The thought chilled her. She couldn't stop shuddering; she switched off the laptop and stumbled back.

She bumped into a warm, steamy presence. Richard stood there, wrapped in a towel, hair half-dry, his torso bare, his muscles beautifully contoured.

He didn't notice the strange looks Maria had. He smiled, voice low as if he was holding back his desire. "Feeling any better?"

Maria bit her lip, numb with shock.

Richard took her silence for consent. He swept her up, carried her to the bed, and leaned over her.

Maria sank into the soft bed. Before she could push Richard away, he had her in his arms.

His embrace exuded a woody cologne scent. It was her favorite. He had been wearing that scent for seven years after she made an offhand comment about it.

Two days ago, she wouldn't have believed her marriage was a sham, or that he didn't love her.

But now…

"Relax," Richard murmured, holding her hands tight. Their palms met as he planted a trail of kisses along her neck.

Only when his warm hands heated her back did Maria shiver, snap back to herself, and shove him away hard. She sat up, enduring the ache in her chest.

"I don't feel well. I don't want to do this."

She got up and left the room, slamming the door behind her.

Richard frowned and stared at the closed door, lost in thought.

-

Maria went into the next room. Jonathan called after her from the living room, but she ignored him. Her fingers trembled as she pulled out her phone and scrolled to her latest social post. The marriage certificate stung her eyes.

She had just posted it a few days ago—a photo of her and Richard marking their seventh anniversary. She remembered the date clearly: September ninth. It was a meaningful date. They had rushed to the registry office, snapped the pictures, and then gone straight to the ceremony.

Trent had personally delivered the certificate and offered his blessings. He had even left a congratulatory comment under the post. He had also given it a like and commented right under her status, wishing them to grow old together.

Eleanor must be back by now, right?

Trent would see the photo and probably laugh at how blind Maria had been, how she had been fooled for seven years without noticing.

Maria's eyes were red as she tried hard to force those tears back. She blamed herself for being blind and lied to for seven years. From now on, she would disappear quietly and spend the time she had left with her brother, Willow. She would let Richard have what he wanted.

Dragging her feet, Maria began to lie down, but a call from her doctor interrupted her.

"Mrs. Shaw, I've reviewed your test results," the doctor said. "The tumor was discovered too late, and you've had no prior treatment. You are not fit to travel, either by air or sea."

Maria's heart tightened. "Not even by sea?"

"No. First, you haven't started any conservative treatment, so your body can't withstand travel. Second, your route would involve higher altitudes that could trigger your brain cancer's symptoms."

The doctor's tone was grave and certain.

Maria held her phone tight. "If I can't fly or take a ship, how am I supposed to leave?"

"Do you have to leave immediately?" the doctor asked.

Maria pressed her lips together. Richard's true love had returned. Why stay to be pushed out, to be abandoned by husband and son?

"I have to leave. Please help me, no matter how hard it is. Money isn't a problem," she answered softly but firmly.

The doctor sighed. "I'll put together a ten-day treatment plan. If you respond well, you might be able to travel afterwards. Maybe even fly."

Ten days…

Maria's face fell. She did not want to stay that long, not with everything so uncertain. But she had no choice but to cooperate with the doctor.

-

The next morning, when Maria came out, the living room smelled of breakfast.

Richard was swatting at Jonathan's hand. "Your mom's not awake yet. Wait until she comes out."

Jonathan pouted and rubbed his hand.

Maria gripped the doorknob, surprised they had not left. "Can't you two just go home?"

Richard was taken aback, then came over and lowered his voice. "I know Jonny was out of line yesterday, and you should teach him a lesson. But you look exhausted and unwell. I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone."

Maria paused. She hadn't expected him to insist on staying.

She turned away, her eyes lowered. "If you don't agree, I won't go back."

Richard's expression cooled; he didn't understand why Maria was suddenly so stubborn this time, refusing even to look at their son.

Maria grabbed her coat, saying she was going for a run.

"When I get back, clear away leftovers and take out the trash," she added.

Jonathan watched her go, noticing she had not once looked his way. His heart tightened.

"Mom!" he called.

But she ignored him and slammed the door.

Father and son exchanged glances. Richard's face turned cold. "Eat your eggs and milk, then go to school. If you can't get your mom back tonight, don't bother coming home."

Jonathan didn't dare to say a word and quietly nodded.

The maids packed Jonathan's bag and took him to school while Richard left for work.

Maria wandered for two hours. When she returned, the hotel suite was indeed empty. She changed rooms at the front desk immediately, then went to the hospital to talk to the doctor about her treatment plan.

Around five or six in the evening, Mr. Graham called in a panic. "Madam, where are you? Come back right away. Master Jonathan is sick, and I can't reach Master Richard!"

Maria's eyes flickered, but she answered coolly, "Call the family doctor. I can't treat him."

"But Master Jonathan fainted. He's breaking out in cold sweat and keeps calling for you."

Maria stopped in her tracks. She exhaled slowly. "Are you sure he's calling for me? Not someone else?"

Mr. Graham hesitated, suddenly unsettled. He glanced at Jonathan, who was nearby, faking his symptoms and watching him perform. He wasn't sure how to answer that.

"Ma-Madam… You're his mother. Who else would he call?"

But Maria had already hung up.

Jonathan's eyes opened wide. "Mom isn't coming home?"

Mr. Graham could only nod.

Jonathan's face flushed red. "She's changed! She doesn't care about me at all. I only said a few mean things to her at school! She's so petty!"

"Please, Master Jonathan," the butler whispered, "if Master Richard finds out, he'll be angry again."

Still fuming, Jonathan plopped onto a stool. He huffed and pulled out his phone. "If Mom won't come, I'll call Eleanor to help with my homework. I don't need her!"

By then, Maria had arrived downstairs at Shaw Group. She found Richard and handed him her resignation letter. Richard's finger hovered over the signature on the lower right.

He looked up, baffled. "You're basically a figurehead here. Why resign all of a sudden?"

Maria's nails dug into her palm as she searched for an excuse.

Richard suddenly sprang to his feet and stepped toward her. Startled, she backed away. At the same time, the sounds of high heels clicking on the floor in the hallway echoed.

"Richard, Jonny just called. He's all alone, so I'm going back early…"

The door swung open, and Eleanor froze at the sight of Maria.

Maria's face drained of color. In Richard's usually unreadable eyes, she caught a flicker of guilt and panic.

Maria's eyes trembled.

Eleanor sounded so natural just now, like a wife talking to her husband about their son.

Sunny Villa had been Maria and Richard's home for seven years, but the way Eleanor spoke made it feel like she was coming back to her home—not Maria's.

And Jonathan, knowing Maria would worry about him so much, still lied about being sick to get her back…

Maria's heart froze, turning ice-cold.

Richard's face tightened, his tone laced with concern. "Maria, Eleanor only works at the company because…"

"You've got it all wrong, Maria," Eleanor cut in, stepping forward and warmly taking Maria's hand. "I'm just filling in for the secretary, Ivy Hill. I'll be here for just a few days while she takes care of her family during an emergency."

Maria yanked Eleanor's hand back, her voice flat. "Did I say I misunderstood anything?"

Eleanor's face stiffened for an instant before she smiled softly. "Jonny called me just now, saying you won't go back to help him with his homework. If he doesn't finish it, his teacher will scold him again tomorrow. Maybe don't quarrel with the boy? His studies matter more…"

"Enough. Don't blame her." Richard's voice cut in, silencing Eleanor.

He looked at Maria, worry evident in his eyes, though his tone allowed no refusal. "We'll talk about your resignation tomorrow. It's late, so I'll take you home now."

A ringing was already filling Maria's ears.

She knew what came next. The nausea.

Every time her emotions spiked, her body reacted.

Maria forced herself to stay steady. "I'll collect the resignation letter tomorrow. Remember to sign it."

"Mari…"

Richard reached for her. His fingers brushed her cool silk jacket, leaving only a trace of chill.

Maria walked away quickly, unwilling to hear another word from them. On her way out, she noticed a new office next door.

Though she rarely came to the company, she remembered Ivy's office was tucked at the end of the hall. Richard had never liked anyone walking around and disturbing him near his office.

But now, there was bold lettering on the neighboring office's door. CEO's Executive Assistant: Eleanor Cooper.

This was the so-called "helping for a few days."

Bitterness welled up in Maria's chest as she stepped into the elevator and pressed the button. Just then, Mr. Graham's video call came through.

Maria answered. The sight of Jonathan, crying with blood running down his forehead, entered her eyes.

"Madam! Please come home! Master Jonathan is really hurting this time!"

One minute later, Maria burst out of the elevator. She quickened her pace into a run, the wind howling by her ears as she remembered what had happened in the past.

When Jonathan was three, he had hurt his head while playing in the garden. Wracked with guilt, Maria had carried him all the way to the hospital as he bawled. The doctor stitched him up, and Jonathan stopped crying. He was trembling from the pain, but he would wipe her tears with his tiny hands.

"Don't cry, Mom. Jonny loves you," he had said.

Now, the injury was in the very same place.

A tear slipped from the corner of Maria's eye. She could reject the Jonathan of today, but not the three-year-old Jonny from her memory.

-

Sunny Villa glowed brightly.

When Maria arrived, the air reeked of blood. Jonathan was still hiccupping with sobs as the family doctor finished dressing his wound. At the sight of Maria, his crying only grew louder.

"Mom, I'm dying! You only came back now that I'm dying!"

Maria rushed over. "You're not dying. Let me see your injury."

Jonathan leaned closer. It was only a scrape, though deep enough to look frightening. Maria sighed in relief and bent to blow on it, only for Jonathan to shove her away.

"Eleanor!"

Maria froze.

Ignoring his wound, Jonathan threw himself into Eleanor's arms, whining, "Eleanor, my head's hurt! It hurts a lot! Blow on it, please? If you blow, it won't hurt."

Eleanor cuddled him tenderly and blew a few times on his head. "Good boy. Better now?"

"Yeah! It doesn't hurt so much when you blow," Jonathan beamed.

Maria's lips went pale, bile rising in her throat.

Eleanor stroked Jonathan's hair and looked at Maria with a pointed smile. "I bought children's painkillers while I'm on the way here. If he still hurts tomorrow, make sure he takes one. It doesn't increase drug resistance."

Her tone was that of a mistress giving orders to a servant. Maria's eyes are even colder. "I don't live here. Go tell someone else."

"Uh…" Mr. Graham rubbed his hands awkwardly, not sure how to break the ice between them, just in time for Richard to come in after parking his car.

Jonathan let Richard inspect the wound, then glanced at Maria and demanded, "Mom, go wash some fruit. Dad and Eleanor love grapes. I want an apple!"

Before the words even settled, Richard smacked the back of his head lightly. "Who are you bossing around? You're getting ruder and ruder to your mother lately. Apologize."

Eleanor rushed to shield the boy, her eyes full of disagreement. "He's just a kid, and he's hurt. Richard, don't…"

Maria didn't want to hear more. She grabbed her purse, nearly vomiting as she bent down. Pressure pounded in her skull, but she forced back the nausea and headed for the door.

"Mari, are you alright?"

Richard caught her arm, then looked at Eleanor. "Go home. Our family affairs aren't your concern. Don't come so often."

Eleanor suddenly looked up, and her expression shifted.

Richard turned away, voice lowered as though afraid to startle Maria. "You don't look well. I'll take you to the hospital."

Without waiting, he guided her out.

The nausea overwhelmed Maria, and she shoved him off. She covered her mouth with her hand and rushed upstairs to the bathroom. Kneeling by the toilet, she vomited up mouthfuls of water.

The vomiting echoed downstairs. Richard's face tightened, and he hurried upstairs.

Behind him, Eleanor's weak voice drifted. "Richard…"

He stopped, frowning. "What's wrong?"

Jonathan, forgetting his own injury, rushed to support Eleanor. "Are you okay?"

Eleanor swayed, collapsed onto the sofa, and her breathing quickened. Clutching her chest, she gasped, "My…my chest, it hurts… so much…"

Mr. Graham cried, "Ms. Eleanor has heart disease, right? Is she having an attack? Sir, what should we do?"

Upstairs, Maria rinsed her mouth and opened the bathroom door—just in time to see Jonathan tugging desperately at Richard's sleeve.

"Mom just has her usual nausea. Don't worry about her! Eleanor will die if she doesn't get to the hospital!"

Eleanor held her chest, her frail body looking like it might collapse at any second.

Richard immediately held her up, his face darkening as he saw her lips drain of color. "Graham, have the driver get the car ready!"

"No, I don't need the hospital." Eleanor's voice shook with pain, her gaze lifting toward the second floor. From the corner upstairs, she could see a sliver of fabric peeking out. She curled her lips into the faintest smile. "You'd better go check on Maria."

Richard frowned, hesitating.

Jonathan jumped in quickly. "Mom's fine. She just throws up a lot lately. She's like that since forever. Eleanor, Dad and I will take you to the hospital!"

Remembering that Maria's doctor had said it was only minor, Richard nodded. "I'll take you first."

The words of father and son drifted clearly upstairs. The nausea in Maria's stomach surged harder. This time, she didn't head back into the bathroom and vomited. Watching the car roll away, the ache in her chest outweighed the physical pain.

A maid nearby, seeing her pale face, tried to comfort her out of pity. "Madam, don't worry. Master Richard is yours. No one can take him away."

Maria gave a faint smile, turning to her. "So, you can see it too? That soon, he won't be mine at all?"

While Richard fretted over his true love, he probably never imagined that Maria didn't have much time left to live.

True, a dying woman should stop being such an eyesore. Maria might as well hand over the role of Mrs. Shaw and that of Jonathan's mother to Eleanor. After all, Jonathan's heart was already with her.

Dragging her powerless steps downstairs, she met Mr. Graham coming back after closing the gate. When he saw Maria trying to leave, he said, "Madam, Master Richard just said you should wait here for him. He has something to tell you."

"Then tell me on the phone," Maria replied, leaving without looking back.

At the hospital, Eleanor lay in bed after her checkup. The doctor assured them it was nothing serious, and only then did Richard relax.

He glanced at his watch. "Get some rest here. I'll…"

"Sorry for troubling you. It seems I also caused some conflict between you and Maria today, didn't I?" Eleanor cut in with a strained smile, as if she couldn't tell of his impatience.

Richard looked at Jonathan, who had dozed off beside her, and lowered his voice. "No. Rest well. I'll explain things to Maria myself."

"There's no need. As long as I leave again, you two won't have any problems. It's only because of me that you two never got your marriage certificate." Eleanor lowered her head, her eyes red.

Richard paused, listening to her words made him think back to seven years ago.

His grandmother's pressure and Eleanor's sudden disappearance, leaving him unable to file the divorce papers no matter how much he tried…

"It's all in the past. Don't blame yourself," he said calmly. "When you left without a word, I never held it against you."

"But I blame myself!" Eleanor's voice rose in sudden tension. "I know how your grandmother forced you to marry me. After I saved her life, she thought I was kind and dependable, that you'd be safe with me."

Eleanor sighed and couldn't help but sob. "It's my fault. Saving her terrified me so much that I ended up with this heart condition. After we got the certificate, I didn't want to drag you down. I was afraid you wouldn't want me, so I left for treatment abroad…"

Hearing her mention his grandmother, Richard's face softened further. "I truly don't blame you. Don't carry this burden. What matters is that your health is stable now. After all, you helped our family."

Eleanor lifted her gaze, her eyes filled with hope. "I didn't just help your family. I'm also your…"

"We should take time to finalize the divorce papers," Richard interrupted, his tone cool. "I couldn't find you all these years, but now that you're back, I should tell Maria the truth and get our marriage certificate reissued."

The obvious distance in Richard's voice left Eleanor speechless. Under the covers, her hands clenched tight.

Forcing a brittle smile, she whispered, "Of…of course. You've found the one you truly love and built a home with her. It's only right that I step aside."

"That's right." Richard stood up. "Rest well. I'll take Jonny home now."

"Alright," Eleanor murmured, biting her lip.

As soon as he carried the boy out, her expression turned extremely cold. Rubbing her temples, her frailty vanished. She pulled out her phone and made a call.

"Hello, I need a medical record forged."

-

Back at the hotel, Maria turned off her phone the moment she arrived. The next morning, as she came downstairs, the front desk called her.

"Mrs. Shaw, a Mr. Shaw came by around midnight. As you instructed, I told him you've already checked out."

Maria gave a grateful smile. "Thank you for covering for me. Sorry to trouble you."

The receptionist smiled easily. "Not at all. But… That was your husband, wasn't it? He seemed really anxious when he was here yesterday."

Maria's smile faded, and she only nodded vaguely before leaving.

Anxious?

Whatever his reason, even if he had been worried, Maria didn't need it anymore.

In Richard's world, she had never been first.

He was worried about her, but he had to send Eleanor off first.

He would worry about her absence, yet still spent the night at the hospital with Eleanor.

The feeling of being forever placed last… It was meaningless.

Maria got into a car and went straight to the mall.

Last night, she received her full treatment plan from her doctor. It included what medications to take, when to take them, and other precautions. All of them were typed out by the doctor personally.

He had also warned her that the headaches, vomiting, and blurred vision were nothing compared to what was to come. In two months, even surgery wouldn't help her. Once her motor or speech nerves were compressed, she would lose the ability to talk or even to live independently.

Maria still chose no surgery. She wouldn't gamble on a fifty-fifty chance. Instead, she wanted to spend her remaining time abroad with family.

She was grateful, too, for having such a compassionate doctor. He had spent hours persuading her last night, probably losing sleep himself.

Wanting to show her thanks, she headed to the mall to buy him a gift to show her sincerity. However, she hadn't expected to run straight into someone she didn't want to see.

In the distance stood a woman in a red coat, nearly forty. Maria froze, then turned to leave.

But the woman's sharp eyes caught her, and she strode quickly over.

"Stop!"

Maria halted. Forced to turn back, she greeted the woman softly.

"Catelyn."