Chapter 1
The day Lydia Reed received the terminal illness notice for her husband, she found herself surrounded by his friends, all pressuring her to agree to let him marry another woman.
“Come on, Lydia. Julian just wants to have a wedding ceremony with Vera. He’s literally dying-can’t you just give him this? Don’t be so damn selfish!” one of them argued.
“Seriously, Lydia. Julian’s got two months tops. He broke four ribs and lost a kidney saving your life years ago. Without him, your family company would’ve gone bankrupt ages ago.”
“You claim to love him so deeply-are you really going to deny his dying wish?”
“It’s just a ceremony. He’s not divorcing you or taking anything from you. Honestly, we’re all disgusted by your selfishness. Julian deserves better.”
They bombarded her from all sides, making Lydia feel like that if she didn’t support her husband to marry his side piece, she would be the absolute villain.
“Julian, what do you want?” Lydia asked, her fingers curling slightly as her throat tightened. Her eyes held a flicker of hope as she looked at Julian Hayes.
“To marry you, I dumped Vera. Even if you agree to me having a wedding with her now, she wouldn’t go for it,” Julian replied, legs crossed casually on the sofa, his handsome features displaying disappointment and regret-his preference was obvious without him having to state it.
Lydia lowered her gaze, a bitter ache spreading through her heart as her last hope shattered.
This entire scheme had been Julian’s arrangement. He wanted to leave with the woman he truly loved without being labeled a heartless bastard, so he’d concocted this deplorable fake-death plan.
If she hadn’t accidentally seen his chat with his friends revealing the truth, she would have remained deceived until her death.
She had believed he was genuinely terminally ill-frantically researching treatments online, personally interviewing specialists, and sparing no expense to find miracle drugs for him.
Lydia had even knelt at every church and cathedral in the country, desperately praying for his recovery at every shrine and sanctuary she could find.
Only to discover it was all his elaborate hoax.
How laughable!
Since he was so desperate to marry Vera, she would grant his wish.
From the moment she learned the truth, she decided to stop loving him.
Not only that, but she would take his inheritance and marry his sworn enemy.
“Fine, I agree,” Lydia said, forcing a smile as the color drained from her face.
Hearing this, everyone’s faces lit up with joy, especially Julian’s, whose eyes gleamed with a light she hadn’t seen in a long time.
“However, I have one condition,” Lydia continued. Julian looked at her, his brow furrowing slightly.
“What is it?”
“I want your shares in Reed Enterprises.”
“Done! We accept on Julian’s behalf!” one of his friends quickly interjected before Julian could respond. “Hell, forget just the shares-whatever you want, we’ll make it happen! As long as Julian gets his happiness!” He then added, “Provided you can convince Vera to willingly marry Julian.”
Lydia looked at Julian, knowing only his word would matter.
“Come on, Julian, just agree!” his friend urged impatiently.
“Tine,” Julian nodded after a moment’s consideration.
“I’ll make sure she agrees to be with you during your final days,” Lydia said with determination.
Julian had once promised to fulfill Vera’s wish list, but after agreeing to marry Lydia, he’d broken Vera’s heart and hadn’t completed many of those
wishes.
Now these wishes had become Lydia’s tasks-
The first was to send Vera ten limited-edition Hermès bags.
The second was for Lydia to paint one hundred portraits of Vera.
The third was to climb three thousand steps on her knees at St. Michael’s Cathedral to obtain a blessing for Vera.
And finally, to apologize to Vera.
Vera was the daughter of the Reed family’s housekeeper. She had always been calculating-after failing to seduce Lydia’s brother, she’d targeted Lydia’s fiancé Julian.
Lydia’s mother, unable to tolerate this behavior any longer, had expelled Vera from the Reed household.
Now Vera demanded that Lydia kneel and apologize on behalf of the Reed family in front of everyone.
After only a moment’s hesitation, Lydia dropped to her knees with a thud and looked up at Vera. “Vera, I’m sorry. Everything that happened before was the Reed family’s fault. Please forgive me and stay with Julian during his final days.”
“That’s it? So insincere,” Vera said, opening her palms dismissively. “Your love for Julian is clearly just as shallow.”
“What do you want from me?” Lydia asked.
“Lydia, have you forgotten how I was kicked out of the Reed house?” Vera bent down close to her, her seemingly innocent appearance hiding malice and resentment.
Lydia trembled slightly, frowning as she stared at her.
Her gaze accidentally caught Julian standing behind Vera, his eyes burning with undisguised adoration for the other woman.
Lydia lowered her eyes as pain bloomed in her heart. Just a little longer, she told herself, this would all be over soon.
Lydia raised her head again and slapped herself hard across the face, shouting, “I’m sorry! I’m the one who’s trash! I’m worthless!”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. Someone took out a phone to record, the flash hurting Lydia’s eyes as she bit her lip hard to keep from crying.
“Lydia Reed, if you hadn’t threatened suicide to force Julian to marry you, we would have been together long ago. You’re the reason he developed cancer from stress and depression! Why couldn’t it be YOU dying instead?” Vera distorted the facts with her accusations, tears flowing dramatically down her face.
“Please be with him during his final days,” Lydia said through gritted teeth.
“Remember, YOU’RE the one begging ME,” Vera emphasized.
The onlookers, emotions inflamed, began hurling insults at Lydia.
“What a pathetic bitch. You should just die.”
“A slap isn’t enough! You should be banging your head on the ground!”
“I hate manipulative trash like you. Just go kill yourself already.”
Someone threw a water bottle at Lydia, hitting her on the forehead. She collapsed sideways to the ground, and more bottles and stones rained down on her, leaving her bruised and bloody.
Lydia’s heart clenched painfully as tears mixed with blood flowed into her mouth, both bitter and metallic.
She and Julian had grown up together. He had once protected her with his life, making her mistake his actions for love. From then on, she had
followed him devotedly, her heart and eyes full of him alone.
To marry Julian, she had refused a marriage alliance with the Winters family, angering her mother so much that she was hospitalized. She had willingly given Julian her Reed Enterprises shares as a stepping stone to compete for his family inheritance.
Julian had never once said he didn’t want to marry her!
She had always thought Vera was pursuing Julian one-sidedly, never realizing they were actually deeply in love.
Looking back, the signs had been obvious-Julian’s coldness and perfunctory attention, his monthly “business trips” abroad, his study that she was never allowed to enter…
She had simply been too blind to see through it all.
After what seemed like an eternity, when the pain had numbed her entire body, the crowd finally dispersed.
Lydia wobbled as she tried to stand, only to see Vera had already nestled into Julian’s arms, smugly raising an eyebrow at her.
“Stupid woman!” Vera mocked.
Julian’s pallid face brightened with a smile. “Vera’s right.”
“Julian, let’s go. I’m hungry,” Vera said.
“Okay,” Julian replied, wrapping his arm around Vera as they left.
From beginning to end, not once did he glance back at Lydia.
Lydia watched his silhouette disappear into the distance, her heart no longer aching as sharply.
Now she just needed to wait for him to “die” from his illness in a month. Then she could take what rightfully belonged to her and leave this place, fulfilling her mother’s dying wish by marrying into the Winters family.
She stumbled to her feet, suddenly feeling dizzy before collapsing unconscious to the ground.
