Jeff had no idea why he said that. He just felt that urgent need to keep Cecilia from slipping away, even if it meant promising her a marriage he was not sure he wanted.

Cecilia stopped moving when she heard him. She stayed turned away from Jeff and was silent for a few seconds before asking, "Why?"

She wondered why he was asking now, after all this time, and especially after betraying her so openly.

Jeff thought she was about to say yes and smiled as he leaned in closer. "Why not? We've been together for years. It's about time we got married, right?"

Cecilia felt nothing as she heard his words, just a flat "Oh, really?"

He was taken aback by how uninterested she sounded. He thought she was upset with his casual attitude, so he quickly added, "Cecilia, you won't miss out on anything that's yours, I promise."

Then, without waiting for her to say more, he left the ward. Cecilia drifted off into a confused sleep, and by the time she woke up, night had fallen.

The company had sent a note to check on her flight out of the city, which was coming up in two weeks.

After she double-checked the details, she popped in to see her doctor. He gave her good news—she would be ready to leave the hospital in about a week.

With a big sigh of relief, Cecilia turned to head back.

However, as she rounded the corner, she walked into a surprise. A bunch of people with roses were cheering and circling her, shouting: "Way to go, Ms. Jones!"

It took a second, but Cecilia spotted Jeff in a suit, holding a sparkly ring, right in the middle of them.

She sneezed a bunch, her hand flying to her nose.

Jeff, all smiles, got down on one knee and held up the ring. "Cecilia, will you marry me?"

Cecilia's face scrunched up. The pollen was making her nose super itchy. She tried to get Jeff to stand, but he was too quick. He slipped the ring on her finger, saying, "Cecilia, you said yes! We're going to—"

"Jeff." Her voice was weak as she struggled to breathe in between coughs. "Tell everyone to go... I'm allergic to pollen..."

Jeff got it and told everyone to scram. They all rushed off.

However, Cecilia's head was spinning, and down she went.

As she started to black out, she remembered another time, the first time she had a pollen attack. Jeff had carried her up seventeen flights of stairs without stopping, so she would not miss her treatment.

Then, he had forgotten all about her allergy.

What a twist, she thought.

Cecilia was not sure how long she had been out, but when her eyes fluttered open, it was already the next morning.

The hospital room was quiet and empty. Cecilia's stomach rumbled with hunger, and she thought about asking a nurse to order some food for her.

As she walked out the door, Yvonne appeared, carrying a fancy little meal box. She handed it to Cecilia with a smile.

"Ms. Jones, Jeff sent me to bring you this breakfast."

Cecilia barely glanced at her, her eyes dropping.

"Just leave it there and go, please."

Yvonne smirked, suddenly grabbing Cecilia's hand with the ring on it.

"Is this the ring Jeff proposed with yesterday? It's pretty, but mine is even prettier." She showed off her own ring, which was much bigger.

Cecilia stared at the huge diamond ring and felt her breath catch in her throat. It was like the awful feeling of an allergic attack.

Yvonne, looking smug, stepped back and rubbed her belly.

"Ms. Jones, you’re far too naive—still clinging to the idea of marriage after he’s betrayed you. Being Mrs. Lawrence means nothing. You should’ve seen how ecstatic Jeff was when I told him I’m pregnant!"

That was why Jeff was away yesterday. He was celebrating the news that he and Yvonne were going to be parents.

Cecilia watched Yvonne's bold face and forced a smile.

"Good for you both," she said.

She turned to walk away, but just then, Jeff rushed in, stood in front of Cecilia, and gave Yvonne an icy stare. "Why are you here? Leave now!"

Yvonne's expression changed instantly, and she looked like she was about to cry. She said softly, "Jeff, I just started feeling sick, so I came to get checked out at the hospital... My tummy keeps hurting, and I'm scared..."

Her eyes were trying too hard to look sincere. It was clear to anyone that she was faking it.

However, Jeff could not help worrying. He frowned, trying to keep his feelings in check. "Then go see a doctor right away! Why are you still here wasting time?"

Yvonne's tears fell like raindrops on pear blossoms. "But I'm too scared to go alone... It's my very first time being... you know..."

She was on the verge of saying "pregnant."

Jeff took a step toward her, but when he saw Cecilia's pale face, he forced himself to step back. "Just go to the doctor. It's only a checkup. There's nothing to be scared of."

With that, he wrapped his arm around Cecilia, and they went back to her hospital ward.

Inside, Jeff was more anxious than ever, as if his mind was with Yvonne. He kept glancing outside the ward and checking his phone for messages, clearly worried out of his mind.

Cecilia watched Jeff and remembered how he used to be worried when she first came to the capital and kept getting fevers because she was not used to the climate.

Then, his worries were for someone else.

"Cecilia, I need to step out for a moment. I'll be back soon."

After he said that, Jeff stood up and left the room quickly.

Cecilia looked at the door for a moment, then slowly removed the ring Jeff had made her wear the day before and set it aside.

She opened her notebook and began to write slowly:

[I forgive Jeff for the 98th time. He got another woman pregnant on the very day he asked me to marry him.]

After she finished writing, she gazed at the words on the page as tears streamed down, splashing onto her notebook and smudging the ink.

The words blurred, just like they had so many times before.

She snapped the notebook shut, her mind made up more firmly than ever.

Jeff did not visit the hospital the week after that, and once Cecilia was better, she checked herself out of the hospital on her own.

Back at their apartment, she packed up her things. For the things she did not need anymore, she had the cleaning lady toss them out. The things she wanted to keep, she had a delivery service box up and shipped to Riverie City.

She had her own place in Riverie City before she came to the capital, so she did not have to worry about where to put her belongings.

After that, Cecilia got rid of everything they had bought together in the apartment, like their matching coffee mugs and pajamas.

She was leaving, and it was time to wipe away every last trace of her life there.

Time to clear the way for Jeff's new sweetheart.

Once she finished, Cecilia went to look up flight tickets on her phone but saw a post from Yvonne instead.

[It's so wonderful to have someone with you at the prenatal checkup. Our little one is doing great, and so is my big guy.]

The photo showed two hands holding tight. The mole on one hand was right where Jeff's would be.

Cecilia clicked on Yvonne's profile and saw all the posts she had made that week:

[A new little life is growing inside me, and it's so touching.]

[A man has to really love you to want you to have his baby. Some people just don't get it.]

[It doesn't matter how much she tries to hold on, his heart is here with me, and so is he.]

All the photos showed Jeff taking care of her in different ways.

Even though the photo did not show the person's full face, Cecilia could tell it was Jeff from the little bits that showed. She was looking at the pictures so intently that she did not notice it had gotten dark outside.

When Jeff walked in and flicked on the light, he jumped a little at seeing Cecilia there. "Cecilia, you're out of the hospital? When did you get back?" he asked.

Cecilia put her phone away and said without much feeling, "This morning."

"Why didn't you tell me to come get you? I'm sorry, I've been really swamped with work at the company these days," Jeff started to say, but he stopped when he saw that Cecilia was not even looking at him. It was like she did not care where he had been or what he had been up to.

She just said, "I'm going to take a shower," and went into the bedroom.

Jeff felt a growing worry inside him.

Over the next few days, he made sure to come home from work on time, and Cecilia was always there, but his worry did not go away. He tried to talk to her about their wedding plans. "My assistant brought over some wedding stuff this morning. You got it all, right?" he asked.

Cecilia had her head down in a book and did not look up. "It's all in the living room."

"Let's open the boxes and start decorating…" Jeff began, walking over to her.

However, Cecilia quickly got up from the bed. "I'm going to take a shower. You can do the decorating," she said.

He reached out a hand, but he only caught the edge of her nightgown before it slipped away.

His worry deepened. He went to the living room and saw the pile of wedding things on the floor. The apartment should have felt fuller with all the new stuff, but somehow it felt more empty than ever.

He was feeling all mixed up inside and decided to change into his pajamas and take a shower, but he just could not find his favorite pajamas anywhere.

"Cecilia, where's that black pajama set you gave me? The matching one for couples?"

"I threw it out." Her reply was blunt.

He was taken aback. "Why'd you throw them out? I really liked those pajamas."

"They were old, so I threw them out." Cecilia, with her backpack slung over her shoulder, walked to the door. Today was her last day in Zephyr City. She was getting ready to go out and cancel all her things—bank cards, phone cards, everything.

She figured she would not be coming back anyway.

Jeff's brow furrowed as he heard that, and he said quickly. "You gotta remember to get me a new set. Wait, where are you headed?"

He hurried to the door, calling out to Cecilia, who was already waiting for the elevator.

Cecilia spoke evenly: "I've got some errands."

Jeff wanted to ask what she was up to, but the elevator dinged, and Cecilia stepped in and went down.

For some reason, seeing Cecilia like that made Jeff's heart race. He had that nagging feeling that something was about to happen.

He went back inside, pulled out his phone, and sent Cecilia a message: [Don't forget we're getting our marriage certificate tomorrow.]

Cecilia did not answer, so he sent another message: [?]

Hours later, she finally replied: [Got it.]

Jeff stared at those two words for the longest time. It was not until Yvonne called, sobbing and saying she was not feeling good, that he turned off his phone with a grim look and stood up to go see Yvonne.