Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When I transmigrated into this novel, the story was already approaching its grand finale.

The second male lead had stepped away from the corporate spotlight to live abroad, while the main couple reigned as supreme business titans.

I was nothing more than an insignificant side character with terminal leukemia.

Yet against all odds, someone as utterly negligible as me ended up becoming the second male lead's wife.

I had always known that the woman he truly loved was the female lead, and that my days were numbered.

Still, throughout our three years of marriage, he treated me with meticulous tenderness and spent a fortune trying to keep me alive.

Just when I began to believe he genuinely loved me, the female lead was involved in a violent car crash.

He chartered a private jet back to the States that very night. He had no idea that day was supposed to be my last day on earth.

...

The thick, metallic stench of iron hung heavily in the air. I looked down at the dark pool of blood I had just coughed up onto the floor.

A hollow, bitter smile touched my lips.

"So the day has finally come."

The man who once hovered by my bedside, tending to my every need with boundless devotion, was nowhere to be found.

My nurse's hands shook violently as she dialed his number over and over again. At first, the calls simply went unanswered.

Eventually, he blocked her entirely.

"How could this happen? Mr. Mercer cherishes you more than his own life. How could he just leave you behind?"

On the seventeenth attempt, my phone finally chimed with a text message:

【Sylvia was in a terrible crash and needs someone by her side. Be sensible for once, Gia. Stop throwing jealous fits over an injured patient.】

The nurse mistakenly thought he was on his way back. Her face lit up as she hurried to prepare more medication.

"I knew it! Mr. Mercer loves you to his bones, and we've all seen how well he treats you. He would never abandon you."

The brighter her smile was, the more piercing the cruelty of that message felt.

"He isn't coming back," I said softly.

I handed her my phone so she could read the harsh words on the screen.

She froze, her voice rising in sheer disbelief.

"This... how is this possible? Today of all days, you're supposed to..."

She choked on her words, unable to meet my eyes.

Today was the critical tipping point of my illness. If my body managed to survive this massive flare-up, I might cling to life a little longer.

Looking at the mess on the floor, it was obvious my candle had burned down to its wick.

I waved my hand weakly, gesturing for them to leave. The nurse rushed out the door in tears.

"I'm going to find the best specialists! You have to hold on!"

Her tears fell quietly to the cold floor.

Yet the world's top hematology specialists were all on Pierce Mercer's personal payroll. By now, they were likely on that private jet with him.

Agony tore through my abdomen, forcing my frail body to curl inward as cold sweat drenched my forehead.

Still, the physical torment was nothing compared to the agony in my chest.

As it turned out, the ultimate proof of Pierce's devotion to his heroine was abandoning his dying wife to rush to her side.

I remembered the very first day I met him. His eyes had shone with warm, tender light.

He had held my trembling fingers and smiled gently.

"Don't be afraid. Since you've become my wife, I will spend the rest of my life caring for you and keeping you safe."

I hadn't wanted to deceive him back then. This fragile body had been diagnosed with aggressive leukemia, meaning death could claim me at any moment.

Marrying me was nothing but an unbearable burden.

Yet he hadn't cared. He had pulled me into his arms, murmuring quiet reassurances against my hair.

"As long as I'm here, even the Grim Reaper won't be able to take you from me."

He had kept his word. Over the past three years, he poured an astronomical fortune into experimental treatments.

At the beginning, I watched the drama between him and the female lead with complete emotional detachment.

Yet as the days slipped by, my heart inevitably began to waver under his relentless devotion.

When he postponed a multimillion-dollar contract signing just to fly back and coax me into swallowing my bitter medicine, I finally broke down.

"Pierce," I had asked with a trembling voice, "will you stay by my side forever?"

He had gently blown on the hot medicinal broth, waiting until the temperature was just right before lifting the spoon to my lips.

Then, looking straight into my eyes, he gave me a solemn promise.

"I will stay with you until the very end of our lives."

I had buried my face in his chest and sobbed uncontrollably.

In that fleeting moment, I truly believed he had fallen in love with me, and that we would grow old together.

I never imagined that a single phone call from the female lead would tear him away without a second thought.

Sitting alone in the freezing hospital room, a broken laugh escaped my throat.

"Pierce Mercer... you're a liar."