Zach shielded Monette.

I opened my mouth, but I found myself unable to say anything.

Tears had finally blurred my vision, and I found that I could not connect this Zach with his eighteen-year-old self anymore.

Zach no longer spared me another glance. While holding Monette’s shoulder, he led her out.

“Zach, if I’m about to die, will you still treat me this way?”

He did not turn around. “If you’ll stop throwing these tantrums once you die, just die.”

I instantly lost all my strength and collapsed on the floor dejectedly.

Heh.

So, he wanted me dead so badly?

After that day, Zach never came back home.

I did not care about it either. I just made a checklist for my funeral.

I took a portrait of myself to put on my gravestone and bought the clothes I would be wearing in my coffin.

After a few days, the owner of the photography studio asked me to retrieve my photo.

When I saw my photo, I felt a well of complicated emotions.

Just as I was about to go back home, I spotted Zach and Monette in the corner.

“Why are you here? Were you following me?”

I did not want to argue with him anymore.

My stomach was hurting, and I just wanted to leave the place as soon as possible.

“Mr. Stone, it looks like Mrs. Stone was here to take photos.”

As Monette spoke, she tried to grab my photo, but I took a quick step backward.

“She doesn’t want us to see it.” Monette sounded sad, but she was implying something else. “Why are you being so mysterious? You’re making us think that you’re hiding a secret.”

Zach’s expression changed, and he looked at the photo.

“What exactly is it?”

The pain increased. I did not want to talk to them anymore, but Zach grabbed my wrist.

When he looked at me, his eyes were filled with disgust and suspicion.

However, I would no longer be hurt by those eyes.

“It’s nothing. It’s none of your business.”

I broke out of his grip, but Zach grabbed the side of the photo.

While we were fighting for it, the photo fell on the floor, and my portrait was revealed before everyone’s eyes.

“Why is it in black and white?”

Monette feigned surprise, but I saw her smiling.

I accepted my fate as I looked at the photo on the floor.

They still saw it in the end.

Would Zach regret how he treated me during my final days?

“Is this what you’ve been hiding?” I heard his cold and calm voice.

Zach’s expression was dark. I saw no traces of pain or regret on him.

“Are you serious this time?”

This man pitied me when I would so much as cough in the past. But he was currently thinking that I was fooling around with death.

The sadder fact was this: I had actually held out a shred of hope for him earlier.

I smiled. “Can’t I? I want to see you regret your actions.”

“Then, die.”

He shoved me and walked forward.

I could no longer stand and collapsed on the floor.

The passersby cried out in surprise, and Monette hurriedly helped me up.

She grabbed my arm and whispered into my ear, “See that? Even if you die, it’s useless. He no longer loves you.”

I used my final bit of strength to break away from her.

Zach saw this and called out to Monette coldly, “Ignore her. This is one of her old tricks. If she likes acting so much, let her.”

I went back home with the help of the strangers around me.

After taking a painkiller, the pain in my stomach went away bit by bit.

Feeling physically and emotionally exhausted, I lay down on the couch and covered my ears. In my ears, all I could hear was Zach telling me to die.

I remembered one winter in the past when I was sick.

The situation was so dire that the doctor made several announcements that I was in critical condition.

We had no money back then, so Zach went to his friends and family to ask for money. He was regarded with scorn, and they even insulted him.

I pitied him and did not want to become a burden. So, I stubbornly refused to take any medicine and refused to accept treatment as well.

Zach then knelt beside my bed and held my hand as he cried, “Please, Ninian. Take your medicine, okay?”

Fast forward to the present, and Zach wanted me dead more than anyone else.

I looked at the calendar on the wall. There were only a few days left until my one month was up.

Fortunately, he was about to have his wish.

I went through my days just like that, and my health deteriorated.

I became more lethargic, and the frequency of pain flares grew.

Susan wanted me to stay with her, but I did not want to.

I just wanted to be alone and live through my final days quietly.

Monette refused to let me have my peace, though.

She would often send me messages.

Sometimes, they were pictures of her and Zach out traveling. Sometimes, they were selfies taken in front of a mirror in a luxurious hotel. Sometimes, they were pictures of Zach’s sleeping face.

However, even when I saw those intimate photos, I felt nothing. That was until Monette sent me a special picture one day.

It was a picture of the old house I had with Zach.

Just as I wanted to ask her what it meant, Monette sent me another message.

[A present.]

I immediately panicked and called Zach, but no one answered.

In my unease, I pulled myself together and grabbed a cab to my old house.

That was our first house after we moved out of the basement.

While we lived there, we watched the company grow and had many beautiful memories together.

That was why I never found the heart to sell it, even after Zach gave me a better house. It was because this house contained memories unique to us.

Of course, I was the only one who remembered them.

Nevertheless, I wanted to keep the house because I still wanted to preserve those memories.

I rushed over, only to find that the door was open. A few construction workers were moving in and out, and the house was a mess.

I broke down and yelled at the construction workers to stop, but they ignored me.

Out of my wits, I called Zach again and again.

After calling him more than a dozen times, he finally answered, “Yeah, I’m renovating the house. Monette wants to move in.”

When Zach reached the old house, it was already almost 1 p.m.

The construction workers had already left, and I had waited for him for five hours.

However, that was not important.

“Why are you renovating the place? You know just how important this place is to me…” I demanded in a quivering voice.

Zach knew just how many beautiful memories the place contained and how much it mattered to me. He knew that I would always come here to remember and lick my wounds whenever I argued with him while waiting for him.

He knew all this, but he still did this because Monette wanted it.

Zach said nothing, and then, I heard high heels clicking against the floor.

It was Monette.

“Mrs. Stone, don’t blame Mr. Stone. It’s my fault. Things have been pretty busy at the company lately, and I wanted to rent a place close by.

“Mr. Stone then said that he has a house. While it’s a little old, it could be renovated.

“I didn’t know that it was so important to you. Please calm down. I’ll have the construction workers restore it to how it originally looked,” Monette apologized timidly.

She then stepped inside.

“Oh, no… The place is already wrecked.” She sighed, but she was smiling.

She did this on purpose.

I clenched my fists, but Zach stood in front of me.

“It’s just a worn-down house, and you’re trying to hit her again?!”

“A worn-down house? To you, both the house and I are worn down, aren’t we?”

Zach then dragged Monette behind him. “Monette wants the place for something serious. Stop throwing a tantrum.

“If you like this location, I’ll buy a new one for you.”

“I don’t want it.” I glared at him through my tears. “I just want this place.”

Zach scowled. “Stop being so unreasonable, Ninian.”

“Don’t blame Mrs. Stone for this, Mr. Stone. It’s my fault.” Monette held his hand. “Should I compensate you?”

“Using what?!” I yelled at her. “This is my house! Get out!”

I shoved her. Monette lost her footing and stumbled backward a few steps. She crashed into a corner of the wall and got hurt.

She frowned, and Zach immediately held her hand tightly.

“Ninian, you’ve really lost your mind!

“You want this place? You can forget about it!

“I bought this house! I can do whatever I want with it!

“And don’t forget just who is providing for you right now!”

Zach left with Monette.

I stood outside and leaned against the wall. I could not quite catch my breath.

I received a message notification on my phone, and it was from Monette.

[I win. Just you watch. I’ll take everything you own.]

I turned my phone off after I took one look at the message. Then, I entered the house.

All of the furniture had been moved out, and the floor was filled with holes. A few buckets of unopened paint sat in a corner of the balcony. They were all pink—the color Monette liked.

The house was empty. Nothing was left.

The bay window I loved and had installed in the bedroom had been smashed to pieces. The floral-patterned tablecloth I loved had been thrown into the trash can. The curtains I had chosen meticulously with Zach lay alone in the trash can downstairs as well.

No one cared about it anymore.

I walked around the house and finally realized the truth.

After taking one last look at my former house from the door, I left the place.

Once I returned to the mansion, I looked at the furniture there and remembered what Monette said.

I immediately contacted a recycling company and got rid of all the furniture Monette mentioned.

These were my final days. I did not want anything to impact my mood anymore.

By the time I saw the recycling company off, it was already midnight.

I was sweating from all the activity as I lay on the carpet. I felt unprecedentedly light.

My time drew closer day by day, but I became calmer.

As I took more painkillers, the days I remained awake grew fewer.

Suddenly, one day, I became filled with energy.

I contacted a postman and handed him two document folders.

One of them was for Susan. In it were some instructions and a checklist for all of my assets.

The other one was for Zach. It contained a divorce agreement, which I had already signed.

Even if I was going to die, I still wanted to sever all ties with him.

Since we did not want to see each other, there was no need for us to meet for this.

Besides, I knew that he would definitely sign the papers.

Once I was done with everything, I sat in the courtyard to sunbathe.

The weather was nice, and my mood became much better.

When I saw how pale my face was, I decided to put on some lipstick.

While I was searching for my lipstick in my bedroom, I found my old diary.

It had been forgotten in the depths of the drawer, and there was already a layer of dust on it.

I flipped it open and found that it recorded my relationship with Zach.

I wrote about how we grew to love each other, how he had awkwardly confessed to me, how we dated while studying in university, how we started a business, built a company, and how Zach made it bigger and better…

I wrote a lot for each entry. As I read through them, I smiled.

However, the entries grew shorter the further I got into the diary. Then, in the last entry, I only wrote one sentence.

[He’s not back today again.]

I took a look at the date. It was dated a few years ago.

From that day on, I no longer had the habit of writing in my diary. The diary itself was also forgotten.

I sat in front of my table. After a few seconds of hesitation, I picked up my pen again.

When I finished, the sun was already setting.

My stomach started hurting again, and I popped a few painkillers with familiar ease.

As I lay on the carpet, the medicine seemed to be taking effect. My pain gradually faded away, and my body felt light as well.

In my daze, I thought I saw an eighteen-year-old Zach running toward me.

It was snowing, and his nose was red from the cold, but he was still smiling.

He extended his hand to me with shining eyes.

As I looked at him, I placed my hand in his, and we ran together toward the snow.