He Chose Her While I was Dying

My chest suddenly hurt.

Evan treated me badly when we first got engaged. He hated me because I was the fiancée that his mother had forced on him, and he often ignored me. He even tried to make things difficult for me by giving me the worst cases to handle and allowing his admirers to taunt and ridicule me.

Once, I was locked up in a cramped storeroom, and someone poured ice water over me, causing me to be admitted into the hospital over a high fever. While I was delirious, he had Nikki in his arms in Glacier Island, watching the Aurora.

When I was followed by a homeless man, and got so scared that I called him for help, he was with Nikki in Fordland for the lavender season. Evan gave all the best in the world to Nikki, while all I had was messes left behind by them.

I used to think that all misunderstandings could be cleared one day, as this was the man I had admired for years, and loved. I was willing to work hard at melting the ice in his heart, and one day, we ended up sleeping together after one drunken night.

Even though it frustrated Evan, he insisted on taking responsibility for me, and it was a turning point in events as we got closer, but somehow, everything halted as suddenly as it had come. I loved him, but I could not take his indecisive attitude and Nikki's constant efforts at distancing us.

How ironic it was that the one sentence I had always wanted to hear was spoken after my death.

Evan ignored the nurses and left the hospital quickly to get to his office. His assistant's eyes lit up when he saw Evan, and he quickly approached Evan for further instructions. "Get Madison to see me."

His assistant was taken aback. "Ms. Scofield, she…"

Before the assistant could finish, Evan massaged his temple and said impatiently, "Tell her to stop giving me attitude. All she suffered was a superficial wound. Is it really necessary for her to blow things up like this?

"Nikki is feeling guilty for accidentally hurting her, and she should get to the hospital right away to comfort Nikki. Does she still want to marry me? Tell her that if she does, she should cheer Nikki up first and stop getting jealous over her all the time. It's getting tiresome!"

I watched the stunned expression on the assistant's face as he stared at Evan in disbelief while his lips trembled.

"What are you waiting for? Tell Madison what I said right now."

Evan left after that. He strode away quickly with anger on his face. I floated along behind him and followed him back to our room, which had been decorated by me. Evan took a deep breath and pushed the door open to find all of my things intact. My clothes and my makeup were still in the room.

He exhaled and smiled with relief. After that, Evan took out his phone to text me, [Be good, Madison, and I'll transfer the deed to this house from Nikki to you… You should live in peace with her, Madison. I'm not asking you to take care of her, I just want you to stop giving her trouble."

That was when I remembered this was not really our house. He had transferred the deed of this house to Nikki because she mentioned one time that she liked the view from here.

Evan's texts were not delivered to me, and he realized it was because he had blocked my number, but I did nothing about it. He unblocked my number and sent the text to me again, but I did not reply. Evan took a deep breath and flung the phone angrily onto the bed.

He waited for quite a while before picking up the phone again. [I know Nikki has gone a little too far this time. I'll talk to her about it. Stop holding this against us, and reply to me right now. Haven't you always talked about wanting to watch penguins in the North? We'll go there together after I'm done with my current work.]

The text did not seem to reach me.

That was when Nikki called him. She sounded extremely sad over the phone as strong wind could be heard gusting in the background. Evan and I heard her say through the wind.

"Evan, Madison slandered me online by saying I'm a slut who destroyed her marriage. I have no idea how to defend myself, Evan, because I do have feelings for you. I don't know what to do, but die, and get this over with. I wish you and Madison a happy life ahead, Evan…"