Chapter 1

Tania Hemsworth was well known in Jelton's upper crust for her frailty. In the four years she spent with Cillian Gessner, her health had always been poor. In their first year together, she suddenly vomited blood at their engagement party. Blood splattered all over her future mother-in-law, who screamed at her for being such a jinx. Yet, Cillian ignored his mother's protests and rushed her to the hospital. In their second year together, she lost control of herself at their wedding banquet. This shocked the crowd, and their whispers made Tania wish she could sink through the floor. Cillian, however, remained unfazed and helped clean her up. In their third year together, Tania was diagnosed with a tumor. Most of her uterus had to be removed, and she would never be able to bear children again. She fell into despair. Cillian, a renowned doctor, performed the surgery himself and held her afterward, saying, "I only want a child with you. If you can't give birth, we'll adopt." By their fourth year together, Tania had endured 99 surgeries. Endless pain had left her gaunt and fragile. One day, after a shower, she saw the scars covering her body in the mirror and broke down in the corner of the bathroom, sobbing. Cillian rushed in, gathered her in his arms, and soothed her. He kissed each scar one by one. "You're not ugly," he cooed. "Every scar is proof of how much I love you." His sincerity broke through the darkness of Tania's world like a ray of light. She truly believed she had a perfect husband who would never abandon her. From then on, Tania did her best enduring all her treatments. She swallowed handfuls of pills, endured injections until her arms were marked with punctures, and she never once complained. Still, her health only grew worse. One day, when she heard that a foreign specialist had come to Avondale, she hurried over for a consultation. The doctor reviewed her results and frowned. "Ms. Hemsworth, your test data is completely normal. You're not ill." Tania was stunned. "That's impossible. I mean, look at these diagnoses and surgery reports…" The doctor examined them and shook his head. "Your records all showed good health. It's the medication and surgeries that ruined your body." He tapped the attending physician's name on her file, his tone turning heavy with implication as he said, "I suggest you find another doctor." Tania followed his gaze, and Catherine Gessner's name came into her view. Catherine was adopted by the Gessners, and Cillian was like a brother to her. He had put her responsible for Tania's treatment over these past years. Suddenly, it dawned on Tania that right before her engagement party and wedding, Catherine had prescribed her medicine. Black dots swam across her vision as her heart clenched at the horrible revelation. In a haze, she left Avondale, stumbling all the way to Cillian's office to demand an answer. But she accidentally overheard his conversation with the head nurse at his door. "Mrs. Gessner's body is at her limits, but the medicine Dr. Catherine prescribed her will trigger an allergic reaction. It'll make her body shut down," the head nurse said. "Are we still going to proceed with it?" Through the crack of the door, Tania saw Cillian helplessly shake his head. Still, his eyes were overflowing with affection as he said, "Cathy must be upset I fed Tania her medicine. She's just jealous. "Well… just proceed with the medication. If her body shuts down, I'll perform surgery on her. I'm skilled at doing tracheotomies. It'll only leave a tiny mark." Then, he paused, as if he couldn't bear to hurt Tania. "After all, I love Tania. I won't let anything happen to her. "I'd promised Cathy I'd marry her when I was ten, but then I fell in love with Tania at first sight. Cathy's waited for me for years, only for me to break her heart. I owe her this. "As long as she's happy, I'll do anything she wants. Whatever medication she prescribes to Tania, I'll make things right." His words cut through Tania's chest like a blade. Her face turned ashen as she clutched the thick stack of medical reports, her body shaking so badly that she could barely stand. She had endured at least 1,400 sleepless nights for four years. During that time, she was either running a fever or coughing. If she wasn't aching all over, she was itching everywhere. Her body and mind had been through so much pain that it was beyond imagination. All the while, she'd blamed herself for being weak. She'd thought she'd burdened Cillian and troubled Catherine. Yet, everything had been their doing. Tania pushed the door open, a swell of emotions surging through her. A lump welled up in her throat, and the moment she met Cillian's gaze, her tears spilled over. "Why?" she choked out. Her tears startled Cillian, but only for a moment. Then, he said, "Tania, you shouldn't have eavesdropped on our conversation," he evenly said. "Knowing all that won't help your condition." "But I wasn't even sick!" she cried out. "Catherine did all this on purpose. You let her hurt me again and again!" Cillian shook his head. "Don't say that. Cathy may be a bit spoiled since I was overprotective of her, but she isn't a bad person. "Besides, I'm a skilled doctor. Nothing will happen to you." Tania couldn't believe her ears. Her liver and kidneys had been damaged by overmedication, and most of her uterus was gone. Was this what Cillian meant by not letting anything happen to her? Her husband's indifference and endless indulgence of Catherine shattered Tania's world. Her ears rang as she struggled to remain focused. "No way," she muttered in a daze. "I need another hospital. If this continues, I'll die." But just as she turned around to leave, Cillian's bodyguards blocked her path. "Enough of this, Tania," Cillian warned. "Everyone knows Cathy is your attending physician. People will mock her if you transfer to another hospital. "And hand over the documents. These could ruin her career." The bodyguards reached for the papers, but Tania frantically struggled. "This is unethical. She deserves to lose her license! You can't take these. Without them, I can't transfer to another hospital…" But no matter what she said, Cillian remained unfazed. He glanced at his watch and even motioned for his bodyguards to hurry up. "I have a meeting with Cathy. Tania, just be good and let go." But Tania still refused. So, the bodyguards pried her fingers loose one by one. The sharp crack of breaking bones filled the room, mixed with her screams. Cillian promptly took the reports and dropped them into a shredder. White scraps fluttered in the air like the remnants of the heartfelt moments they'd shared in the past four years, turning to dust before her eyes. Soon, everyone left. The head nurse treated her wounds and reattached her broken fingers, then set a handful of pills before her. She watched as Tania swallowed them. Tania stared at the medication, knowing the pills would trigger a shock. She bitterly smiled. Even if she refused, someone would force them into her mouth anyway. Meanwhile outside, Catherine had happened to pass by. She tugged on Cillian's hand and sweetly said, "Cillian, these throat lozenges taste awful. Feed me." "You're all grown up, but you're still acting like a child," he chided. "Come on. We have a long meeting later, so take care of your voice. It hurts to see you suffer." As he spoke, he picked up a lozenge and gently fed it to Catherine. He cared so much about her voice that he'd try to prevent her from speaking too much, yet he had the heart to cut open his wife surgery after surgery. Despair swallowed Tania. Was this the love he claimed he had for her? In the end, she picked up the pills and forced them down. The bitterness was indescribable. … Sure enough, Tania went into shock. After 12 hours in surgery and another day in the ICU, she woke with a fresh incision on her throat. The cut was small, but it felt as if it'd been carved onto her heart. The pain was impossible to ignore. She closed her eyes for a moment, then called Cillian's father. "Mr. Gessner Senior," she rasped, her voice hoarse from the surgery yet still steady. "I accept your offer. I'll leave Cillian for good."