Chapter 3

Julian froze.

Large, heavy tears streamed down his face.

He gripped my hand tightly, repeating over and over,

"Naomi, I won't divorce you."

"Serena and I, it was just an accident. I love you, only you."

"Please don't make me leave you..."

He explained frantically.

There was no real affection between him and Serena.

"The boss of that tutoring center forced me to drink last time. I drank too much, and when I woke up, I found myself in Serena's bed."

"Naomi, please don't be angry with me. I truly... truly never meant to betray you."

Julian explained, fumbling for words.

But he didn't even notice the profound tenderness in his eyes when he spoke of Serena.

Long ago, when we first met.

He had looked at me with that same tender, ardent gaze.

But after I became paralyzed.

Throughout these ten years of torment.

The look in Julian's eyes when he saw me was nothing but deep weariness.

He pretended to still love me, pretended he couldn't leave me.

Only then could he convince himself to grit his teeth and carry on.

Only then could he prevent his decade of sacrifice from seeming like a joke.

Julian thought he was an excellent actor.

But he forgot.

Before my paralysis, I was an outstanding psychology PhD.

I knew better than anyone what he was truly thinking.

I sighed softly, speaking in a low voice.

"But I'm tired."

"I don't want to live with this guilt, like an empty shell, devoid of dignity, utterly numb."

"Julian, if you truly love me, then find me a serene, beautiful place, and let me spend my last days in peace."

Julian was reluctant.

When I first became paralyzed, Julian had hired many nannies and caregivers for me.

The first nanny poured boiling water onto my legs.

Although I felt no sensation.

My scalded flesh stuck to my clothes, and I almost died from a high fever and infection.

The second nanny, worried about me, kept me locked in a dog crate all day.

When Julian came home from work and saw this, he nearly broke down.

This usually gentle and polite professor lost his temper in public for the first time.

"My Naomi is a human being, a person with flesh and blood, dignity, and feelings. How could you treat her like an animal!"

The other person scoffed indifferently.

And sneered,

"Living like that, she's worse than an animal."

Julian couldn't endure such humiliation.

He fired the nanny on the spot and from then on, took care of everything himself.

For ten years, I never developed a single bed sore.

That alone was enough to show his dedication.

He had done more than enough for me in this lifetime.

Our love was utterly drained.

I couldn't selfishly trap him by my side any longer.

I started a hunger strike, threatened to end my life.

Julian, initially resolute, slowly began to waver and compromise.

Finally, he withdrew all his savings and arranged for me to stay in a high-end rehabilitation center.

When filling out the admission papers, Julian refused to let go of my hand.

He told me again and again.

"Naomi, I won't divorce you, and I'll never abandon you."

"Just give me some time. There are many excellent medical resources abroad."

"When I return, I'll come straight away to take you home, and I'll find a way to cure you."

A quadriplegic patient, abandoned by her family, with no relatives, was left in a rehabilitation center.

Her fate was predictable to anyone.

Yet Julian and I both tacitly agreed to deceive each other and ourselves.

He swore he would come back for me.

And I nodded, as he wished.

However, on the very night Julian left, another accident occurred.