The Falling Leaves In Autumn

He had lied to me every single day. He had clearly given me hormone medicines, yet he had insisted they were just tonics to help my body recover.

Back then, I had truly wanted to have a child with him. No matter how terrible the taste of the medicine was, I gulped it with hope and trust.

Looking back, I had been such a fool.

I looked up and stared at him numbly. “Am I dying soon? Can you tell me the truth for once? How much time do I have left?”

A flicker of panic crossed Johnson’s usually composed countenance. He abruptly pulled me into his arms and said with a tense tone, “Don’t talk like that. You’re going to stay with me for a very long time.”

I always fell for his pleasant words that were as sweet as honeycomb. Over the past two years, whenever I brought up the idea of having a baby, he always said he could not bear to see me go through the hardship of pregnancy.

But in truth, he already knew that I could never have children. Yet, he still watched me struggle daily just to improve my health by consuming various unpleasant medicines.

I had always dreamed about the day I gave birth to our child and lived a happy life together as a family.

But perhaps it was for the best. Without a child, there would be nothing to bind us together.

That meant I could leave him untethered.

Before I went to bed, Johnson clung to me for a very long time, like a child clinging to their parents. He made me swear never to mention the word “dying” in front of him again.

I numbly obliged. When everything was finally over, and he fell asleep beside me, I picked up the phone he had left on the nightstand and walked into the bathroom.

The lock screen password was my birthday. Because of that, I never once checked his phone. Looking back, he must have counted on exactly that.

When I opened his WhatsApp, I realized the nickname he saved for Ella was “Princess”.

Princess.

It was the very name he used to whisper in moments of passion when he held me close in bed.

So it turned out he had never been calling my name at all. I had only been a stand-in for Ella to make up for what he felt he owed her.

It was ridiculous.

My fingers trembled as I opened their chat history.

I finally realized that Johnson had established a charitable foundation for Ella to perform charity work in hopes that this would bless her health for the rest of her life.

While he believed the acts of charity would bring Ella blessings, what about the harm they had caused me? How was that supposed to be accounted for?

Tears fell before I even noticed. I bit my bottom lip as I took screenshots of their conversations. My heart was already numb from the pain.

After that, I went to a hospital for a full-body checkup.

The doctor frowned as he read my report. “How many surgeries have you had? Why are there a missing kidney and a missing lobe of your lung? There are also signs of damage to your liver.”

I gave a bitter smile. “A lot. I’ve lost count. With my condition like this, how long do I have left?”

The doctor refused to give me a definite answer. He sighed and told me to relax. He said I did not need to worry so much about it.

After leaving the hospital, I went to Johnson’s company. I wanted to propose a divorce.

The receptionist at the front desk stopped me. I told her that I was Johnson’s wife.

She looked at me with disdain. “Plenty of people would want to call themselves Mrs. Stewart. Take a good look at yourself. How dare a person with this look of yours even have the guts to pretend to be one? The real Mrs. Stewart is with him upstairs.”

My chest tightened. I instantly phoned Johnson, but no one answered.

The mockery on the receptionist’s face only grew deeper.

I waited patiently downstairs. I waited for a very long time before seeing for myself as Johnson stepped out of the elevator with one of his arms around Ella’s waist.

When he met my gaze, he looked awkward. “W-Why are you here? Ella twisted her ankle. She’s pregnant and can’t move around easily. I was just helping her.

Ella leaned into his chest and smiled gently. “Amber, Gary’s on a business trip abroad, so I have Johnson take care of me.”

I could only think about the word “pregnant”.

Ella had taken my kidney and lung. On top of that, she had grown pregnant.

I felt a sharp pain tear through my chest. It left me gasping for air. “Johnson, I need to talk to you.”

“Whatever it is, we can wait. Ella’s hungry. We’re going to eat at your mom’s house.”

My mother had already prepared a table of Ella’s favorite food to celebrate her pregnancy.

Ella had covered her nose and claimed that she had no appetite. Johnson suggested sending our housekeeper over to prepare food for her. Our housekeeper usually took care of me at home.

The corners of Ella’s lips curved upward slightly. She pointed at me. “No need. Look, Amber looks unhappy. I don’t want to cause any tension between you because of me.”