Chapter 2

Since I didn't buy any medicine meant for my cancer, I could only grit my teeth and endure the harsh pain. My teeth creaked under the pressure. The sounds they made were extremely jarring in the silent room. Oh god, it hurt so much. I was in a world of pain, that was for sure. My phone's ringtone cut through the atmosphere all of a sudden, but I had no energy to answer the call at all. The ringtone persisted until the call automatically ended. But the caller was insistent on reaching me, for they kept calling me over and over again. It seemed that they would keep calling my number as long as I didn't answer their calls. Once I finally rode out the pain, I heard my phone ringing once again. The moment I answered it, Wynnie's icy voice drifted from the other end of the line. "You're getting bolder by the day, Sebastian." I inhaled slowly and did my best to keep my voice steady so that Wynnie couldn't pick up on my condition. "What is it?" "There's a contract on my desk. Bring it to me." Just as I was about to end the call, Wynnie added, "Also, bring one of your suits for Richard. He'll be attending tonight's auction with me. I don't have time to custom-order a new suit for him." "Okay." Richard's figure was similar to mine when I was still healthy. My suit should fit him well. I felt a little disoriented when I opened the closet. Ever since I fell sick, I never opened it at all. As I stared at the things tucked away in the closet, I felt a weird feeling washing over me. It felt as though it had been decades since I last opened this closet. Suits of all cuts and varieties were hung in the closet, with sets of cufflinks placed neatly on the surfaces. Everything looked neat and tidy. I remembered Wynnie being the one who had organized the closet for me. The suits and the cufflinks were the same. But my relationship with Wynnie would never return to the state it once was. When I reached the company with Wynnie's contract, I saw numerous people shooting glances at me. Some pitied me while others clearly relished my misfortune. There were even those who silently mocked me from afar. This was because everyone knew about Wynnie's infidelity in my marriage. In the past, I'd be angry at those people for gazing at me like that. But now, I no longer cared about them. Ryan Ladnier had been working as Wynnie's secretary since she first started her company. He was also a fellow classmate from my university days. A mixture of shock and pity was written on his face when he saw how nonchalant and calm I looked. He stopped me from entering Wynnie's office, now wearing a conflicted expression. "There's a guest in Ms. Jakeman's office. You can just leave the contract here. I'll pass it to Ms. Jakeman later." As if there was a guest. It was just Richard inside the office. I nodded in acknowledgment. Then, I leaned against the wall to catch a breather. Ryan led me into his office. With furrowed brows, he motioned for me to take a seat. "How on earth did you lose this much weight?" I ran a thumb across the paper cup I was holding. Then, I lowered my gaze before smiling faintly. "It's nothing. Just a minor health issue, that's all. By the way, the alumni gathering will be held in two days, right? Please give me an invitation to the gathering." It was typical for one to want to revisit the places housing memories of the past before their death. Ryan didn't expect me to make such a request. He was stunned momentarily before turning my request down tactfully. "Judging from the current state of things, it's unsuitable for you to attend the gathering now. Perhaps you can attend the next gathering." I knew what Ryan was worried about. Back when Wynnie and I started dating, our love for each other was passionate. We kept a high profile the whole time as well. Thanks to that, when Wynnie's family faced a financial crisis, news of me dumping her shocked the entire student population in our university. It had been eight years, yet the students still had a bad impression of me because of my antics. If I were to return to the campus at this time, I knew very well that everyone would most certainly criticize me for my actions eight years ago. But if I didn't attend the gathering this time, I'd never get another chance to attend another gathering in the future. I wouldn't be able to live long enough for the next alumni gathering to swing by. Seeing as I was bent on attending the gathering, Ryan let out a sigh before rummaging around his bag. Finally, he pulled out an invitation and passed it to me. At that moment, someone knocked on the office door. Ryan got up to open the door, revealing Richard, who stood at the doorway. He flashed us a friendly smile while carrying himself with a polite air. All traces of his sassiness that he had exhibited before me yesterday had vanished without a trace. "Sebastian, I couldn't find you anywhere, so I had a feeling that you were here. Wynnie wants you to deliver the contract to her." I was about to get up when Ryan moved to stand in front of me. "Mr. York isn't feeling well. I can do it on his behalf." After that incident happened, Ryan was one of the few who believed that I was forced to dump Wynnie due to other reasons. But Richard was bent on forcing me to deliver the contract. There was no way he'd let Ryan do the job for me. He moved to block the doorway, a troubled expression on his face. "Wynnie has made it clear that she wants Sebastian to personally deliver the contract to her." I had to admit that Richard was extremely good-looking. Whenever he made such expressions, he didn't look feminine at all. If anything, he looked even more seductive. In a way, he resembled me when I was still a university student. I didn't want to cause Ryan any trouble, so I took the contract and followed Richard to Wynnie's office. He seemed more like the co-owner of this company compared to me. When I walked into Wynnie's office, I saw her reclining against her executive's chair. Clearly, she was resting. A document was spread open on the desk before her. Obviously, she was in the midst of going through the contents when she decided she needed a break. Unfortunately, Wynnie didn't seem to be resting well, judging from her furrowed brows. Then again, she was the owner of a large-scale company. How was it possible for her workload to lessen? Wynnie must've worked hard in squeezing out the time needed to accompany Richard. After putting down the contract, I was about to leave when Wynnie opened her eyes. She looked at me while saying, "Remember to prepare dinner tonight. Richard and I will go home for dinner." Before I could respond to her, Richard slapped on a courteous façade. "Wynnie, all I did was make a passing comment about how amazing Sebastian's honey-glazed ribs are. Why did you ask him to make dinner for us? It's pretty troublesome, isn't it?" "It's just honey-glazed ribs, isn't it? That dish is pretty simple. Besides, that guy has nothing to do at home. Making dinner doesn't require much effort." It turned out that Wynnie was just making the request for Richard's sake. … After leaving the company, I opted to take the bus to the farmer's market I always visited instead of having the groceries delivered to my doorstep. The location of the farmer's market was pretty strange. The high school in which Wynnie and I had studied was located on its right. An affluent residential area was constructed on its left. It didn't seem like people who frequented those two spots would ever visit the farmer's market just to buy groceries. In the past, Wynnie and I thought the farmer's market would eventually go out of business. Little did we know that the market was still going strong after so many years. On the contrary, my marriage with Wynnie was about to come to an end. The overall infrastructure of the farmer's market wasn't as polished and new as it was in the past. In fact, the entire building looked pretty rundown. Still, there was a huge variety of produce, meats, and fruits being sold there. Everything I needed was there. I stood in front of a stall, clearly immersed in picking out the ingredients I wanted. The stall owner stood behind the stall. Suddenly, she let out a confused grunt. "Is your last name York, by any chance?" Stunned, I raised my head to meet her gaze. That was when the stall owner knew that she hit the bullseye with her guess, leading to her chortling in response. "You used to be a student from the high school next to this market, right? There was a bubbly girl who used to stick to your side." "That's right. I didn't expect you to still remember me," I replied.