Love's Withering, Life's Countdown

The next day, news emerged that Elton had fought over Yvette. For the first time, the Mafia boss himself had made headlines because of a woman.

A few reporters were camped outside the door, swarming me with questions the moment I stepped out.

"Hedy, as Mr. Carter's legal wife, what are your thoughts on what happened last night?"

"Were you aware of her existence?"

"Hedy, seeing Mr. Carter spoil someone else, do you ever feel like it's your fault?"

I hadn't planned to respond, but when I heard the last question, I stopped in my tracks. I commented, "The real issues lie with the unfaithful man and the homewrecker, not with me."

However, the female reporter kept pressing, walking quickly to keep up. She said, "I heard that you dumped Mr. Carter back when he was penniless. Then, after he became a powerful Mafia boss, you did everything you could to make him marry you.

"You've been clinging to the title of wife all this time, and now that he's found true love, you call her the homewrecker. Don't you think that you're the problem here?"

I sneered and took the intern reporter's ID badge from her neck. Her name was Nicole Scott.

I asked, "You're Yvette's friend, aren't you?

"Is this the twisted version of the story she fed you? Elton forced me to marry him back then. Do you think that I wanted to be his wife?"

Her expression shifted as she snatched her badge back. "If you really didn't want to marry Mr. Carter, then why not divorce him now that he's found true love?"

I intended to seize this opportunity to pressure Elton into a divorce in front of the media. But just as I was about to speak, my nose unexpectedly started to bleed.

Nicole remarked, "Oh, sure. You're not desperate to keep him? You're bleeding from the nose out of anxiety!"

I wiped away the blood calmly and replied flatly, "I'm not anxious. I'm just sick—dying, actually. The nosebleeds have been happening a lot lately."

Everyone fell silent when they heard that. No one asked me anything else, except for Nicole, who continued to press further.

She said, "Oh, come on. A little nosebleed and now you're playing the victim?" She spoke with the same grating self-righteousness as Yvette.

The next day, the video of me being surrounded by reporters spread across the internet.

Elton responded, "There will be no divorce. Stop bothering my wife."

Meanwhile, Yvette's intern friend, Nicole, was fired before her internship ended.

With Elton's so-called "loyalty" on full display, I came off as dramatic and unreasonable in comparison. Soon, I received a surge of online hate.

"Hedy is disgusting. If she didn't want to marry him, she should've just said no. She claims that she was forced. Really? She clearly doesn't want a divorce."

"First love? She's just another bitch. And Elton still defends her? She's not worth it."

Just then, a comment stood out from the sea of criticism.

"You people don't know the truth about what really happened back then. So who are you to judge her? You have no idea how much she's been through!"

I glanced at the profile picture and realized that the comment was left by my close friend, Daisy Harrington.

Everyone began demanding to know the truth about what really happened back then.

In fact, the truth was… painfully cliche.

That year, my mom, Elena Miller, was diagnosed with a terminal illness, and the treatment for that required an enormous amount of money. Worse, it was a hereditary disease.

I was still young at the time, so my symptoms hadn't shown yet. But as I got older, the chances of me developing the same illness were high. And even if I had children someday, they'd likely get sick too.

The day Mom collapsed from her illness, she fainted on the spot. When she woke up in the hospital, the first thing she said to me was that I had to break up with Elton.

I froze, then shook my head. "Mom, Elton won't turn his back on me. We don't have to have kids."

I said it not just for her, but to convince myself as well.

She held my hand tightly and said, "I know Elton wouldn't abandon you. He's a good man. But have you ever thought about him?

"If he finds out that we're both sick, he'll work himself to death trying to pay for treatment."

Mom urged me to break up with Elton early, before it got too difficult for either of us to let go.

That day, I was quiet for a long, long time. In the end, my voice trembled as I whispered, "Mom… I don't want to lose him."