other woman!"

That was when I found out. Someone had posted a video of me at the wedding online the day before. People had also dug up my history with Nolan.

Evelyn was now at the center of a huge scandal over supposedly being the other woman.

"I didn't—" I instinctively tried to defend myself, but Evelyn cut me off, tears streaming down her face.

"Nolan, Sasha, please don't blame Ms. Swift anymore. She's been struggling mentally, and I'm afraid she might…"

Her words sounded like they were meant to defend me, but there was a hidden barb in every one of them.

Nolan looked at her with nothing but concern.

Sasha was even more furious. She slapped me hard across the face. "Look at Evelyn, then look at yourself. If I were Nolan, I'd choose Evelyn too."

She grabbed me by the neck and forced me to look through every one of Evelyn's social media posts.

"You think you can keep clinging to Nolan just because you've been with him for so many years? Look at them! Evelyn and Nolan are the ones who belong together!"

The truth was, Nolan and Evelyn had already been together for two years.

On the day my depression had been at its worst, when I could not get through to either Nolan or Sasha no matter how many times I called, they had been celebrating Evelyn's birthday together.

And it had been my best friend who pushed them to finally cross the line.

They had gone skiing together in Westreach. They had soaked up the sun on Pearl Cay and gone horseback riding in Valensteppe.

Those were all places Nolan had once promised to take me when I got better.

Now, I would never get the chance.

"They had to pretend their dates were business trips just because they didn't want to hurt your feelings. And they even had to drag me along as their third wheel. Chloe, do you have any idea how selfish you've been?"

Nolan guiltily looked away. Evelyn shot me a smug look.

I stared at Sasha, unable to believe what I was hearing.

After she graduated, her own father nearly sold her off to some man just to get rid of her.

I was the one who called the police and saved her. I was also the one who got her a job at Nolan's company.

She had promised she would always be there for me. And this was how she chose to repay me, by helping my boyfriend deceive me.

Even my mother came rushing over, only to collapse onto the floor, sobbing and apologizing to Nolan and Evelyn. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea I raised a daughter like this. How could she…"

Nolan, who had always defended me in front of everyone else, said nothing. He only looked at me with disappointment.

"We've already posted a statement clearing things up. You still need to attend the press conference. The Drake family will not allow a scandal like this."

I glanced at my phone.

Countless "clarification posts" had already flooded my feed.

"I'm Chloe's best friend. She kept going after Nolan because she thought the Drake family owed her. She wouldn't listen to anyone, so I'm apologizing on her behalf."

"I'm Chloe's mother. She suffered an accident a few years ago that left her mentally unstable. I'm apologizing on her behalf."

Every post felt like a knife slowly twisting inside me.

I doubled over, the excruciating pain leaving me drenched in cold sweat.

"Call… Call a doctor…"

Nolan instinctively reached out to hold me, but Sasha stepped in front of him. "Still putting on an act?"

"I… I'm not… It hurts…"

"Enough!" My mother's face turned livid as she forced everyone out of the room. "We've indulged her for too long, and this is what it has gotten us. She can't even fake her depression symptoms convincingly anymore. Come on! Let's see how long she can keep this act up!"

My mother did not know that it was not depression. I had terminal cancer.

The pain turned my vision black. All I could see were a few blurry figures disappearing into the distance.

Then, everything went dark.

Chapter 4 The Last Straw

"Ms. Swift, have I ever told you? If you keep putting your body through this, you might not even make it through the month. And now you're pregnant, too. With your condition, you won't…"

The sting of disinfectant brought me back to consciousness. I froze, and silent tears slipped down my cheeks.

How had this little life ended up inside me?

The doctor sighed. "You really don't want to tell Mr. Drake or your family? At the very least, they'll have to sign off on the surgery."

"What good would that do? If they actually cared, would they really not be here right now?"

The doctor said nothing more. She only told me to rest and prepare for surgery.

A message from Nolan lay on my phone.

"Evelyn feels sorry for you. She's worried you'll have an episode if you have to face the reporters, so you don't need to attend the press conference. I'll spend some time with her as an apology. Can you stop making me worry about you?"

There were also page after page of messages from my mother and Sasha, all trying to persuade me to stay.

I could not be bothered to respond. I did not want to stay in this city, so I was getting ready to leave.

Then, I ran straight into Evelyn.

"Ms. Swift, trying to get sympathy again, even in the hospital?" She slowly placed a hand over her stomach, a cruel smile spreading across her face. "Too bad. I'm already pregnant with Nolan's baby. That little act of yours isn't going to work anymore."

I bit down so hard on my lip that blood welled up.

That fast.

"Congratulations. I won't bother Nolan anymore."

Evelyn only stared at my pale face and sneered. "But Chloe, I still don't trust you. You mean too much to Nolan. You can't blame me for being careful."

In the blink of an eye, Evelyn grabbed me and threw herself backward.

Before I could react, the door suddenly flew open. Nolan rushed in like a madman, with a swarm of reporters right behind him.

"Evelyn!"

He did not spare me a single glance. He rushed straight toward her.

He pulled Evelyn tightly into his arms as she put on a wounded expression.

"I was just worried about Ms. Swift being alone in the hospital. I was afraid she might have an episode… Then, I accidentally let it slip that I was pregnant, and she…"

Nolan turned on me, furious.

"How much longer are you going to keep this up? Depression, depression, depression. How many people are you going to hurt because of it?

"Chloe, how long are you going to use the fact that you were raped after saving me to manipulate me? Have you ever stopped to think that maybe you brought it on yourself?"

My mind went completely blank.

After what happened back then, Nolan had immediately buried the story. Even when Sasha exposed it in front of everyone at the wedding, the story never got out.

But today, for Evelyn, Nolan tore open my deepest wound in front of the world.

Amid the relentless flashes of the cameras, I could not stop the tears from streaming down my face.

"No wonder Mr. Drake chose her instead. She was assaulted and still had the nerve to go after another woman's man. She has no shame!"

"Oh my God. Now I'm starting to wonder if she made up the whole story about saving Mr. Drake in the first place!"

When my mother and Sasha heard what happened, they were just as disappointed in me.

They publicly announced in front of the reporters that they were cutting ties with me.

"You'd even go after an unborn child. Are you even human?"

I stood there in a daze.

Nolan frowned. Then, he scooped Evelyn up into his arms and sneered. "Yes, you have depression. I've taken you to doctor after doctor for years, and none of it helped. I'm done playing along. Chloe, sometimes I really regret ever meeting you."

He canceled all my credit cards and made sure no one could give me any money.

I did not know how much time had passed. Everyone had already left. It was not until my stomach began churning violently that I finally came back to myself.

I managed a bitter smile. So, Nolan would not even give me the chance to spend my final days in peace.

Clutching the train ticket in my pocket, already crumpled from being held too tightly, I went back to my hometown.

Amid endless vomiting, nightmares, and cold sweats, I curled up on the bed in my old room, trembling uncontrollably.

The television kept replaying gossip about me being a homewrecker and being assaulted.

In the bedroom, tissues stained with blood from my coughing had piled up into a small mountain.

My arms were covered in scratches from the pain that had tormented me.

I could not take it anymore. In a daze, I picked up a small knife. After that, I lost consciousness.

The last thing I saw was Nolan running toward me, his eyes bloodshot.