Evangeline stumbled weakly, collapsing into Murphy's arms as though she could not stand on her own. With tears brimming in her eyes and a trembling voice, she said, "Murphy, don't blame Gemma. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have come out dressed like this to get some water.

"I just thought that it was so late and Gemma would already be asleep, so I didn't bother putting on a robe and just stepped out in my slip dress. But as soon as I opened the door, I ran into Gemma. She saw these marks on me and called me shameless, saying that a woman as indecent as me has no right to be with you."

With just a few words, she painted Gemma as a mentally twisted troublemaker who stayed up in the middle of the night. Evangeline said Gemma had eavesdropped outside Murphy's door and, after getting consumed by jealousy, resorted to attacking his fiancée.

"She's lying. I didn't insult her," Gemma said with slightly reddened eyes. "She deliberately provoked me by bringing up my parents… And… And she even called my mother mentally deranged!"

Back in elementary school, Gemma was bullied by her classmates because of her mother's story. They surrounded her in a circle, throwing trash at her while calling her the child of a madwoman.

Murphy had been the one to step in and resolve it back then.

Gemma thought that Murphy would surely remember and know she would never lie about something that had caused her so much pain.

"Mentally deranged? Gemma, what are you talking about?" Evangeline asked with a bewildered expression. "What happened to your parents? All I know is that they passed away when you were very young. I don't know anything else."

Murphy offered Evangeline a few soft words of reassurance before turning to Gemma with a cold, piercing stare.

"Gemma, I never thought you'd stoop so low as to say such things just to slander Eva." His voice carried a sharp edge of disappointment. "Eva doesn't know anything. I've never told her about your past."

"You didn't tell her, but couldn't she have looked it up online?" Gemma said defensively. "It's not exactly hard to find—"

"Enough!" Murphy interrupted her harshly, cutting her off mid-sentence. "Do you think everyone has a malicious heart like you? Always stirring up trouble?"

Gemma froze.

Malicious heart and constantly stirring up trouble? So, this was how he saw her?

At that moment, any explanation she might have offered felt meaningless.

"Apologize to Eva. Now," Murphy commanded. His expression was cold and unyielding.

Gemma bit her lip and stayed silent. She would not apologize for this. After all, she was not in the wrong. The one who owed her an apology was Evangeline.

"I've spoiled you too much," Murphy said, his tone growing colder. "But this time, I won't let it slide. Starting today, you're confined to your room. You won't step out until you've reflected on your behavior and are ready to apologize."

For as long as she could remember, Gemma had always been the one Murphy favored and protected. But today, he chose someone else.

Locked in her room, Gemma curled up on her bed and hugged her knees to her chest. Even so, she could not shake the cold that seeped into her bones.

Her phone vibrated suddenly, breaking the silence. It was a message from the cryogenic experiment team:

[Ms. Kirk, your test results are in. Based on our analysis, your optimal freezing window is between the 7th and 21st of next month. Please select a date within this range for the procedure.]

Next month was December. Gemma's chest tightened painfully. December…

She sat in the darkness for a long time, her hands trembling as she typed in her chosen date: [December 12th.]

December 12th was her birthday. It was also the day Murphy would marry Evangeline.

She decided she would not attend their wedding. Murphy was already so tired of her presence, so going would only make things worse for them.

Instead, she would leave quietly without disturbing anyone ever again.

The new month was approaching quickly, and Gemma's time was running out.

There was still so much she needed to do, and she refused to waste her precious remaining days confined to her room.

So, the once-proud young woman lowered her head. She approached Murphy, biting her lip as she apologized, "Uncle Murphy, I've thought it through. It was all my fault. I'm sorry."

However, Murphy's expression remained cold. The tender indulgence he once held for her was gone. "I'm not the one you should apologize to—it's Eva."

Her lip bled as she bit down harder, and the metallic taste filled her mouth. In that bitter moment, she realized the warmth and affection he used to reserve for her had long since been given to another woman.

"Fine, I'll apologize to her!" she said, her voice trembling as her entire body shook with emotion.

She turned to Evangeline and choked out, "I'm sorry, Aunt Eva."

The term "Aunt Eva" made Murphy freeze for a moment.

His dark eyes flickered briefly, as though he could not believe what he had just heard.

"Is that enough now, Uncle Murphy?" Gemma asked with a self-deprecating smile. But as she forced herself to smile, tears welled up in her eyes. "Are you satisfied?"

Murphy should have felt content, but for some reason, hearing his cherished rose apologize and call Evangeline "Aunt Eva" left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He responded with cold detachment while avoiding her gaze. "From now on, you'll move downstairs."

Gemma was momentarily stunned but quickly understood his reasoning—he believed Evangeline's accusations.

She thought to herself, 'Uncle Murphy, do you really think I'm the kind of person who would stand outside your bedroom door to eavesdrop on you and another woman? Is that how you see me?'

A wave of cold swept over Gemma again. Her vision spun, and she nearly collapsed, but she steadied herself against the wall. She bit her lip to keep from falling. "Fine," she said quietly.

If Murphy wanted her to move downstairs, she would. After all, she only had a few days left to live.

…

Later that evening, Gemma drove to the cryogenic experiment lab. She needed to discuss where her cryo-casket would be stored after the procedure.

"I read in the materials that you have cryo-casket storage facilities under the sea. Is that true?" Gemma asked.

"Of course," Andrea replied. "In fact, most of our cryo-casket storage facilities are underwater. Maintaining the sub-zero temperatures necessary for long-term storage requires enormous energy on land. But under the sea, the naturally low temperatures significantly reduce energy consumption."

"That's perfect," Gemma said with a smile. "I want my cryo-casket stored at the bottom of the sea."

"May I ask why?"

Still smiling, Gemma replied, "Because the stars can't find me there."

Murphy had gifted her a star. He once told her that no matter where she went, the star would follow her, always watching over her in his place. Yet now, Murphy did not care for her anymore.

Plus, she was about to die. It was too sad to let the star guard an unloved corpse. So, she decided to give the star its freedom—by sinking to a place where it could not see her. She would quietly disappear without burdening anyone or anything.

To avoid seeing Evangeline, Gemma deliberately stayed out late, only returning home when she thought everyone would be asleep.

However, when she arrived, the villa was brightly lit. Murphy sat in the living room, his face full of anger as he waited for her.

"Uncle Murphy, what's wrong?" Gemma asked, feigning confusion. She had no idea what she had done this time. She had spent the entire day away from the house.

Murphy threw a stack of documents onto the floor in front of her, barely containing his fury as he demanded, "Gemma, explain to me what this is!"

Gemma looked down, and among the scattered papers, she saw her cancer diagnosis.

"Why'd you go through my things?" Gemma panicked as she avoided Murphy's question entirely. "I'm 18 now. You can't just barge into my room and rummage through my stuff!"

Murphy's expression darkened as he slammed the ashtray on the table. "Is that the main point here?!"

The ashtray hit the floor with a dull thud, and Gemma flinched in fear.

"Gemma, you've misunderstood your uncle." At the height of the tension, Evangeline stepped in with a false air of concern. "He didn't go into your room. It's my fault. I didn't have any clean clothes, and the ones I wore yesterday… Well, they got ruined by your Uncle Murphy…"

She blushed, feigning shyness as she paused for effect before continuing, "I had nothing to wear, so I went into your room to borrow an old outfit of yours. But while looking, I accidentally came across this cancer diagnosis on your desk."

She was lying. Gemma had locked the cancer diagnosis away on the very first day she received it.

Yet in Evangeline's story, it sounded as if Gemma had deliberately left the diagnosis in plain sight, waiting for them to find it.

"Gemma, you're so young. How could you possibly have cancer?" Evangeline clutched her chest, her expression a delicate mix of sorrow and beauty. "Be honest with me. Is this diagnosis real, or is it some cruel prank?"

Gemma turned to Murphy, realizing for the first time that his gaze held more anger than concern.

Clearly, Evangeline had whispered enough poison in his ear before she got home. Murphy did not believe she was sick; he thought she was pretending to have cancer just to get his attention.

Gemma thought maybe it was better this way. At least her secret would remain hidden.

"It's a prank," she admitted softly. "I was just messing around with my friends. I didn't expect you to find it and—"

Before she could finish, Murphy, who had been sitting silently on the couch with a grim expression, stood up abruptly. "We're going to the hospital right now for tests."

Whether it was a prank or not, the hospital would reveal the truth.

"Uncle Murphy…" Gemma protested weakly. She did not want to go.

Yet one cold, piercing look from Murphy crushed her resistance. She knew him well enough to understand there was no escaping this.

By the time they arrived at the hospital, it was midnight. Normally, no departments except the emergency room would take patients at this hour.

However, Murphy had called the hospital director beforehand. Unwilling to offend someone as powerful as Murphy, the director arranged for a team of doctors to conduct a full examination on Gemma.

Cancer tests would take at least two hours to yield results. For Gemma, every second of those two hours was sheer torment.

She could not help but wonder—if Murphy found out she was dying, would he feel sad for her?

Or was she merely a burden to him now? A jealous, twisted nuisance he could not wait to be rid of? She did not know how long she waited, but eventually, the doctor came out with the results.

"Mr. Townsend, the tests are complete. Ms. Kirk is in excellent health. She doesn't have cancer at all."

Gemma was stunned. After all that agonizing waiting, this was the result she received?

She turned sharply to look at Evangeline. She did not need to guess to know that this had to be one of her manipulative schemes.

"Oh, thank goodness." Evangeline exhaled a long breath, her tone one of exaggerated relief. "So, it was just a prank? Gemma's fine… Murphy and I can finally stop worrying."

Murphy said nothing. He looked at Gemma intently, his gaze lingering as if he was seeing something for the first time.

Gemma's face was deathly pale, completely devoid of color.

The cherished rose he had nurtured so carefully seemed to be wilting right before his eyes.