"Whatever he says, you believe.
"Even if I put the diagnosis right in front of you, I'm still the one faking it, still the one lying about being sick!"
"Vincent, I—"
"Enough, Prudence."
I cut her off.
"You disgust me.
"I never should have married you."
Prudence's breath caught.
She grabbed me as I turned to leave.
Her eyes went red.
"I only turned into this because you were the one who did wrong first!"
I froze.
Stared at her, unable to believe it.
"Vincent, if you hadn't betrayed me first, why would I ever treat you like this?"
"What are you talking about?"
Prudence gave a cold laugh.
"However disgusting I am, at least I never crawled into bed with my own boss."
Crack.
My hand landed hard across her face.
William gasped and threw himself in front of her.
"Mr. Delgado, that's going too far!
"And is Ms. Jenner wrong? Back then, you were caught in bed with your female boss. Yes, you ruined her afterward, but who's to say you didn't force yourself on the girl and then turn it around on her once it came out!
"Ms. Jenner is your wife. Isn't it perfectly normal for her to doubt you?
"If you'd only kept yourself clean, how could she ever have failed to trust you!"
"You—"
My hand rose high.
Prudence seized my wrist.
She pushed William behind her.
Looked at me with that cold smile.
"What, I hit a nerve, so now you're humiliated and furious?"
My fist clenched tight.
I stared at her through my teeth.
"Prudence, you've suspected me all along—"
The day I drank my boss's milk tea and couldn't be woken up.
That was the day before Prudence and I were to be married.
That day Prudence slapped that boss ten times in front of everyone.
Shaking with rage.
"I will destroy you completely!"
On the day of the hearing, she argued the facts point by point, tearing through the boss's entire legal team.
Then she and I moved to another city.
The whole thing was sealed away, and no one ever brought it up again.
I looked at Prudence, my eyes red.
"You told your assistant even something that private."
Prudence frowned.
"Will isn't an outsider. After all, he's someone you and I once supported."
I laughed.
"So that's why you believe everything he says?"
Prudence frowned and said nothing.
"And if I really do have stomach cancer?"
"If it's real.
"If you die, I'll die with you."
The hand gripping my wrist trembled faintly.
I pushed her away.
"Prudence, you'd better mean what you say!"
I turned as I finished.
Slammed the door hard behind me.
Prudence's first instinct was to shield William behind her.
I let out a cold laugh.
I didn't look back.
Standing on the empty street.
A dull ache pulsed through my chest, wave after wave.
I felt at the front of my chest.
The protective charm my mother gave me.
Gone.
I turned back at once.
Opened the door with the same old key.
I'd only been gone a few hours.
Everything in the house had been repaired, made new.
Every piece of furniture I'd smashed had been replaced, in a few short hours, with brand-new pieces in blue.
Compared to before.
The whole house looked more alive now, not less.
Even the floor had been cleaned spotless.
As if no third person had ever set foot inside.
I stepped across the floor.
Searching frantically for the charm my mother had left me.
It was from the day I was diagnosed with cancer.
My mother had climbed nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps.
One bow at every step.
