Chapter 7

Sophia's POV

In the hospital room, the smell of disinfectant soaked into my bones every day.

I had become skeletal, my once-fitted hospital gown hanging loosely on my frame. Even breathing required an oxygen mask.

Every heartbeat caused the bullet fragment in my chest to scrape against tissue, bringing excruciating pain.

The countdown had reached its final 3 days.

That afternoon, Ethan came to the hospital room.

Looking at my pale face, his eyes flickered evasively, but he still put on that affectionate expression.

"Sophia, the day after tomorrow... I'm having a wedding ceremony with Lena."

I looked at him quietly, saying nothing.

Ethan urgently gripped my emaciated hand and explained.

"Don't misunderstand! It's not a real marriage, just to comfort her! Recently, many people online have been calling her a homewrecker. She's emotionally devastated. The doctor said if this continues, the baby won't survive. I'm only doing this to fulfill my mother's dying promise. It's just something I came up with!"

"Once the baby is safely born, I'll find some excuse to send her away. In my heart, there's only ever been you."

He made infidelity sound so dignified.

Looking at this man before me, I wanted to cut open his chest and see what his heart was made of.

But I only blinked, my voice as light as the wind. "Okay."

Seeing me agree so readily, joy flashed in Ethan's eyes, but then his gaze moved to my left hand.

There, I wore an extremely expensive gold bracelet.

In my past life, even though Ethan's mother disliked me, she had given me this bracelet before her death.

"Sophia," Ethan's tone was tentative, "the wedding the day after tomorrow will have many media present. Could you... lend her the bracelet to wear for one day?"

"Just one day! As soon as the wedding is over, I'll return it to you immediately!"

I suddenly let out a low laugh.

The laugh made my chest shake, coughing up a large mouthful of blood-streaked phlegm.

Ethan panicked and quickly grabbed tissues to wipe. "Sophia, don't get upset! If you don't want to, forget it..."

"I'm willing."

I pushed away his hand and without hesitation removed the bracelet and threw it at him.

"Take it."

Ethan held the bracelet still warm from my body, his entire being freezing.

He looked at me in shock.

My gaze was too calm.

Not a trace of attachment, as if discarding filthy garbage.

Enormous panic gripped Ethan's heart. He suddenly grabbed my hand. "Sophia, wait for me. As soon as this wedding is over, I'll come back to stay with you!"

I closed my eyes and stopped looking at him.

On my left wrist, the red line emitted a piercing red glow.

"Time until death: 3 days"

The day before the wedding was also the last day before my impending death.

I pulled out the IV needle from the back of my hand and signed the form to refuse treatment.

Amid the doctor's sighs, I wrapped myself in an oversized coat and left the hospital alone. I returned to the villa, the home that was supposed to be our wedding house, the place where I had once poured all my love.

I pushed open the door. The familiar scent rushed toward me.

In my past life, I had constantly hoped Ethan would come home to see me just once.

"Mrs. Sterling?" The housekeeper looked startled seeing my weakened state. "Why did you leave the hospital? Mr. Sterling, he's getting married tomorrow..."

"Call everyone in the house here." My voice was hoarse but carried a cold hardness.

Soon, the servants and security guards stood in the living room.

I sat on the sofa, pointing at the furniture throughout the house.

"My things, if any of you want them, take them directly."

None of the servants dared move.

I let out a cold laugh and pulled out a lighter from under the table, flicking it open with a "click."

"If you don't take them, I'll burn everything."

In less than two hours, they had emptied the villa.

Anything they couldn't carry or didn't want, I threw into the incinerator.

I personally took down the massive wedding photo from the wall, along with the sketch Ethan had drawn of me years ago, the thick stack of love letters he'd sent, and even the wedding dress I'd treasured for many years. One by one, I threw them all into the roaring flames.

The firelight reflected on my bloodless face.

Watching these things turn to ash in the flames, the stone that had weighed on my heart for two lifetimes finally shattered completely.

From now on, there would be no trace left in this world that I had ever loved Ethan Sterling.

After handling everything, I returned to the empty study.

I took out a black courier envelope.

I put Ethan's mother's real letter inside.

I put Lena's ultrasound report inside.

I also put in dozens of hotel check-in records between Lena and producer Nathan Rivers.

Finally, I threw in a USB drive containing the recording of what Ethan said in that private room.

I sealed the envelope, attached a courier label, and wrote down the address of the hotel where Ethan was holding his wedding tomorrow.

I dialed the courier service, my voice as calm as if I was ordering takeout.

"Tomorrow at exactly noon, make sure to deliver this personally into Ethan Sterling's hands."

Everything was ready.

I pushed open the villa's floor-to-ceiling windows. Facing the biting cold wind, I looked at my left wrist.

The red line had burned down to its end.

"Time until death: final 12 hours"