Jack and I were high school sweethearts. We weathered hardships together and enjoyed luxury side by side. We built our company from the ground up, and I thought we were not just spouses, but inseparable allies. Until I accidentally discovered his will. “I bequeath all my assets to Lily Chen.” Lily was Jack’s childhood friend. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. I was dying anyway, so what did it matter who he left his money to? Discovering Jack’s will caught me off guard. A few years ago, he had a near-fatal skiing accident in the mountains. Shaken by the experience, he had a lawyer draw up a will. I knew about this but wasn’t privy to its contents. He only had me as family, so who else could he leave everything to? The letter from Mr. Anderson, the lawyer, felt like a slap in the face. Wills need to be authenticated every few years while the person is still alive to ensure legality. I thought Jack and I had no secrets, so I opened the envelope for him. The contents stabbed at my heart. “I, Jack Foster, in the event of my untimely death, leave all my assets to Lily Chen.” Lily was Jack’s childhood friend; they grew up together. She had married an abusive man at her parents’ insistence, who frequently beat and berated her. Jack helped her divorce the scumbag and rented an apartment for her. I felt sorry for her and often looked after her. Sometimes Lily would call Jack in the middle of the night after having nightmares, and he’d rush over to comfort her. When Lily burned herself while cooking, he wouldn’t let her near the kitchen again and hired a personal chef to take care of her meals 365 days a year. I could tolerate all of this, but Jack’s will was something I couldn’t accept. Everything we owned now was created through our joint efforts. From a small, rundown grocery store to a nationwide, household-name brand. I stood by him as we went from eating steamed bread with water to dining in high-end restaurants. And in the end, he wanted to give it all to someone else. Just because Lily was a pitiful woman? I didn’t call Jack to question his reasons. After years of marriage, his explanation didn’t matter to me; only the result was important. And this result shattered the dream I’d held for years. Jack and I split the company’s assets equally, but I firmly believed in one principle: Where the money goes, so does the love. I didn’t care about Jack’s portion; money wasn’t that important to me anymore. This just proved that Jack didn’t love me at all. He didn’t care if the company would split after his death because of his actions, or if my interests would be harmed. I laughed at myself sarcastically and put the envelope back exactly as I’d found it.
“Emma, I’m not coming home tonight. Lily has a stomachache, so I’m taking her to the hospital,” Jack’s voice message came through just as I finished my check-up and was waiting for results in the hallway. I’d been having severe headaches for the past few days. I had planned to wait for Jack to return from his business trip before going to the hospital, but then I discovered that will. I kept my face expressionless, suppressing the turmoil inside as I replied with a simple “okay.” Thinking back, it seemed Jack hadn’t accompanied me to the hospital since we first started dating. He disliked the smell of antiseptic, finding it irritating, so I stopped asking him to come to avoid making him uncomfortable. Apparently, he could tolerate it after all. My head started to throb even more as I desperately tried not to think about him. The private hospital was efficient, and the doctor called me in to hear the results. Her expression wasn’t good. “Ms. Reed, the CT results aren’t very promising,” she said, getting straight to the point. I didn’t react much, just staring blankly as I listened. “There’s a tumor in your brain, but we can’t determine if it’s benign or malignant yet.” “However, if you undergo treatment promptly, there’s still a chance for a full recovery.” The doctor chose her words carefully, trying to console me gently. I found myself smirking, finding it oddly amusing as I propped my chin on my hand. “Doctor, am I dying?” The doctor, probably thinking I was in shock, became flustered. “If it’s benign, it shouldn’t be a major problem. You should consider follow-up treatment.” My mind was already elsewhere. I waved my hand dismissively. “I’ll think about it.”
I returned home without turning on the lights and collapsed on the sofa, scrolling through social media. Work complaints, daily life with spouses and kids, travel photos… I saw Lily’s latest post from half an hour ago. “Ate something too cold and now my stomach hurts. Never again! (crying emoji)” My finger hovered over that post for a long time before I finally broke down in tears. I had a deep-seated fear of anything cold – ice, winter, snow – everything frigid. That year when Jack went skiing, he was on an advanced slope. Given his skills, he shouldn’t have had any problems. But that day, my heart was racing with a bad feeling. Even though I was a beginner and couldn’t ski, I made my way down step by step. Jack’s binding came loose, and I watched helplessly as he lost control and tumbled towards the trees beside the slope. Without thinking, I threw away my poles and skis and rushed towards him. The snow was deep, up to my knees, and each step drained my energy. “Jack! Jack!” I called out his name, but there was no response. At the bottom of a huge rock, Jack lay unconscious, his breathing shallow. Using my limited first-aid knowledge, I found that his left thigh was broken, and he had several fractured ribs. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. The advanced slope was sparsely populated, and most skiers were moving too fast for me to ask for help. I took off my gloves, but my phone had no signal. But my husband was dying in my arms, and I couldn’t afford to wait. Jack wasn’t too heavy, but at over six feet tall, he wasn’t exactly light either. I struggled to support him by his arm, using all my strength to move. After a few steps, I tripped over a small rock, cutting my cheek. There was no time to feel the pain; I dragged Jack forward again. Our combined weight made the snow reach up to my hips, the bone-chilling cold invading every inch of my skin. But I couldn’t stop. I managed to move Jack onto the ski slope, nearly getting run over by someone skiing down. That person clearly noticed something was wrong with us but couldn’t stop. I had used up all my strength, and hypothermia was setting in. I could barely stay conscious, only hoping that person would be kind enough to notify the staff to rescue us. As I was about to close my eyes, I looked at Jack’s pained face and prayed that my love would be safe.
“Ma’am, you’ve just woken up. Try not to get too excited,” the nurse cautioned. Ignoring the IV in the back of my hand, I grabbed the nurse and asked about Jack. “Where’s my husband?” “His condition was more serious than yours. He’s been transferred to a hospital in the city for treatment.” The nurse reassured me that someone would be taking care of Jack, but she hesitated before leaving. “Ma’am, there’s something else. You need to prepare yourself.” “What is it?” I asked anxiously, worried that Jack’s injuries might be worse than I thought. “You were pregnant, but… we couldn’t save the baby.” “You were in the snow for too long, and it damaged your body, so…” “It might affect your ability to conceive in the future…” What? My mind went blank. My hand instinctively moved to my stomach. The flat abdomen showed no sign that a child had ever been there. Only a vague pain reminded me that what the nurse said was true. “How can this be…” I mumbled. It was our seventh year of marriage, our careers had stabilized, and we had just started talking about having a child. The nurse’s words hit me like a thunderbolt. Thinking of Jack still in the hospital fighting for his life, a dull pain spread from my heart throughout my body. “You’re still young. It’s not impossible,” the nurse tried to comfort me. I shook my head, silently suppressing my emotions and refusing to let the tears fall. In my twenty-some years of life, I had experienced countless setbacks and hardships, but never had I felt pain so intense that I couldn’t express it. Like a wooden doll, I quietly accepted treatment, took medicine, received IVs, until the doctor informed me I could be discharged. The hospital where Jack was staying had called me a few days ago to say he was out of danger and conscious. I didn’t go to see him immediately. Only after I had chewed and digested the pain alone did I walk into Jack’s hospital room with a bouquet of flowers. Lily was feeding him, the two of them sitting close together. Jack didn’t know I had also been in the hospital, but he didn’t reproach me for not coming to see him right away. “Emma, you’re here.” “Mm, are you feeling better?” “Don’t worry, sis-in-law. I’m taking good care of Jack,” Lily chimed in. At that time, I was too distracted to face Jack and was almost grateful for Lily’s presence. Later, I locked the hospital’s test results in a safe. I couldn’t bear to throw them away. I might never be able to have my own child again. That was my first and last child. No one else knew about it except me.
I dozed off on the sofa and woke up the next morning. It was the pain that woke me. The medicine the doctor prescribed was on the coffee table, but I had no intention of taking it. Jack had spent the night at the hospital and hadn’t returned yet. Usually, I would have called him to ask what was going on, but today I didn’t feel like it. With little life left, I didn’t want to endure the pain of treatment. I chose to enjoy life in the time I had left. I had worked alongside Jack for over a decade; it was time to rest. Maybe I’d go to a tropical country without winter, feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. As for my marriage to Jack, I didn’t want to make things too difficult. Not just because of our decade-long relationship, but also because I didn’t want to affect the company’s stock price. After all, we had built it from scratch, and I couldn’t bear to destroy it. I notified my lawyer to draft divorce papers and also made a will, leaving all my assets to a children’s foundation in the country I planned to visit. Life is short. I wasn’t afraid of death, but I feared dying without dignity. “Ms. Reed, can you come to the company? Mr. Foster and Director Thompson are arguing and about to come to blows.” Director Thompson was a veteran in the company, one of its key figures. Jack and I wouldn’t offend him lightly. How did it come to this? I had to put aside my plans and rush to the company. “What’s going on?” I arrived to find Jack and Director Thompson glaring at each other, with Lily sitting next to Jack, looking wronged. “Ms. Reed, please be the judge here,” Director Thompson angrily demanded, pointing at Lily. “Why is an outsider allowed to enter the company freely and go through the documents on my desk?” Lily, being called out, shrank back timidly. “Jack asked me to get some files,” she said. “And you could find them yourself? Should I call the police right now?” Director Thompson’s position was high, and many of the documents were trade secrets. Lily wasn’t a company employee, so she was clearly in the wrong. “Jack, what do you have to say?” I didn’t rush to pacify Director Thompson, instead looking at Jack. “I’ve already apologized for Lily. She’s never worked in an office before and doesn’t understand many things.” Jack was clearly favoring Lily, shielding her. I nodded, understanding the situation. I pulled Director Thompson aside to the stairwell and spoke quietly. “Please come with me for a moment. I have something to discuss.” Director Thompson had worked with me for many years and would at least hear me out. “I want to discuss something with you.” Looking through the glass window from the 60th floor, I surveyed what Jack and I had built over more than a decade. “I want to sell my shares to you at a low price.” “The condition is that you can’t disclose this to anyone until I allow it.” Director Thompson was shocked and quickly refused. “Ms. Reed, what are you doing? Just because I argued with Mr. Foster doesn’t mean you need to…” “I’m serious,” I interrupted. Selling the company shares to outsiders would be too obvious. It was better to hand them over to Director Thompson. Jack didn’t care anyway, so I didn’t need to consider his feelings anymore. With Director Thompson in charge, the company could continue to thrive. “Please don’t dwell on today’s incident.” Maybe Lily’s behavior was inappropriate, maybe she had always had designs on Jack, maybe… But at this moment, I hated Jack more. He didn’t deserve to inherit my legacy, nor did he have the right to let another woman possess what was mine.
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