Dragging her exhausted body back to the apartment she had lived in for ten years, Aria sensed something was wrong the moment she slid the key into the lock. The lock had been changed.

She found the spare key under the rug. After opening the door, she froze in the entryway.

The ceramic vase she had made by hand for Julian, the birthday gift he once said felt warm and thoughtful, was gone.

In its place stood a cold, lifeless metal sculpture.

On the living room wall, the photo of her and Julian in the snowy fields had been taken down, replaced by a solo art portrait of Lila, her makeup bold, her gaze openly provocative.

The sofa had been replaced with pale pink velvet, and a couple's scented candles sat on the coffee table.

Even the pothos she had cared for for five years was gone, the windowsill left completely bare.

"Do you like it?" Julian's voice came from behind her.

Leaning against the doorframe, he spoke casually, as if showing off a renovation. "Lila said the place felt outdated, so I let her redo it however she liked."

Aria didn't speak. Her fingers brushed over the empty windowsill, where she used to water the plants every day.

"Move out for a few days first," Julian stepped closer, his tone leaving no room for argument. "When Lila gets tired of living here, you can come back."

Come back after Lila got tired of it?

Aria nodded and turned to the bedroom to pack the last of her belongings.

After all, she had only two days left before her flight. She didn't want to fight anymore. She didn't want to hurt anymore.

Julian frowned. "You're just leaving like that? No crying? No scene?"

He had expected her to smash things, to beg on her knees, to cling to him the way she always had.

But Aria simply zipped up her suitcase and said calmly, "I wish you happiness."

That detached calm only infuriated Julian.

"What are you pretending to be so noble for?" he sneered. "Playing hard to get again? Waiting for me to come begging you back?"

Aria was exhausted. She didn't even have the energy to explain, pushing her suitcase as she walked out.

"Get out!" Julian shouted after her, furious and unrestrained. "Don't ever show up in front of me again!"

Late at night, a twenty-four-hour convenience store.

Wearing an ill-fitting uniform, Aria scanned items behind the checkout counter.

It was a temporary job she'd taken just to scrape together enough money for the airport shuttle.

The doorbell chimed.

Lila walked in on high heels, her smile syrupy sweet. "Oh? Aria? What a coincidence."

For the next half hour, she treated Aria like a servant.

"Get me a bag of chips."

"Forget it. I don't want it. Put it back."

"What about beef jerky? Make it the spiciest one."

"Oh, I don't feel like eating anymore. Throw it away."

Aria kept her head down and said nothing.

She couldn't lose this job. She had to save five hundred dollars for the trip.

Then Lila pointed at the hot soup station. "Add some more broth for me."

Just as Aria lifted a ladle of steaming broth, Lila suddenly shoved her arm. The entire bowl of scalding liquid splashed over Aria's arm and chest.

Agonizing pain exploded. The exposed skin on Aria's arm instantly swelled and reddened.

Aria bit down on her lip to keep from screaming, her eyes locking onto Lila. "You did that on purpose."

Lila gave a provocative smile, then clutched her stomach and stepped back, her voice shaking. "Y-you scalded me on purpose? Are you trying to kill me and my baby?"

At that moment, Julian pushed the door open.

Lila immediately rushed to him, tears streaming. "Julian! She hates that I'm pregnant. She wants to destroy our baby!"

Julian didn't even look at Aria, irritation filling his eyes. "This again? At least have some limits when you're being jealous."

Aria opened her mouth to explain, but he shoved her away hard.

Her lower back slammed into the sharp edge of the counter.

"Ah!"

The pain was tearing and blinding. Her vision went dark as cold sweat soaked her back.

Julian had already scooped Lila up in his arms and strode toward the door.

He left behind only a cold sentence. "Get close to her one more time, and I'll make sure you won't survive in this city."

Only Aria remained in the convenience store, curled on the floor, one hand pressed to her waist, trembling in pain.

The store manager peeked out and asked hesitantly, "Should we call the police?"

Aria shook her head and slowly pushed herself upright. "No. I still have to work."

She had thirty-five hours left.

Thirty-five hours later, she would board a flight to Scoyjan.

At seven in the morning, the convenience store had just finished its shift change.

Aria stood on tiptoe, arranging coffee cans on the top shelf, burn patches still stuck to her arm.

When the doorbell chimed, she didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

Julian stood in the doorway, suit immaculate, his eyes restless with irritation.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" he asked, forcing his anger down. "Ghosting me? Playing disappearing acts? You think I'd beg you to come back like this?"

Aria didn't stop. She kept arranging the shelves.

She knew this routine too well. Every time she ignored his calls out of spite, he would show up with a cold face, using accusations to force her to lower her head and apologize.

She would cry and apologize, and he would brush it off with a casual, "Let's not do this again next time," as if nothing had happened.

For ten years, the cycle repeated. She was like a tamed bird, unable to fly far, unable to escape.

But this time, she didn't want to play along anymore.

"Say something!" Julian strode forward, grabbed her wrist, and forced her to turn around.

But the moment he saw her face clearly, he froze.

Aria had grown frighteningly thin.

Her cheekbones jutted sharply, her eye sockets hollow, the once full cheeks reduced to a thin layer of skin.

Her wrist was so thin in his grasp it felt like a dead branch, as if it would snap with a twist.

"You…" His voice suddenly caught.

Aria tried to pull her hand back, but her vision went black and her body went limp.

Julian caught her instinctively, only to realize she was as light as snow, almost weightless.

The sharp smell of disinfectant filled the air in the hospital.

Aria woke up on the hospital bed and saw Julian sitting beside her, his brows tightly knit.

"What's wrong with you?" His voice was unusually low. "Are you sick?"

She opened her mouth, her throat dry.

The words crowded in her mind. That she had stomach cancer. That she only had a few months left. That the money he had taken was her only chance to survive.

But before the words could leave her mouth, the ward door was pushed open.

Lila walked in with a hand on her waist, her smile gentle. "Julian, I heard Aria collapsed? That's really worrying."

She glanced at Aria and lowered her voice, just loud enough for both of them to hear.

"But… she's always liked using this trick. Pretending to be sick, pretending to be pitiful, just to soften your heart. Do you remember last time? She said she had gastric bleeding, and it turned out to be nothing…"

Julian's expression changed instantly.

He stood up abruptly, his concern turning into icy disappointment.

"I knew it." He sneered. "You never know how to speak properly. All you know is playing the martyr."

Aria's heart sank completely into an icy abyss.

She wasn't even given a chance to explain. In his mind, her pain had always been nothing but an act.

"Let's go." Julian took Lila's hand. "Don't waste time here."

The door closed. Footsteps faded away.

Aria finally broke down.

She buried her face in the blanket and cried silently.

Not because she was sick. Not because she had been misunderstood. But because she had loved a man who couldn't even be bothered to confirm the truth when she was dying.

She cried until her whole body shook, until her phone screen lit up.

A notification popped up. "Lawson Group heir Julian Lawson officially announces his engagement today! Fiancée Lila Bennett's pregnancy revealed. Grand society banquet in preparation."

In the photo, Julian had his arm around Lila's waist, his smile gentle.

On Lila's ring finger was the diamond ring Aria had imagined countless times, a family heirloom left by his mother. He had once said, "When you marry me, you'll wear this."

Aria stared at the photo until her tears ran dry.

So it wasn't that he couldn't give a title. He had just never intended to give it to her.

She pulled the IV needle from the back of her hand and staggered out of bed.

A nurse chased after her. "Miss! You haven't recovered yet! The doctor said you're severely malnourished and need to stay for observation!"

Aria shook her head, her voice hoarse but firm. "No. I have to leave now."

She had her final twenty-four hours left.

But a few hours later, Aria received Julian's engagement invitation.

Aria's indifferent attitude irritated Julian, but he knew her too well. She would rather die than watch him marry someone else.

Julian waited for Aria to show up at the engagement, sobbing and begging for his forgiveness, so he could reluctantly accept her pleas from a position of superiority.

After all, that was how it had always gone for the past ten years.

But Aria didn't come.

He waited an entire day before losing his patience and sending her a message. "I'll give you one million dollars, all right? That should be enough to get you here."

Aria stared at the screen, her fingers trembling.

One million dollars. Just enough for the first payment of treatment in Edelmark.

She closed her eyes as tears slid down her cheeks.

In the face of survival, dignity meant nothing.

She went. The moment she stepped into the hotel ballroom, laughter exploded.

"Well, if it isn't Aria. You really showed up?"

"So money matters more than pride now?"

"Isn't that pathetic? Watching your man marry his mistress, and still showing up for money?"

Wearing the cheapest black dress she owned, she stood among the glittering crowd like a shadow.

Lila clung to Julian's arm and deliberately raised her voice. "Julian, is she that desperate now? She even dares to show up at a place like this?"

But Aria no longer cared about anything. She looked at Julian. "Will you really give me the money?"

Julian sneered and snapped his fingers.

Two bodyguards carried in a cardboard box and dumped it with a loud crash.

One hundred stacks of hundred-dollar bills spilled across the marble floor like trash.

"Pick it up," he said coldly. "Once you're done, it's yours. I won't go back on my word."

The room fell silent for a second, then erupted into even harsher laughter.

"Hurry up and pick it up!"

"Get down and grab it already! Who are you trying to impress with that dignity?"

"A simp should act like a simp!"

Aria stood frozen as the blood drained from her body, trembling with cold.

She remembered being fifteen, when he chased away the thugs who bullied her and said, "No one will ever make you bow your head again."

Now, he was the one forcing her to abandon every shred of dignity.

She took a deep breath and slowly crouched down.

Her fingertips touched the bills, cold and rough, smeared with dust.

Each bill she picked up felt like stripping off a layer of skin.

Tears pooled in her eyes, but she bit down hard on her lip and refused to let them fall.

She couldn't cry. If she cried, she would become exactly the joke they wanted.

She picked them up one by one, her movements slow but unwavering.

Some took photos. Others recorded videos. The flashes burned her eyes.

But she no longer cared.

This money was her lifeline. It was blood payment she had bought with ten years of youth and dignity.

At last, the final bill was picked up.

She stood up, her back straight, and looked calmly at Julian. "I'm taking the money. I wish you a lifetime of happiness."

At that moment, the host announced loudly, "Now, please have Mr. Lawson and Miss Bennett exchange their engagement vows!"

Thunderous applause erupted.

Julian wrapped his arm around Lila and vowed amid the congratulations, "I vow to protect you for the rest of my life, Lila."

Aria turned and walked toward the exit.

Behind her came Lila's smug whisper, "Look, she doesn't even dare to be jealous anymore."

But just as she pushed open the revolving door, a white medical transport vehicle pulled up at the steps.

The logo of a Edelmark medical institution was printed on the side.

The driver stepped out and nodded to her. "Are you Ms. Aria Hart? We're here to take you to the airport."

Aria stopped in her tracks.

The cold wind lifted the loose strands from her forehead, revealing a pair of clear eyes.

She suddenly smiled. Not a bitter smile, but one of true release.

She looked back once at the brightly lit ballroom, where her youth, delusion, humility, and humiliation were buried.

And in this moment, she let it all go.

She walked toward the white vehicle. In the twilight, the wheels rolled toward a tomorrow without Julian.