The doctor’s words hung in the air like a death sentence. I had gone in expecting to hear I was pregnant, expecting to plan a future with the man I loved. Instead, I was told I had lung cancer and only two years left to live, maybe less. I walked out of that clinic with the worst news of my life and a secret heavy enough to crush me.
Jonathan was waiting outside, hopeful. “So? What did they say? ”
I forced a smile.
“It’s not a pregnancy. Just a minor stomach issue. We’ll have a baby one day. ”
He pulled me into his arms, promising we’d be fine.
But fine wasn’t in my future. And Jonathan was already drowning in three hundred thousand dollars of debt. My treatment would only make things worse for him. I couldn’t drag him down with me.
So I did the cruelest thing I’ve ever done. I staged an affair. I brought another man, Michael, into our home. I made sure Jonathan walked in on us.
I watched his face crumble as I spat the words that would haunt me forever: “You’re just a broke worker stuck in debt, while Michael makes so much more money than you. I need Michael. Not you. ”
He begged.
He pleaded. He reminded me I had said yes to his proposal just yesterday. I kept my face cold and told him we were done. I let him believe I was a gold digger.
I let him hate me. It was easier than letting him watch me die. After he left, I collapsed. Michael caught me.
“No need to act anymore. He’s gone. ”
“Maybe you should have told him,” he said. “You could have faced this together.
”
I shook my head. “I can’t be that selfish. ”
But I wasn’t just sick. I was terrified.
I was alone. And I had no money. Days passed. I barely scraped by.
My landlord pounded on my door, threatening to throw my things out. I handed over the last five hundred dollars I had, leaving me with nothing. And then, as if the universe wanted to twist the knife, I heard the news. The new CEO of Scott Enterprises was a man named Jonathan Scott.
The same Jonathan I had thrown out of my life. On his first day, he found me working in the building. “Well, look who it is. Long time no see.
”
He made me carry boxes and binders to his office. He made me knock. He watched me struggle and smirked. I had broken his heart, and now he was going to make me pay for it.
I tried to explain. I tried to tell him the truth. But he didn’t want to hear it. Instead, he introduced me to his new girlfriend, Ashley.
She was beautiful, educated, and dripping with money. She loved humiliating me. She fired me on the spot and banned me from every company property. And then she discovered the truth about my illness.
“Lilly, what’s this medication for? ” she asked, holding my pills. “It’s for treating low blood sugar,” I lied. But Ashley wasn’t stupid.
She found out about the lung cancer. And instead of keeping it quiet, she used it against me. She had me followed. She had men corner me in alleys, threatening me.
She made sure I lost every job I tried to get. At one job, she sent my manager to humiliate me. At another, she showed up with her friends, laughing as I picked up broken glass with my bare hands. “This is just the beginning,” she whispered.
“Enjoy. ”
I couldn’t afford my treatment. I was fading fast. Then Michael came back into my life.
He had a job for me. “Drug trial participant. I found it online. It has possible risks.
”
“I’ll try it,” I said. “What do I have to lose? ”
But Michael was hiding something too. He wasn’t just trying to save me—he was in debt to the wrong people.
And when Ashley found out about the trial, she used Michael’s fear against him. It all came to a head at Jonathan and Ashley’s engagement party. I went because Jonathan asked me to. I wanted to see him happy before I died.
I even wore a dress Jonathan had given me years ago, never thinking it would be a problem. Ashley saw it and exploded. “Did you plan to wear the same dress as me? ” she screeched.
“You’re trying to embarrass me! ”
I tried to leave, but she called security. She accused me of sneaking in. She made a scene in front of everyone.
And then I collapsed. I woke up in the hospital, my body betraying me. The doctor told Jonathan I had lung cancer and stomach bleeding. Ashley stood in the corner, a smug smile on her face, holding my medical report.
While I was still recovering, she came to my room and whispered, “Then why don’t you just die? ”
I was done. I told her to get out. The next day, Jonathan came to see me.
He looked torn. “I know what you really have. Why are you still faking it? ”
“I am dying,” I said.
“Why are you still treating me like this? ”
He stared at me, his jaw tight. “Then why don’t you just die? ”
The words cut through me like a blade.
But then Jonathan started digging. He hired a private investigator. He found out about Ashley’s threats, her men who attacked me, her meddling with my records. He confronted her, and she admitted it all.
“I changed her lab records,” Ashley sneered. “So what? ”
Jonathan was furious. “If she’s hurt, I’m going to bury your body right next to hers.
”
He canceled the wedding. He cut ties with the Taylor family. He came looking for me, desperate to make things right. But I was gone.
Michael had taken me to a quiet town to hide me from the chaos. I was tired. I was sick. I wanted to live for myself for once, even if it was just for a little while.
Then Ashley found me. She had me kidnapped. When I woke up, I was tied to a chair in a warehouse, a gun pressed to my head. “Because of you, he broke off our engagement,” Ashley hissed.
“My family’s trust is gone. It’s all your fault. ”
She injected me with something. “You have 48 hours,” she said.
“If I get the antidote, I’ll give it to you. Otherwise, you’re dead. ”
Jonathan found me in time. He called the police.
Ashley was arrested, her weapon taken, her threats meaningless. She screamed and cursed as they dragged her away. But the poison was still inside me. Jonathan rushed me to the hospital, praying.
He refused to leave my side. The doctors said it was a miracle—I was stable, and with the right care, I could actually live longer than my original prognosis. “You made it,” Jonathan said, his voice breaking. “Maybe this is God’s mercy.
”
I reached for his hand. “I think we finally have time to make things right. ”
He squeezed it. “I think we have all the time in the world.
”
