Chapter 1

My sugar daddy was really forgetful. He could forget someone he met in a month.

Five years later, I'd pretty much spent the savings I'd tucked away, so I went back to being his sugar baby.

When I found out he was seriously ill and not expected to live long, I immediately brought out the kid I'd secretly had five years earlier.

"This is your daughter. When you're gone, leave your business to her to inherit. We'll miss you," I said.

Holding the adorable child tight in his arms, Michael Lane's mopey, self-pitying mood vanished instantly.

"Doctor, Nurse, cure me! I want to live another five hundred years," he shouted.

*****

When I saw Michael again, my breath stopped for a second.

He hadn't changed at all from how I remembered.

The weather was still cold, but he wore a white shirt, black dress pants, and a black overcoat, looking every inch the polished professional.

I had a flower shop in the mall, and he grabbed a few blooms.

The whole time, from paying to getting them wrapped to walking out the door, he treated me like I was a total stranger.

I forgot that he was always forgetful.

Seven years ago, we were together. But when my family suddenly went broke, Michael's parents jumped in, interfering in our relationship and trying to pay me off with a check to make me leave.

I'd lived a life of privilege for over twenty years. Never had I been humiliated like that.

I ripped up the check and went home to pack my bags.

Michael held me tight, letting me vent. No matter how much I yelled or hit him, as long as I stayed.

He said he'd handle his parents, but soon the gossip started: I was shamelessly clinging to Michael, willing to be the other woman to latch onto the Lane family.

We tangled with each other for a while, and eventually, I was worn out. Whenever I saw him, I'd give a bitter smile and call him my sugar daddy.

He spent money on me every day, and we were inseparable behind closed doors, but I was always kept in the shadows.

Two years later, we broke up after all.

Michael asked me, "Do you really have to be so heartless?"

I forced a casual smile. "I'm not the one being heartless, Michael. Next time we run into each other, let's pretend we're strangers."

He'd already moved on, so I guessed I should do the same.

So when he came back to buy flowers, I treated him like any other customer.

That was how it went on the first day, and the second day was no different.

But honestly, he was showing up way too often. He came by six times in a single week.

On his seventh visit, I couldn't help asking, "If you're buying flowers every day, why not get them all at once?

"Some flowers last pretty long. You can wait until they wilt before getting new ones. No need to replace them so often."

Michael nodded. "Alright."

Sure enough, he didn't show up the next day. But when I thought things had quieted down, another unexpected visitor appeared: Michael's mom, Eliana Lane.

She took off her sunglasses, still dressed to the nines like always, but this time, she held my hand, almost begging.

"Dorothy Hart, can you help my son?" she pleaded.

I had no clue what Eliana was really after, so I brushed her off, thinking she was messing with me.

But when she handed me Michael's diagnosis report, I was completely stunned.

He was still so young. How could he have stomach cancer?

Still, it was not up to me to help him.

His family was still loaded.

They could afford the best doctors and the best hospitals, so I turned her down.

Eliana's eyes went dull for a second, and then she got to her feet and gave me a bow.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Dorothy, it was wrong for me and his father to force you and Michael apart back then.

"But now, he won't try to get treatment, and he keeps saying he's got nothing left to live for. He's giving up on himself. You're the only one who can help him now."

I frowned, feeling a bit defensive. "Why me?"

Eliana explained that Michael still couldn't get over me, and the only time he seemed a little happier was after he'd been to my flower shop.

She said she couldn't stand seeing her son looking so down at home anymore. She was out of options, and I was the only one she could count on.