Chapter 2

I waited seven years for this engagement party.

From twenty to twenty-seven, I checked off every task the system gave me. I swallowed my pride more times than I could count, all so he would finally agree to marry me.

Now he canceled it without a second thought, all for some girl he'd known less than a month.

If it were before, I probably would have gone crazy, demanded answers, cried and pleaded with him not to do this to me.

The system would have gone wild, warning me, "Keep up your act. Get your man back!"

But now, the system had already handed down my death sentence. I didn't have to chase after him anymore. I was dying soon, so why waste energy worrying about his feelings for me?

I looked at James, the man I'd spent ten years loving and trying to win over.

He looked as striking as ever, but he was no longer the man who once carried me all the way to the hospital through a snowstorm.

"Alright," I said, nodding. I picked up the water next to me and took a sip, forcing down the coppery taste of blood that was rising in my throat. "Call it off. There's no need for it anymore."

James paused, his knife and fork still in his hands. For a moment, he looked caught off guard, his brows furrowing as he studied me.

His voice dripped with impatience and irritation as he said, "Anna, are you really starting this again?

"I said cancel it for tomorrow, not forever. Emily's just a kid, fresh out into the real world. I'm her boss. What's wrong with looking out for her?

"Can you stop being so dramatic? Always threatening to call off the wedding every time something comes up. You think that's funny?"

To him, every time I backed down, it looked like I was scheming. I was just playing games to get what I wanted.

All the pain I felt? He thought I was just being dramatic, making a fuss over nothing.

There were only forty-five minutes left.

A dull throb took root in my chest, the signal that the punishment was beginning.

I stood up, grabbed my bag and then looked down at him with empty eyes.

"It's not funny at all, so I'm done," I said. "James, this meal's on me. Think of it as a birthday gift for Ms. York. And best wishes to you both. You two will make a happy couple."

With that, I turned and walked out without a second glance.

Behind me, the sharp crash of a plate breaking rang out. James snarled, barely holding back his rage, "Anna! If you walk out that door today, don't bother coming back."

Yeah, like I'd ever beg him. I almost laughed at the thought. James, I was already dying. A dead woman could never beg.

*****

The moment I walked out of the restaurant, the late autumn rain slammed down on me, cold and relentless.

I didn't even bother with an umbrella, letting the icy rain soak me to the skin.

My body had grown sensitive to the cold. The chill seeped deep into my marrow, and the pain in my chest kept growing sharper. What started as tiny pinpricks now felt like someone was slowly twisting a dull blade inside me.

The system's icy voice rang in my head. [Countdown: 38 minutes. Anna, your vitals are crashing. You should find somewhere comfortable to wait for the end.]

"Thanks," I replied silently.

This was the gentlest the system had ever been to me in the past ten years.

Before, it would just zap me with electricity, making me swallow all my pride and suck up to James.

Now, it was finally letting me leave.

I flagged down a cab.

I was soaked to the bone and pale as a ghost. So when the middle-aged driver looked at me, he nearly jumped out of his seat. "Hey, are you okay? You need me to take you to a hospital?"

Hospital? It wouldn't help. The system was erasing me. No doctor in the world could save me from that.

I managed a faint smile and told him, "No thanks, just take me to Riverside Avenue."

James and I rented an apartment there, back when we first started dating. We were the poorest then, but we had each other, and that was when our love was at its purest.

I wanted to go back. Not to remember him, but to honor the girl I used to be. The one who was fearless, whose eyes still sparkled with hope, and who loved with everything she had, no matter what.