Chapter 3
Three days later, while researching materials in the library, I suddenly remembered something.
In my previous life, Lily died from bone cancer.
By the time it was discovered, it was already late stage.
Which meant that right now, cancer cells might already be in Lily's body.
I suddenly stood up, knocking over my chair and drawing sidelong glances from those around me.
Without bothering to apologize, I rushed out of the library, calling Lily while running.
"Lily, are you free this afternoon? I'd like to treat you to afternoon tea."
At the café, when I told Lily I wanted her to go for a health checkup with me, she couldn't help laughing:
"Mabel, why do you suddenly want a checkup? Are you not feeling well?"
I made up an excuse: "The school organized it. Lily, I'm scared to go alone, can you come with me?"
Lily looked at me suspiciously: "Really?"
I tried to look as sincere as possible:
"Really. And I also want you to get checked. Consider it... a pre-wedding checkup? After all, you're going to marry Mason."
Lily's face flushed red, and she chided: "You..."
Just then, her phone rang. It was Mason.
"Where are you?"
"Having afternoon tea with Mabel."
There was silence on the other end: "Come home early."
After hanging up, Lily smiled at him: "Clingy."
I forced a smile, made an excuse about having class, and arranged to meet her on the weekend.
Just as I reached the school gate, I saw Mason's car parked there.
He got out of the car, grabbed my wrist, and dragged me to a corner.
Before I could react, he shoved me away.
I stumbled and fell to the ground.
My knees and elbows burned with pain. Looking down, I saw the skin was scraped and blood was seeping out.
He looked down at me from above, his eyes cold as ice.
"Mabel Parker, I'm warning you, stay away from Lily."
"Don't say things you shouldn't say, don't do things you shouldn't do."
I braced myself with my arms and stood up, my voice shaking: "I didn't."
"I just wanted her to go for a checkup with me."
He paused: "Are you sick?"
The words came out almost reflexively.
I froze, then shook my head: "No, the school requires it."
He stared at me for a long time, his expression slowly changing.
As if remembering something, or confirming something.
After a moment, he crouched down and looked at the wound on my knee.
"Get in the car."
He took me to a pharmacy to buy iodine and gauze, then crouched by the roadside to treat my wound.
His movements weren't exactly gentle, but they were careful.
His voice was low: "This weekend, I'll take you both for the checkup."
I lowered my head, staring at my toes, everything blurry.
The day the test results came out, Lily cried until her whole body shook.
Early-stage bone cancer.
The doctor said: "It was discovered very timely. The cure rate is very high."
Mason held Lily, his hands trembling with fear.
Lily looked at me with red eyes: "Mabel, thank you... really, thank you."
I shook my head and patted her back.
Mason's gaze moved past Lily's shoulder and landed on me.
Deep and heavy.
I remembered the day Lily died in my previous life—it was raining heavily.
After Mason learned that she left back then because she discovered what happened between us that night, he stood in front of her grave all day, soaked through.
When he came home, he smashed everything he could, then found my diary hidden at the bottom of a drawer.
So he was convinced I had deliberately told Lily.
I explained. He didn't believe me.
He divorced me, made me leave with nothing, and prevented me from finding any work.
In the end, I died of illness in a rental apartment with no one by my side.
Now, there was still time to fix everything.
Lily would live.
Mason wouldn't blame me in the future.
And I would leave.
A huge weight finally lifted from my heart.
Leaving the hospital, the sun was setting.
Mason went to handle the admission procedures while Lily and I sat in the lobby waiting.
Lily leaned on my shoulder and said softly: "Mabel, I'm scared."
I patted her hand: "Don't be afraid. Mason will always be with you."