Chapter 4

Tears streamed down my face, only to be instantly dried by the river wind.

I couldn't help but remember my first time with Liam.

Back then, he was so careful, his movements gentle and restrained, afraid of hurting me.

The tenderness and love in his eyes almost melted me.

But now, less than a few feet away from me, he was indulging in pleasure with another woman, raw and direct.

Just to vent primal urges.

My heart twisted in agony.

I don't know how much time passed before the car window finally rolled down. Chloe leaned back in the seat, looking languid.

Her face flushed with post-coital satisfaction, she signaled that I could get back in.

I pulled open the car door, and the heavy scent inside made my stomach churn.

"Liam, what if I get pregnant?"

Chloe's voice held a hint of feigned worry.

Liam started the car, his tone gentle:

"Then we'll have her. A daughter as lovely as you."

A daughter.

Those words were like a bolt from the blue.

I remembered, they had once passionately discussed our future children.

He said if it was a daughter, she had to be like me.

He would spoil her into the happiest little princess in the world.

But then he also said that his most cherished princess would always be me, his one and only.

Those promises that once made my heart tremble with sweetness now seemed as distant as a past life.

Chloe leaned sweetly on his shoulder, playfully saying:

"Then we'll have to keep trying hard when we get back."

Back at the villa, Liam and Chloe no longer held back.

Traces of their indulgence were left everywhere: on the living room sofa, in front of the bathroom mirror, on the study carpet.

The explicit sounds were incessant, day and night, tormenting me like a curse.

Meanwhile, I could only lock myself in my room, repeatedly tormented by the excruciating pain of cancer.

Each time the pain struck, I could only bite hard on the corner of the duvet, spitting out blood with a metallic, sweet taste.

Inside the room, it was the silence of approaching death.

Outside, it was unrestrained revelry.

Life and death, at this moment, formed the starkest contrast.

I left my room to get water and saw Chloe in an apron, busy in the kitchen.

Liam sat at the dining table reading a newspaper, the scene possessing an absurd sense of peaceful domesticity.

Chloe saw me:

"Sister, come eat with us."

Liam didn't even look up:

"Don't be difficult."

I was forced to sit at the table, looking at a plate of charred, unidentifiable objects.

Liam, however, calmly picked up a piece, put it in his mouth, and even dotingly told Chloe:

"Delicious."

I remembered the first time I cooked for him.

It was just as bad, but he ate every last bit.

Then he gently ruffled my hair and said his Rose was the most amazing girl in the world.

The bitterness of memory welled up in my throat. I managed to eat one bite of the dish, and my stomach immediately churned.

A metallic, sweet taste I could no longer suppress, I rushed into the bathroom, violently vomiting into the sink. The white ceramic instantly stained crimson with dazzling blood.

Chloe followed me in. Seeing this, her eyes immediately reddened:

"Sister, what do you mean? Do you hate the food I worked so hard to make so much? Are you doing this on purpose for Liam and me?"

Liam rushed in when he heard her. His face darkened instantly. He quickly strode forward, pulled Chloe into his embrace, and softly comforted her.

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over me like I was a disgusting piece of trash.

"Since you hate eating so much,"

He began,

"Then starve for a few days and reflect properly."

"Security! Lock her in the basement."