"Why won't you let us out?"

In spite of Evan's chilly rage, the staff at the lake kept a firm attitude.

"Sorry sir, but since it's peak travel season, no vehicle is allowed to enter or exit without a registered reservation!"

Evan's face grew even darker, his patience thinning to a terrifying degree. But then, Jane noticed my car, and her eyes lit up as she hurried over.

"Sorry to bother you again!" She tapped gently on my window, her expression apologetic. "Evan's mother arranged this trip for us at the last minute, so we left in such a rush that we forgot to reserve transportation, and we can't get out now!

"Your car seems like it's been registered, so could you please help us out here?"

My heart sank, drowning in the cold waters.

Earlier, when Evan had called my name, I actually felt a sense of relief and happiness. I thought, for a split second, that he'd done it for my sake, for more or for less.

But in the end, he was just following what his mother arranged for him. I was the only one who remembered our 999-day promise. He just so happened to be passing by.

Gripping onto the steering wheel, my gaze met Evan's nearby.

Jane continued, "Our hotel's just close by, it's called Hotel Santiago! Could you please help us?"

Hotel Santiago was the exact hotel I was staying at.

In a daze, I heard myself say, "Yeah, sure."

With a grateful smile, Jane slipped into the passenger seat and waved towards Evan. "Come on, get in!"

Evan walked over and instinctively reached for the front passenger door, the seat he had sat in for almost two years. But just as his hand was about to touch the door handle, he abruptly turned and slipped into the back as well, squeezing in beside Jane.

The entire way there, the car was filled with dead silence. It was so awkward that I regretted agreeing to help, but Evan's voice suddenly drifted from behind me when he saw the medicine bottle I kept in the car. "What's that?"

Those were my strongest painkillers, but I couldn't let him know that.

"Vitamins," I lied quickly.

Evan sneered. "You sure know how to take care of yourself, huh?"

Jane shot him a reproachful look, a pout on her face. "Evan, why are you always so mean to her? You need to be more gentle toward girls, you know?"

She yawned mid-sentence, and Evan naturally reached out to press her head onto his shoulder, his movements practiced and gentle. "Get some rest."

Jane blushed. "Hey, we're not alone."

My vision blurred for a moment.

Back when we were still together, he used to come help me every night, skewering meat, cleaning tables, and working until late.

Once, I was so tired that I squatted by the door, unable to stand. Back then, he sat down beside me and teased me for looking like a mess, hair matted with grease and smoke.

Then, he pressed my head gently against his shoulder, and we looked at the empty road outside. Suddenly, he turned towards me, his eyes filled with nothing but my reflection.

"Wait for me, Melody. I promise I'll marry you."

But now, he was someone else's fiancé.

A crushing pain surged through my chest, wave after wave, and I couldn't tell if it was the pain from my sickness, or if it was from my broken heart.

When we finally reached the hotel, I could barely breathe. I'd just gotten out of the car when his voice hit me like a cold splash of water. "Miss Quinn, why are you still following us? Haven't we already paid you?"

I was in so much pain that the simple act of drawing air into my lungs made me shudder, and the hotel receptionist came and took my luggage for me. "Welcome to Hotel Santiago, Miss Quinn. Your room is ready for check-in."

Only then did Evan realize his mistake.

Embarrassed, he rubbed his nose and turned away, letting me continue checking in.

That night, I lay in bed, my body racked with pain so intense that my vision blurred, and I felt like I was on death's door.

Suddenly, I heard pounding on my door, over and over, urgent and unrelenting.

God, couldn't a woman die in peace?

Furious, I struggled to my feet, staggered to the door, and yanked it open.

Who else was outside but Evan?

Jane stood behind him, looking a little embarrassed. "Sorry, Miss Quinn, but the heater in our room's broken. Can you let us use your shower, please?"

Out of instinct, I was going to refuse, but Evan sneered as if he could read my mind. "What, are you worried that we're going to dirty your room, Miss Quinn? Don't tell me you're that stingy.

"Or maybe… You've got someone hiding in there that you don't want us to see?"

Utterly baffled by his audacity, I tugged the door open as hard as I could. "Well, come in then!"

After Jane went into the shower, the two of us were left in the room. The sound of running water filled the air, and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Evan stared straight at me the entire time, and the pressure of it was so much it made my scalp tingle. Just as I was about to turn around and escape to the balcony, his voice rumbled, "How much longer are you going to avoid me, Melody?"

He stepped forward to grab my hand and I, panicking that he might see the needle marks, jerked my hand away.

Evan froze mid-grab, his fingers closing on empty air. The very next second, his eyes reddened. He strode forward, pressing me hard against the wall.

"You blocked my number, deleted my contacts, and now you're avoiding me like the plague? How much longer are you going to run away from me?

"Why did you break up with me out of the blue? Was it because my project failed, and you thought I wasn't good enough for you? Or was there someone else that got your attention?

"What did I do wrong, Melody? Please, can't you tell me…?"

His voice was so raw it broke apart at the edges, and his eyes were wet, glimmering like a lake about to spill over.

My heart was about to shatter into pieces, but what could I say?

Was I supposed to tell him that I was going to die of cancer? Or that I heard his mother call me a shameless woman?

Was I supposed to say that I heard him promise his mother he'd marry someone she was satisfied with?

Well, maybe that was better. I didn't want to ruin his life any further.

I turned my face away, forcing a lie out in a brittle whisper, "There's no reason, Evan. We're just… Not right for each other."

His breath hitched and he froze, staring straight at me, before he suddenly laughed.

"Wow. Great! You're really something, Melody!"

He bit down on his words with bitterness, pulling out his phone and tapping on one of the photos of him and Jane. As quickly as he could, he tapped a caption and posted the photo on social media, before shoving his screen in my face, forcing me to read it.

[With the right person, at the right place.]

"There! You said we weren't right for each other, right? I'm with someone who's suitable now, so are you satisfied?!"

A metallic taste rushed up my throat, and my entire body was in so much pain that I could barely stay on my feet.

Something in my expression must have given me away, because the fury in his eyes faltered, a flicker of confusion crossing his face.

"Melody, are you…"

Evan was about to ask what was wrong when the bathroom door opened. Jane stepped out, wrapped in a towel, her voice soft and sweet. "I'm done, Evan. Let's go!"

Evan didn't even so much as budge an inch, but I pointed at the door of my room, speaking through gritted teeth, "Didn't you hear her? Go. Your girlfriend is calling you. What, don't you listen to her anymore?

"Are you thinking about someone else? Aren't you afraid of being called a two-timer?"

Giving me one final look filled with complex emotions, Evan turned around and left with Jane.

The moment the door clicked shut, I couldn't hold it any longer. I made a mad dash for the toilet, vomiting a mouthful of blood into the sink.

I frantically reached for a painkiller syringe in the cabinet and stabbed the needle into my arm, injecting the liquid into my body. As I felt the medication work, I looked up at my reflection in the mirror, pale and haggard as a banshee, and the tears finally tipped over.

The man I loved was so close, just a few steps away. I wanted to tell him that I was in pain, and that I almost couldn't hold on any longer. I wanted him to hold me, if only for a little while.

But I couldn't do that now, nor could I do it anymore in the future.

In my daze, I thought I heard his voice calling my name from outside the room, so soft it was almost unreal.

"Melody…"

A hallucination, I thought. The pain had finally made me lose my mind.

I laughed bitterly, and then my phone rang.

As soon as I picked up, my doctor's furious voice exploded through the speaker.

"Melody, do you have a death wish?! Why haven't you answered your phone? It's been days! Don't you know your chemotherapy session's already overdue? Don't you care about your life at all?

"Get back here right this second!"

I was in so much pain that I couldn't even form words, only a faint whimper escaping my throat.

Then, suddenly, the door slammed open with a violent kick. Evan barged into the room, snatched my phone, and shouted to the other end without even taking a look at the caller ID.

"Where's she supposed to go? She's busy, so go bother someone else!"

After hanging up, he walked closer to me and gripped my wrist hard, his voice dripping with mockery, "Wow, so that's how it is, huh? You dumped me so cleanly because you found someone new! You really know how to pick them, don't you? Are you just going to let him control you, yell at you and treat you like dirt?

"You're pathetic, Melody."

This time, I didn't even have the strength to fight back. His grip on my wrist pressed against the injection site, and blood oozed from the needle mark.

The pain in my chest surged again, my lung cancer burning me up from the inside, and I almost couldn't breathe.

I gasped for air, trying to speak, to tell him that he misunderstood, but the very next second, blood flowed out of my nostrils.

Evan's pupils contracted sharply, and then he caught sight of the blood seeping from my arm. His expression immediately changed, his voice shuddering as he spoke, "What… What is this…?"

My heart sank.

It's over!