Chapter 1

Kaelen Blackwood hates me to the core, yet he is shackled to me by the chains of a marriage neither of us wanted.

After our wedding, he threw himself into a whirlwind of scandals, making me the laughingstock of our entire social circle.

Later, I fell ill and vanished exactly as he had wished.

It was only after I passed away, and Kaelen stumbled upon the diary I left behind, that his world finally crumbled into dust.

1

The steady ticking of the clock echoed through the empty room, sharp and cold.

I curled up on the sofa, sweat beads of agony rolling down my skin.

As I prayed for the pain medication to kick in, I felt a strange, bitter sense of irony.

They say life gives you a beautiful dream first, only to tear it apart with its own hands.

It waits until you are at your most fragile and helpless to show you its most hideous face.

Today is the third anniversary of my marriage to Kaelen.

It is one of the rare days of the year when I can claim a fleeting moment of his undivided time.

And yet, on this day, the one I cherished above all others, I received a terminal diagnosis.

The doctor’s words still ring in my ears:

“Late-stage pancreatic cancer. Optimistically, you have six or seven months left.”

I pulled out my phone several times, hovering over his contact, wanting to call him.

I opened and closed the chat interface repeatedly.

Before I could find the resolve to speak, his name flashed across the screen.

Kaelen’s voice was as chilling and brief as ever:

“I have plans tonight. I probably won’t be home.”

“Kaelen, I…”

Beep... beep...

The line went dead, yet I remained in the same posture, holding the silent phone.

He will come home, I told myself, clutching onto a pathetic shred of hope.