Chapter 3

Lily POV

I was woken by pain.

The chemotherapy side effects hit hard, like a thousand ants were crawling and biting deep within my bones.

I opened my eyes, and a tall figure appeared in my blurry vision.

Before I could even make him out, his cold voice cut through the air.

"You're really going all out for your act. Where did you learn this trick? Pretending to have a terminal illness?"

My vision slowly focused.

Ethan stood at the foot of the bed, looking at me arrogantly, his eyes filled with mockery and disdain. Scarlett sat beside him in a wheelchair, looking at me with feigned timidity.

"Lily, don't scare Ethan. Please, get up," Scarlett said softly. "I know you hate me, but I really didn't mean to..."

I pulled off my oxygen mask, my throat as parched as if I'd swallowed sand.

"Get out."

Just one word, but it took all my remaining strength.

Ethan's face turned dark. He quickly walked over and roughly grabbed my wrist. "Lily! How long are you going to keep this up? Scarlett's leg is hurt badly and she still came to see you, what kind of attitude is that?"

His grip was strong, right on my IV site.

Blood immediately surged back, staining the IV tube crimson.

I let out a muffled groan of pain, cold sweat beading on my forehead.

"Let go..."

"No!" Ethan glared at me. "I want you to apologize to Scarlett right now!"

"Ethan, are you blind?" I looked up, those eyes once full of love now only held a desolate emptiness. "Can't you see I'm bleeding?"

Ethan froze, looking down.

Fresh blood dripped down my hand, spreading into bright red stains on the clean white sheets.

The blood was too real, too stark to be mere red ink.

He seemed to instinctively loosen his grip.

"Ethan..." Scarlett suddenly clutched her chest, gasping for air. "I... I can't breathe..."

Ethan's attention instantly shifted. He turned to support Scarlett. "What's wrong? What's bothering you?"

"Maybe it's the strong smell of medicine here, Lily..." Scarlett leaned weakly against him.

Ethan looked back at me, his gaze cold: "If you love the hospital so much, feel free to stay here as long as you like. Come talk to me when you've learned to behave."

With that, he picked up Scarlett and walked away without a backward glance.

I watched his retreating back, and my tears finally broke free, falling in large drops.

Ethan, you'll never know, this might be the last time I ever see you.

Perhaps it was for the best.

Now, I truly had given up all hope.

Over the next week, Ethan didn't reappear.

My body grew weaker. Chemotherapy caused massive hair loss, so I just bought a hat to cover it.

Dr. Miller urged me to contact family, as the upcoming bone marrow transplant required a match.

I shook my head. I was an orphan; where would I find a relative to match?

That afternoon, the hospital room door opened.

It wasn't Ethan, but Ethan's male assistant, Mark.

Mark looked at my skeletal form on the bed, a flicker of something that looked like regret in his eyes, but he remained strictly professional as he produced a document.

"Ms. Reed, Mr. Reed said that as long as you sign this understanding letter, admitting that the car accident was due to your own mishandling and had nothing to do with Scarlett, he would agree... not to divorce."