Chapter 4

Julian paused, looking back at me with a cold sneer.

"Sick?"

"Don't tell me you have some terminal illness."

"You see Vivian just got discharged, so now you're trying to pull this stunt to get my attention?"

"Claire, don't you think your games are getting a little pathetic?"

I looked up at him. The disappointment in his eyes had turned into utter revulsion.

Vivian leaned against him, her chest pressed tight against his arm.

I bowed my head, tears splashing onto the hardwood floor.

Whatever faint courage I had scraped together shattered instantly.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I hastily wiped the wetness from my face.

"Never mind."

"I won't bother you two anymore."

Clutching the dirty plush bear, I turned and walked out of the Vance mansion.

Julian took half a step forward as if to follow, but Vivian stopped him.

"Julian, my head hurts... The doctor said I need to rest."

He froze in his tracks, then led her back toward the master bedroom.

The late autumn air was biting cold. I walked down the deserted streets until my ears were completely numb.

In the end, I returned to the old Sterling estate.

The front doors of the mansion were sealed with bank foreclosure notices, but luckily, the tool shed in the back garden remained unlocked.

In the courtyard, the wooden swing my dad had built for me swayed gently in the wind.

I wanted so badly to sit on it, but the searing pain in my spine wouldn't let me bend.

Dying here wouldn't be so bad.

I stayed in that shed for two days.

A window pane had shattered at some point, letting the freezing wind howl through the cracks.

By the second night, a raging fever took hold of me. Every breath felt like inhaling shards of glass.

On the third day, Julian and Vivian's engagement announcement flooded my entire social feed.

I stared at their glamorous photoshoot on my phone for a long time, until my gaze finally settled on the diamond ring on my left hand.

It was the three-stone engagement ring Julian had proposed with a year ago.

It should fetch enough to cover my final hospitalization costs.

Even during my darkest, most broke days, I had never considered pawning this ring.

Now, it meant nothing.

I braced myself against the wooden wall and stood up, stepping out into the biting wind.

At the pawnshop, the jeweler inspected the ring under a loupe, scowling and complaining that the facets were severely scratched.

I must have scraped it against the floor during my agonizing fits of pain.

He only offered me a thousand dollars.

I stayed silent for a long moment, then nodded.

Three years of love, boiled down to a thousand bucks.

I took a cab to the hospital.

The doctor took one look at my frail, hollow frame and let out a deep sigh.

My vision was growing blurry. Every cell in my body screamed in agony.

The doctor looked at me with unbearable pity.

"Ms. Sterling, you should have come sooner."

I didn't answer. I followed the nurse toward the billing counter to pay my deposit.

At a quiet hallway intersection, Julian and I brushed past each other.

The pain was so intense I couldn't even keep my eyes open, while he was entirely focused on Vivian beside him.

Only after my silhouette disappeared around the corner did Julian freeze in his tracks.

The words I said before I walked out suddenly flashed in his mind.

“Julian... I'm sick.”

He stood rooted to the spot. Vivian tugged at his sleeve, urging him on.

"Julian? What's wrong?"

He shook his head, but his feet couldn't stay still.

"Wait here for a second, Vivian."

He walked away, ignoring Vivian calling his name behind him.

Julian caught up to the nurse who had just escorted me.

"Excuse me... That girl just now, what is she admitted for?"

The nurse looked in the direction he pointed and sighed softly.

"You mean Ms. Sterling?"

"Such a shame. So young, yet it's terminal bone cancer."

"No family around to care for her either."

"She doesn't have much time left."

Julian stood frozen as if struck by lightning, his face draining of all color.