Chapter 1

After my daughter died, I finally became the version of myself Adrian had always wanted.

When he kissed his adopted sister, I pretended not to see.

When he slept with her, I was even willing to buy them condoms.

Everyone said I was so understanding, so generous. Adrian finally let down his guard around me.

But I seized the opportunity to escape and went to Antarctica for research.

Five years later, when I returned home wearing an international award medal, Adrian knelt in the falling snow begging for my forgiveness. I simply took the arm of the man beside me.

"Mr. Blackwood, long time no see. This is my husband."

Lynn's POV

After my daughter died, I finally became the version of myself Adrian had always wanted.

When he came home late from business dinners, I no longer cared what time he returned.

When he traveled for work, I no longer asked who accompanied him.

When he drunkenly murmured the name "Melissa" unconsciously, I no longer became hysterical.

Even when my fever reached near-delirium levels, I forced myself to call for emergency help and got myself to the hospital.

The nurse looked at me and couldn't help saying,

"Ms. Hart, do you want to notify your family?"

Family?

I laughed. Part self-mockery, part utter relief.

"No need."

My voice was soft.

"I don't have any family."

The nurse opened her mouth, wanting to say something more, but finally just sighed and left with her clipboard.

The hospital room returned to deathly silence.

I closed my eyes. My daughter's sweet face calling "Mommy" appeared vividly in my mind once again.

Following that came Adrian's cold, resolute face.

"Lynn, Anna needs a bone marrow transplant. Only Melissa is a match. She has one condition."

"She wants you to sign this divorce agreement."

"Trade your departure for Anna's chance to live. It's fair, isn't it?"

Fair? How laughable!

When had Adrian ever been fair to me?

After I married him, I learned that his heart belonged to someone named Melissa Blackwood.

The adopted sister he treasured like a jewel, frail and unable to care for herself.

I once naively believed that if I tried hard enough, loved him enough, I could eventually melt his heart.

But five years of marriage resulted in him forcing me to choose between my daughter's life and our marriage, all for his so called sister.

I signed the papers, gave up my position as Mrs. Blackwood, only asking that he keep his promise and save our daughter.

But he ultimately deceived me.

At the last moment, Melissa backed out, using her poor health as an excuse to refuse the donation.

And Adrian simply said to me dismissively,

"Melissa's body is weak. Donating bone marrow is too risky for her. We'll find another way."

Another way?

Late-stage acute leukemia. Where was there time for another way?

Two weeks ago, Anna finally stopped breathing in my arms.

At that moment, my heart died with her.

"Ms. Hart, your husband is here."

The nurse's voice came from the doorway, carefully cautious.

I opened my eyes and, unsurprised, saw Adrian standing at the hospital room door.

The man was still strikingly handsome. His perfectly tailored black coat made his figure appear tall and upright, though his brow was shrouded in lingering gloom and barely perceptible irritation.

He walked to the bedside in a few strides, looking down at me, his tone carrying his usual interrogative edge.

"Why didn't you tell me you were sick? If the hospital hadn't notified me, how long were you planning to hide this?"

I met his gaze.

"Mr. Blackwood is so busy. I didn't dare trouble you with such a small matter."

I paused, then added,

"Besides, we've already signed the divorce agreement. We'll be divorced soon."

I pronounced "Mr. Blackwood" with particular clarity, deliberately distant.

I knew.

He hated seeing me like this.

Because the me in his memory wasn't like this.

I used to blush for half the day over an offhand word of concern from him, would carefully call to ask when he wasn't coming home for dinner, would even secretly cry under the covers over an ambiguous phone call from Melissa.

Back then, he found me annoying, thought I wasn't magnanimous enough, unworthy of being Mrs. Blackwood.

But now that I'd truly become what he wanted. No longer asking about his affairs, not even needing him when I was sick. He was unhappy.

"We only submitted the divorce application. We're not officially divorced yet! And even if we divorce, I'm still Anna's father!"

Adrian practically growled this sentence, trying to use our daughter to maintain the pitiful connection between us.

Hearing my daughter's name, my body stiffened almost imperceptibly, but quickly returned to calm.

"Anna doesn't need a father anymore."

I lowered my lashes, hiding the immense grief that instantly welled up in my eyes.

"Adrian, from the moment you chose Melissa and abandoned Anna, you lost the right to be her father."

"You!"

Adrian's face turned iron-blue. He wanted to argue back but couldn't find the words.

Just then, his phone rang with a special ringtone. Melissa's.

He instinctively glanced at me. I'd already turned my face away, looking out the window, because everything around me was now irrelevant.

Adrian answered the call irritably, though his tone unconsciously softened.

"What's wrong?"

Melissa's delicate, helpless crying came through the phone.

"My heart feels uncomfortable. It's so hard... Can you come stay with me?"

Adrian's brow furrowed deeply.

"I'll be right there."

After hanging up, he looked at me, his Adam's apple bobbing as he tried to say something.

I spoke first.

"If Mr. Blackwood has business, please go ahead. I don't lack people to care for me."

In the end, he couldn't say a single word.

The moment the hospital room door closed, a tear finally slid from the corner of my eye, quickly disappearing into my hair.

Not for him.

But for the me who once foolishly loved him, and for the daughter who never got to see this world.

Then I reached under my pillow for my phone and dialed a number.

"Professor Cooper, I accept this assignment. I'm willing to go to Antarctica for the research project."