Chapter 1

"I'm not going to eat the food you made." Estelle Sawford watched as the herbal medicine she spent five hours carefully preparing spilled all over the floor. She had no words for the pain in her heart. Reading between the lines, Estelle welled up. She explained urgently, "No, this herbal medicine is meant to be good for your stomach. There's nothing else to it!" Alison Harrington, the woman her family fostered since she was young, was meant to be married to Dillon Waverly. However, all Estelle's suffering happened because Dillon was drugged three years ago, which led to their one-night stand. The Waverly family, for the sake of their family's and company's image, forced Dillon to marry her. Since then, her reputation had plummeted. Everyone assumed that she stole Alison's fiancé and broke up the couple who was originally in love with one another. No matter how hard she tried to explain herself, no one believed her. Despite their friendship of 20 years that began in their childhood, what Estelle got out of it was these cruel words from Dillon on the night of their wedding—"Estelle, you disgust me." All these years, she had been trying her best to diffuse the tension between them. Dillon had gastritis, so she did her best to learn cooking and pharmacology so she could cook for him herself. She gave up on her own career voluntarily to be a housewife and put all of her focus on Dillon. This was because she always remembered Dillon to be the only one who stood firmly in support of her when she was mistreated by her family when she was young. He trusted her and sided with her, making her feel that she was still loved by someone in this world. Subsequently, Alison was fostered by her family. But because Alison framed her, her reputation was ruined. She was criticized by everyone else. Even the man who once said he would protect her forever now stood against her, along with everyone else. It was Estelle's fault if Alison got injured. It was also her fault if Alison cried. Estelle couldn't comprehend it. Was a friendship since childhood truly not a match for someone who showed up out of nowhere? Even after all these years, she still could not get Dillon to warm up to her. "Quit putting on an act. Alison fought hard to save me from the fire back then. What else are you capable of other than scheming? You can never be compared to her!" Frightened by Dillon, Estelle staggered backward and fell onto the floor with a dull thud. The hideous burn scar on her back became exposed. Compared to the pain in her knees from being cut by glass shards, the piercing pain in her heart from Dillon's words felt even worse. She was obviously the one who saved Dillon's life back then. Because of that, she was even left with a hideous scar. However, no matter how she tried to explain herself, no one believed her. They even rebuked her for uttering lies and said she faked her injury just to appear pitiful. "Even though Alison was fostered and lived a difficult life since she was young, she's kindhearted. Now that she's finally become a ballerina, don't cause trouble for her again," Dillon warned in a low and deep voice. Yesterday, Alison smashed her new trophy right in front of her. She then put the blame on Estelle, accusing her of breaking her trophy out of jealousy. Estelle clarified, saying she wasn't the one who did it. Moreover, there was a surveillance camera in the room. Yet, all she got in return was Dillon's admonishment and distrust. Without even checking the surveillance footage, he said she was cunning and jealous. But she hadn't even done anything. To Estelle, it felt like she had a lump at the back of her throat. She was about to explain herself when all of a sudden, a sharp pain shot through her stomach, and her face went as white as a sheet. Trembling, she reached into her bag and searched frantically for painkillers. "What do you have up your sleeve now?" The noble Dillon bent forward and grabbed onto her wrist, squeezing her so hard that it felt like he was going to crush her bones. "Are you planning to recreate what happened back then?" Estelle broke out in a cold sweat from the pain. Suddenly, she felt a metallic taste spread on the back of her tongue, and she threw up fresh blood onto the expensive carpet at her feet. It was a horrific sight. Dillon was taken aback. The warmth from the blood that splattered on his hands sent a shudder down his spine. Right after that, a thought seemed to flash across his mind, and the look in his eyes dimmed gradually. "Stop pretending. If you're going to die, go do it elsewhere. Don't kick the bucket before me. You're filthy!" Upon saying that, he spun around and left without turning back. Meanwhile, Estelle slumped on the floor like a wilted plant that had been cut off. She started tearing up uncontrollably. After loving this man for over 20 years, this was what she heard from him in the end. Aggrieved and dissatisfied, she broke down in tears of sorrow. Her warm tears trickled into a teary puddle on the floor. Shakily, she picked the medicine up from the floor and swallowed it while trying to hold back her tears. The pain in her stomach eased up, but not the pain in her heart. Right at this moment, her phone rang out of the blue. With much difficulty, she answered the call. A childhood friend, Seth Lancaster, called. "Estelle, have you thought it through? What you really need right now is to get treated at the hospital!" Estelle slumped on the floor in pain. She choked and could not bring herself to utter a word. Suppressing her emotions again and again, she finally answered in a strenuous voice, "I-I'll think about it." Seth growled fiercely, "Estelle, are you giving up your life because of Dillon? Don't you know that you only have three months left to live if you continue to refuse treatment?" After saying that, he hung up angrily. Estelle lowered her hand helplessly and let out an exasperated laugh. Yesterday, she found out that she had late-stage stomach cancer. After finding out about this, her world collapsed. She wanted to share this news with Dillon, but she did not see him come home even after she sat in the living room the entire night, waiting for him. It wasn't until later that she found out that he had gone to spend time with Alison. Right now, her only wish was to clear up the misunderstandings with Dillon so that he would care for her tenderly just like he did when they were young. Then, she would be able to leave this world without any regrets. Nevertheless, that seemed to just be wishful thinking. Dillon despised her to the core, so much so that he wished she'd go to hell so that he could be together with Alison. A gust of wind blew through the windows, and a drawing of an intricately designed wedding dress fell gently before her. Her gaze seemed to be fixed on the paper. She could not direct her gaze elsewhere no matter how she tried. She managed to get a clear view of the wedding date written on the bottom right corner of the drawing paper. It was no wonder Dillon forced her to get a divorce again a few months ago. As it turned out, it was because of this. He was finally getting his wish of getting back together with the woman he loved. But their wedding date was actually the same day as the day of her expected death. Probably no one would know about her death. After all, he wanted to give Alison a grand wedding celebration. Her tears dripped onto the drawing paper, wetting the dreamy drawing. Right at this moment, the door was pushed open. Alison strutted into the office in that elegant and classy white dress of hers. Her appearance was a stark difference from Estelle, who had collapsed awkwardly on the floor. Glee flickered across her eyes. Pretending to be surprised, she exclaimed, "Oh, dear! What are you doing sitting on the floor, Estelle? How could Dillon treat you like this?" "It's none of your business." Estelle wanted to get to her feet. The woman before her eyes was a poor student whom her parents had previously sponsored. She was like a younger sister to her, but more than that, she was the woman whom Dillon loved. Alison scoffed. She lifted her foot, stomped the tip end of her high heel onto the back of Estelle's hand, and ground down hard. Estelle screamed. The sharp pain caused her to gasp sharply. As much as she wanted to pull her hand back, her hand was pinned down firmly under Alison's foot. Alison sneered slyly. Slowly, she bent forward and extended her arm to pick up the design drawing that had fallen onto the floor. "This is the wedding dress that Dillon designed for me. What do you think? It's beautiful, isn't it? "Dillon said he would organize the grandest wedding ceremony for me and make me the happiest woman in the world. "It's just such a pity for you, though, Estelle. But I'm sure you'll give us your blessings, won't you?" Estelle's fingers had gone numb under Alison's shoe, and beads of cold sweat rolled down her forehead. "Oh, no, I'm really sorry, Estelle! I didn't notice your hand there." Then, Alison moved her foot away. She crouched down and whispered to Estelle in an evil and cunning voice, "Why did you throw up blood, though? "Oh, right. I heard your mother passed on because of stomach cancer, too. How pitiful."