After discovering that Sienna Lyon had cheated on me, I gave her three chances.

The first time, I pulled out the love letter that a shy 18-year-old Sienna had handed to me with trembling hands.

When Sienna took the letter, her face was filled with remorse. Then, she deleted Matt Sauter’s contact from her WhatsApp right in front of me.

The second time, I pulled up a video of Sienna and me exchanging our wedding vows from my phone’s gallery.

Sienna watched in silence for a long time. Then, she ordered the security guard to turn away Matt, who had come to borrow money.

She, who had never touched a drop of alcohol, got completely drunk that night.

The third time was outside Matt’s hospital room, when I handed Sienna the stomach cancer report.

Sienna lit a cigarette. The smoke made me cough uncontrollably.

Yet her gaze never left Matt, who was in the room.

The answer was already obvious.

At that moment, I knew there would be no future for her and me.

From the moment I discovered Sienna Lyon’s affair to the diagnosis of my stomach cancer, a year’s worth of unresolved questions came crashing down on me.

I thought that I would break down, and that I would lose my mind.

However, I only felt calm, like my heart had been reduced to ashes.

My tears had long since dried from those countless sleepless nights.

The long wait had finally come to an end.

In the world of adults, there was no need for so many words.

I sensed the mood and turned to leave.

Sienna, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up.

“Callum Sutton, don’t joke around about stomach cancer. Be grateful for what you have and stop making a scene. Matt is an orphan with no one to rely on. Why can’t you just accept him?”

I turned to look at Sienna. My face was full of confusion.

“Stop making a scene? What scene have I made? I haven’t gone around broadcasting your affair with Matt to the whole world, nor have I gone out of my way to ask Matt to leave you.

“I’ve merely laid out your past promises and vows before you. Is that making a scene? Is that being ungrateful?

“Do you want me to stand by and watch you cheat time and time again as if I didn’t know? Sienna, I'm not blind or deaf, and playing dumb is something I could never learn to do in this lifetime!”

My heart had long since gone numb from the pain. I had also sworn never to let Sienna stir even the slightest flicker of emotion in me again.

Yet my eyes still stung.

Sienna, who used to be heartbroken at the sight of a single tear from me, seemed oblivious.

She let out a cold laugh. However, the words that came out of her mouth cut like knives.

“I was just concerned that Matt was sick and had no one to take care of him. Then, you came here, making a joke out of stomach cancer.

“How much longer are you going to use the past to morally blackmail me? Don’t you know that people change?

“Yes, I used to love you very much, but feelings change. Don’t you know that?”

Sienna’s words pierced my heart like a sharp sword.

It turned out that Sienna’s love was ever-changing. She did not belong solely to me.

At this moment, her love was directed toward Matt. So, she had withdrawn her love from me. That was why she cheated on me time and time again.

I thought our past together was a beautiful memory. I even thought we were giving each other a second chance.

However, to Sienna, it was nothing more than emotional blackmail.

Memories of the past came crashing down on me like a horde of vengeful ghosts.

My face paled as a sharp pain stabbed at my stomach. I felt on the verge of collapse.

Yet my numb heart suddenly felt a piercing, searing pain.

Seeing how pale I looked, Sienna tossed her cigarette aside and rushed over to support me.

I shoved her away. Her touch had once been warm, but at this moment, it made me want to vomit.

I leaned against the wall and threw up until I felt dizzy. My vision darkened. My face was drenched in a mix of tears and sweat.

I was too worked up. I could barely stop trembling.

Sienna was horrified and called for a nurse, who gave me a sedative.

I ended up in bed. It took me a long while to recover and gradually calm down.

Sienna stayed by my side. When she saw that I had calmed down, she handed me an apple she had peeled herself.

I did not take it. I just turned my face away so I would not have to look at her.

“Callum, what’s done is done. You have to live in the present.”

“As long as you don’t cause trouble, you’ll always be my one and only husband, and our children will always be Sienna Lyon’s sole heirs.”

Her words sent a sharp, stinging pain shooting through my stomach when I was just starting to feel better.

I looked at her face, which was still as radiant as ever. Yet I could not see even a trace of the girl from my memories who once loved me with all her heart.

Sienna had changed. Or perhaps I had never truly known her from the very beginning.

After speaking, she set down the apple and turned to leave.

By the end of the afternoon, the doctor declared me fit to be discharged.

Sienna intended to take me home. However, just as we stepped out, a nurse informed us that Matt had woken up.

Her hand paused around my clothes. She rubbed her forehead and looked at me with a hint of apology.

“Callum, Matt has no family here. He needs someone to stay with him for now. You should go home on your own today.”

I nodded calmly, letting go of the last shred of hope in my heart.

Sienna seemed quite pleased with my reaction.

“Good boy. I’ll make it up to you later.”

I stared at the peeled apple. After an afternoon, its skin had already oxidized and turned yellow.

No matter how expensive the variety, it ultimately could not withstand the passage of time.

It was just like Sienna’s love for me.

It was once so fiery and warm. Yet after all these years, it had turned into bland, tasteless tap water.

On my way home, I picked up the cake I had ordered three days earlier.

The words “Happy 10th Anniversary” written in strawberry jam on the cake topper were clearly visible.

It was a ten-year promise between Sienna and me.

We had spent every single anniversary together. Then, Matt came along.

For the first time, Sienna missed my birthday, Valentine’s Day, and Couples’ Day.

This was the fourth time this year that Sienna has missed our special day.

Unlike the previous three times, I did not wait until dawn while dialing her number over and over again, only to find she had turned her phone off.

Back then, I was so frantic with worry that I called everyone I could think of to ask about Sienna’s whereabouts.

I simply blew out the candles calmly and devoured the cake.

My phone pinged, and a friend request popped up.

I instinctively tapped “Accept.” The very next moment, a message arrived.

[Mr. Sutton, Ms. Lyon’s phone is dead. I’m letting you know that Ms. Lyon said she’ll be staying at the hospital with me tonight. You shouldn’t wait up.]

Accompanying the message was a photo of Sienna’s sleeping profile.

In the corner of the photo, their intertwined fingers were visible.

[Mr. Sutton, I made Ms. Lyon look so good in this photo. You don’t mind if I use it as my profile picture, do you?]

Before I could reply, his profile picture changed to that photo of Sienna.

His social media feed was updated as well.

[Thank you, Ms. Lyon, for staying by my side. You’re the best CEO in the whole world.]

In the comments section, people tacitly flooded the post with “heart” reactions.

Matt replied to each one, pretending to be shy.

[Ms. Lyon just didn’t want to leave me alone in the hospital. Everyone, please stop teasing me. I’m afraid Mr. Sutton might get the wrong idea if he finds out.]

His true intentions were plain to see. It was not that he was afraid I would misunderstand. He was terrified I would not find out.

I had no heart to pay him any mind. I stood up and tossed the remaining unfinished cake into the trash can.

I opened my phone and dialed the number I once thought I would never dial.

Early the next morning, I went to the hospital.

I arrived early, so it was not very crowded.

While I was checking in, Sienna was supporting Matt as they walked past me.

She might have been too preoccupied with Matt because she did not notice me at all.

Matt did see me, though. He just gave me a smug smile and tightened his arm around Sienna’s shoulder.

They had looked this way yesterday morning as well.

Back then, witnessing that moment felt like a knife cutting through my heart.

At this moment, my heart no longer stirred.

Seeing that I had come alone, the doctor frowned and gently advised me, “Mr. Sutton, the process of cancer chemotherapy is very painful. We recommend that a family member accompany you. It’s best if you get through this difficult time together.”

The doctor’s words brought tears to my eyes. I struggled to hold back the ache in my heart.

“I don’t have any family left.”

I used to, but she had now become Matt’s family.

My memories drifted back to that summer—to the car accident Sienna and I got into when we were eighteen.

I pushed Sienna out of the way with all my strength, but a shard of glass pierced my lung.

The doctor issued three critical condition notices in quick succession.

Sienna cried herself hoarse outside the operating room, saying she would not live if I died.

I had been drifting in and out of consciousness, but hearing those words jolted me awake.

24 hours later, I was wheeled out of the operating room. The moment I opened my eyes, I saw Sienna.

Sienna, someone who always prided herself on her beauty and neatness, appeared before me in a state of disarray for the first time.

Her eyes were red and swollen. Her makeup was smudged.

Flames seemed to dance in her eyes as she said softly in my ear, “From now on, nothing will ever separate us.”

I, too, once believed that after we survived life and death together, nothing could tear us apart.

Then came Matt, a man who had been in our lives for just one year.

He shattered everything.

After being diagnosed with stomach cancer, my first thought was, ‘What about Sienna?’

She was so dependent on me. What would she do if I were gone?

When I arrived at the first floor of the office building, what I saw was Sienna holding an unconscious Matt. Her face was pale with shock.

Sienna was so panicked that without even glancing at me, she shoved me aside.

I was already in a daze from the stomach cancer diagnosis. I could not dodge in time and was sent tumbling down the stairs.

Sienna passed by me, still holding Matt. In that moment, I realized I had been deluding myself.

In Sienna’s heart, there was already someone more important than me.

My first round of chemotherapy was over.

Even though I was usually pretty good at handling pain, I had to rest in the chair for a long time before I could sit up straight.

As I was getting ready to be discharged, I ran into Sienna in the hallway, who was discussing something with a doctor.

When she saw me, she frowned at first. Then, she walked over to ask, “What are you doing here at the hospital?”

When she saw the gastroenterology medical records in my hand, the coldness in the corners of her eyes faded.

She smiled and reached out to rub my cold, aching abdomen.

“Is your stomach hurting again? I told you not to drink and to stick to a regular resting schedule, but you wouldn’t listen. Now look, here come the aftereffects!”

She said it so casually, as if I simply enjoyed drinking and living a chaotic lifestyle.

However, Sienna had forgotten that back when Lyon Corporation was on the brink of bankruptcy, she was constantly wearing a worried expression.

To land clients, I, someone who never touched a drop of alcohol, forced myself to be a heavyweight drinker.

I spent years traveling between major cities on business trips, often pulling all-nighters without even a bite to eat.

Sienna had long forgotten the sacrifices I had made on my own accord.

Matt emerged from the hospital room. His face was pale. He raised his head and struggled to force a strained smile.

“Is Mr. Sutton having a stomach flare-up? In that case, Ms. Lyon, you go keep him company. I’ll be fine on my own. Don’t let me come between you and Mr. Sutton. He can’t stand me anyway.”

Sienna instinctively pulled him into her arms and soothed him patiently.

She said, “It’s just a stomach flare-up. He’s a man. There’s no way he’s that delicate. Don’t read too much into it.”

After saying that, Sienna turned to me. “Right, Callum?”

Though phrased as a question, her tone left no room for doubt.

I found it absurd and laughable. Without so much as a glance at him, I turned to leave.

However, someone grabbed me. Instinctively, thinking it was Sienna, I shook her off forcefully.

A moment later, Matt let out a cry of pain.

When I turned to look, Matt was already lying on the floor. Sienna started to help him to his feet.

She looked at me with that disappointed yet calm gaze. “Callum, you really disappoint me. When did you become like this?”

As she helped Matt up, she shoved me aside with force. I lost my balance and slammed into the corner of a chair.

A sharp, stabbing pain mixed with a dull ache made me nearly lose my footing. I clutched my abdomen and crouched on the floor.