Chapter 3

Back then, Nixon's parents didn't threaten Rebecca but gave her a sum of money.

She took the money and left on her own. She only left that letter so Nixon wouldn't resent her.

Over the years, life had been rough for her. After her new boyfriend cheated on her and she lost her job, she thought of Nixon. That was when she figured she could get something out of him and decided to come back.

"Nixon, would you be willing to start over with me?" Rebecca pressed. Her eyes shone with emotion.

Nixon was blind to the greed hiding beneath her tender words. He struggled inside. "But I'm married to Madalyn."

"You don't love her!" Rebecca cut him off. "She just lies and causes drama. I'm the one who's right for you."

After a long pause, Nixon finally nodded. "Tomorrow, we'll go see Madalyn together."

He was really going to leave me for Rebecca.

Rebecca shot a smug grin. I just lingered there by Nixon's side, drowning in sadness and disappointment. "Nixon, why can't you see through her? She's only after your money."

Nixon couldn't hear me anymore. My body was already cold. No matter how many times he trusted the wrong people, there was no one left to warn him now.

At the thought of this, my movements froze. Cold tears slipped down my cheeks.

Nixon said he'd come find me. But he'd never see me again. And honestly, he had no one to blame but himself.

I was diagnosed with leukemia.

I tried to tell Nixon about it so many times. But every time I went to him, he'd look annoyed and snap, "Stop clinging to me. I'm really busy!"

'He was always so busy. I didn't want to bother him or make him sad. So I kept it to myself for a long time.

But when my condition got worse, and the pain was too much, I had no choice but to go to the hospital.

My mom urged me, "Call Nixon! He's your husband. He's the person you're closest to. You need him right now."

I didn't want to at first. But when I was at my lowest, I just craved my lover's comfort. In the end, I tried texting Nixon.

I texted him: [I'm sick.]

Those words sat in the chat all alone for a long time with no reply.

On top of the pain, I was worried sick. Did something happen to Nixon? Why wasn't he answering me?

Later, I found out that was the day Rebecca, who'd been gone for so long, came back.

He and Rebecca were drinking late into the night. Then she suddenly passed out, and he took her to the ER. The diagnosis was leukemia, just like mine.

Nothing hurt more than finally seeing his old flame again after all those years apart, only to find her sick and suffering.

Nixon broke down in tears and immediately decided to stay at the hospital to take care of Rebecca.

While I was lying in my hospital bed, barely conscious from the pain, he was reminiscing with Rebecca about old times.

By the time my leukemia got this bad, the pain was unbearable. I finally reached out to Nixon.

"Nixon, I'm sick. I'm in the hospital. Can you come see me?" I struggled to stay conscious, forcing myself to speak.

"Stop lying! Even if you really are sick, is it really worse than Rebecca's? She's got cancer!" Nixon snapped, his voice tight with frustration. "I'm begging you, don't make things worse right now."

With that, he hung up.

"How could he do this?" my mom fumed, wanting to go confront him, but I stopped her.

In his eyes, Rebecca was always pure and blameless, while I was nothing but a scheming liar. Arguing with him was pointless.

I focused on getting treatment, and after a lot of effort, I finally found a suitable bone marrow match.

The bone marrow transplant might not save my life, but at least it gave me hope.

My mom and I were over the moon.

But then, Nixon did the unthinkable. He blocked the bone marrow that could have saved my life and handed it over to Rebecca instead.

I confronted him, and we exploded into the fiercest argument we'd ever had in our marriage.

"Nixon, this bone marrow is my only hope to stay alive. Do you get that?" For the first time, I spoke to him with a mix of seriousness, desperation, and even a hint of begging.

I desperately hoped that, just this once, my husband would choose me.

"Why can't you just be reasonable for once? Rebecca's waiting for that bone marrow to save her life!" Nixon yelled at me, his face twisted in disgust.

I showed him my diagnosis and said, "I'm waiting for the bone marrow to save my life, too."

"How can you even make up a lie like this?" Nixon said, not even bothering to look at me before turning and walking away.

According to protocol, I was the first to reach out to the donor, so the bone marrow should have been mine.

But Nixon was the CEO of the Shepherd Group, so it was a piece of cake for him to redirect the bone marrow to Rebecca.

Likewise, if he'd just bothered to do a little digging, he'd have seen I wasn't making things up. I was really sick. But he just didn't bother.

In the end, Rebecca was saved. As for me, I was nothing but dust and bones, buried six feet under.

But Nixon just thought I was sulking. The next day, he stormed in to see my mom, full of righteous anger.

My mom was busy making arrangements for my funeral when Nixon and Rebecca walked in. Her eyes welled up with tears again. "You killed Madalyn. How dare you show your faces here?"