His voice suddenly softened into a self-deprecating laugh.

"Mina, have you ever really considered me one of your own?"

My nose stung, and my throat tightened.

I wanted to tell him: No, it wasn't that. I just couldn't bear to make you choose between your mother and me.

After all, what his mother said back then was the truth.

My parents were both gone, I was burdened with debt, and what did I have to stand beside him?

I also wanted to tell him that I hadn't planned on a real breakup back then. I had intended to go to the city and work hard for two years, pay off the debts, and return clean and upright to stand proudly before him.

So, all these years in the city, I worked until I was exhausted, saving every penny, and finally paid off the last of the debt.

But the debt was paid, and my life was gone, too.

I couldn't respond to him.

I swallowed all my words, turned, and walked toward the bar. "You've had too much to drink. I'll get you a glass of water."

"I don't want water," he said behind me. "I'm getting engaged next month."

I halted.

My feet were nailed to the spot. The music in the bar suddenly seemed to grow very distant, as if coming from another world.

I turned to look at him. He was leaning back against the booth with that same smile on his lips, as if he had just said something as light and casual as "The weather is nice today."

"Old Zhou introduced us—the one from the tea restaurant last time, you've seen her too." He raised his eyes to look at me, his gaze clearer than someone who had drunk seven or eight bottles. "It's official this time. Engagement next month, wedding at the end of the year."

"So fast..." I heard myself say.

I had long heard that arranged marriages in my hometown moved quickly, but I hadn't expected Caleb's pace to be this fast.

He stood up, his steps no longer swaying, and stopped when he reached me. "Fast? It's been two years; it's long enough. Long enough for a person to forget everything that should be forgotten and throw away everything that should be discarded."

He was a head taller than me. When he lowered his head to look at me, the light from behind him cast his expression into shadow.

I avoided his gaze. "Congratulations."

"Thanks!"

He brushed past me, picked up the jacket from the booth, and draped it over his arm. He walked two steps away and then stopped.

"Oh, by the way, you don't need to send a gift. You weren't invited to the engagement banquet."

Chapter 6

He was gone.

When the bar door closed, a blast of cold wind rushed in, flipping over the coaster on the counter.

I stood there, and my stomach started to ache again—a continuous, sharp pain spreading up from my stomach until it reached my throat.

I slowly crouched down and curled myself into a ball.

I squatted in the water stains, clutching my upper abdomen, my forehead pressed against the glass door of the cold storage, waiting for the wave of pain to pass.

The frequency of the pain had become more frequent lately. It used to come every few days; now, it came every day.

The next day, I didn't open the shop.

It wasn't that I didn't want to; I just couldn't get up.

When I opened my eyes in the morning, I felt nauseous. I laid by the side of the bed and retched for a while, but nothing came out except for acidic water.

There was a small patch of dark red on the pillow. It had already dried, staining the pillowcase like a rust-colored flower.

Then my phone rang—it was the hospital number.

"Mina, your follow-up check-up was two weeks overdue. Your attending physician has been urging you; your condition cannot be delayed any longer."

I said I knew, that I had been busy lately.

The nurse was silent for a while before her tone softened. "Ms. Mina, I'll be honest with you. This type of cancer is progressing very quickly. If you don't come in, the later stages won't be something that can be managed by hospitalization."

I said okay, hung up, and placed the phone face down on the bed.

Then the doorbell rang.

I grabbed a jacket, threw it on, and went to open the door. Standing outside was Caleb.

Beside him stood that girl with the dimples. She was wearing a light blue dress and carrying a paper bag. When she saw me, she smiled politely.

Caleb's gaze lingered on my face for a second before shifting away.

"The flower shop wasn't open, so I brought her over here." He turned his head to explain to the girl beside him, "This is the shop owner."

"Hello, my name is Shen Shuyi. Sorry to intrude."

The girl moved the paper bag forward, her dimples sinking deep as she smiled. "These are wedding sweets. Caleb said you were his old classmate, so we thought we'd drop them off on our way."

Old classmate.

I glanced at Caleb, took the paper bag, and stepped aside to let them in. "Come in and sit."

They sat on the sofa while I went to pour water.

The box of opened painkillers was still on the kitchen counter; I quickly shoved it into a drawer.

When I came out with the water glasses, Shen Shuyi looked up at me and smiled very sweetly.

"Big sister, we came today to ask for your help! The flowers Caleb bought at your shop last time were so beautiful, so we wanted to ask you to arrange the flowers for our engagement. It's set for the 16th of next month."

The 16th of next month.

It was less than forty days away. I didn't know if I would still be alive by then.

"Okay," I said. "Just let me know what your requirements are."

I went to the bedroom to get the color card samples and spread them out on the coffee table.

Caleb didn't look at me from start to finish. Every time Shen Shuyi pointed to a color, he nodded and said "good," his voice low.

I pressed my stomach, my fingers digging hard through my coat to suppress the surging pain, and continued to explain the floral design plan. My voice was so steady that even I admired it.

They sat for over an hour.

When they were leaving, Shen Shuyi turned back at the door and said, "Thank you, big sister. Are you coming to the engagement ceremony?"

I looked at Caleb.

He was watching me quietly, his eyes filled with indifference.

I remembered what he had said in the bar—that I wasn't invited to his engagement banquet.

I withdrew my gaze and forced a weak smile. "Sorry, I won't have time."

The door closed.

I leaned against the door panel and slowly slid down to sit on the floor.

The candy box in the paper bag was exquisitely made, with their names printed on the pink ribbon—

[Caleb & Shen Shuyi]

I traced his name with my finger and unwrapped a piece of candy, putting it into my mouth.

It was sweet—sweet to the point of bitterness.

My stomach started to ache again—a tearing, ripping pain.

I curled up behind the door, holding the candy in my mouth, wanting to spit it out but unable to bring myself to do it.

This was likely the last thing he would ever give me in this life.

Chapter 7

I had originally intended to finish that bouquet for his engagement banquet.

But the next day, as I spread the Fandella roses, white eustoma, and eucalyptus leaves across the coffee table, I gripped the scissors twice. When the blades closed, the stems didn't snap. The scissors' handles pressed against my fingers until they were bright red. On the third try, the stems finally broke, but the edges were jagged and uneven.

That was when the writhing pain in my stomach peaked.

Without any warning, a mouthful of blood overflowed from the corner of my mouth, dripping onto the floor and splashing onto the snow-white petals.

I stared at those spots of red for a long time.

In the end, I put the scissors down. I knew I couldn't finish this bouquet.

I picked up my phone and issued a refund to Caleb.

An instant later, Caleb’s message came back almost immediately: [Why did you issue a refund?]

I clutched my phone, my fingers trembling so hard it took three tries to type a line.

[I don't want to do your business anymore, Caleb. If your fiancée finds out later that the flowers for the engagement banquet were made by your ex-girlfriend, she’ll make your life a misery.]

The other end showed "is typing..."

But after flickering for a long while, he only replied with one line.