Chapter 1 Stomach Cancer

The doctor said, "Ms. Garcia, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but after more tests, it turns out you don't have gastritis. It's actually late-stage stomach cancer. You should call your family."

Hearing the doctor's words and seeing the pity in her eyes, Elisa Garcia was in shock. She gripped the bedsheet tightly. "How can this be? I thought it was just acid reflux causing gastritis. Are you sure it's stomach cancer? Could there be a mistake?"

The doctor was quiet for a moment, and Elisa knew what that meant.

But how could this be? She was always so healthy!

The doctor sighed, "You should contact your family as soon as possible. If you decide to go through with treatment, they'll need to sign the consent forms."

It felt like a death sentence.

With trembling fingers, Elisa asked, "Doctor, how much time do I have left?"

The doctor replied, "At most three months."

Elisa nodded. "Okay, I understand."

After that, the doctor left the room.

Elisa looked down, trying hard to hold back her tears, and called her husband, Howard Brown, again.

But no one answered, and the call eventually hung up.

She numbly dialed several more times, and suddenly there was a sound. She looked up excitedly, about to speak, but saw the large "Call Ended" on the screen.

This time, the tension Elisa had been holding in finally broke. She curled up on the bed, hugging herself and crying out loud.

She had been in the hospital for two days because of abdominal pain. From the initial unbearable pain to now being stabilized with medication, she thought she was getting better. But who would have thought this was just a temporary relief before the end? And she couldn't reach her husband at all, and her messages were getting no response.

She contacted his assistant, Alfie Lopez, who kept saying that Howard was busy with work and would pass on the message about her illness, but Howard might not be able to come in time.

Elisa lay on the hospital bed, her face pale, feeling her abdomen start to hurt again.

When she felt a bit better, she told the doctor, "Please help me with the discharge procedures. I don't need treatment."

After crying enough, Elisa quickly left the hospital.

She had figured it out. Since her fate couldn't be changed, instead of wasting time in the hospital, she would use the remaining three months to do what she wanted.

Just as she reached the door of the ward, Elisa saw Howard hurriedly carrying a woman into the emergency room.

"Isn't that the recently popular star Victoria Taylor?"

"Yeah, it is. Seeing Mr. Brown so anxious, I thought something serious had happened, but it was just a fainting spell due to low blood sugar."

"Mr. Brown was so worried; it seems the rumors online are true."

The gossip from two young women reached Elisa's ears.

Her face turned pale, and she gripped her phone tightly.

Soon, the door of the emergency room opened.

Victoria was taken to a ward, and Elisa, inexplicably, found herself following.

From a distance, she heard Howard scolding Victoria's manager, "Don't schedule so much work for Victoria anymore. What if she faints again? Nothing is more important than her health!"

Elisa, unwilling to give up, called Howard again. Howard glanced at his phone, frowned impatiently, and answered. "Hello, what is it?"

Elisa clenched her palm, suppressing her emotions, trying to keep her voice calm. "Where are you? When are you coming home?"

Howard responded coldly, "I'm at a business meeting."

Elisa laughed sarcastically, "Is your business meeting in a hospital?"

Howard's frown deepened instantly. He looked around but didn't see anything, his tone turning icy. "Are you having me followed?"

"I..." Elisa replied, but Howard interrupted her. "Elisa, are you done? I have important matters to handle," Before Elisa could finish, Howard hung up the phone.

Elisa stood there, stunned, feeling her stomach start to ache again, her hands and feet growing cold.

She had seen it with her own eyes, so why did she still make that call?

She never had a place in Howard's heart. Why did she keep humiliating herself?

At the hospital entrance, Elisa ran into her good friend Flora Clark, who was there for a cold. Flora was shocked to see Elisa's pale face.

"What's going on? What are you sick with? Elisa, you've lost so much weight," Flora asked, clearly worried.

Elisa wanted to hide it. She didn't want to expose her unhappy marriage to her friend. She didn't want sympathy or comfort.

But Elisa knew Flora too well. If she didn't say anything, Flora would ask the doctor. So Elisa briefly explained the situation.

Flora was terrified and scolded Elisa non-stop on the way home: "How could you not tell me about something this serious?"

Elisa forced a smile. "I'm still able to walk, right? I could have taken a cab home myself."

"Stop making absurd excuses," Flora said angrily, "Does your husband know?"

Thinking of Howard's concern for Victoria, Elisa's heart ached, and she shook her head silently. "He's busy. There's no need to bother him."

"Is he the only busy person in the world? If he's so busy, he shouldn't have gotten married. How can he leave you alone all the time?" Flora complained indignantly.

Seeing Flora didn't look well either, Elisa urged her to go home and rest as soon as they arrived.

After taking a shower, Elisa lay on the bed and saw the latest trending topic: Victoria was photographed entering the hospital late at night. Howard's face wasn't clearly captured, but Elisa could recognize his figure anywhere.

Fans were concerned about Victoria's health and started blaming the management company for overworking her, and some even began to gossip about Howard.

Suddenly, someone revealed that Victoria was pregnant, with a picture of a medical report showing she was one month pregnant.

When Howard had been photographed leaving Victoria's villa, it had been exactly a month ago.

Elisa was shocked, her heart aching, her face turning pale.

Thinking back on her three-year marriage, she felt that it was like a joke.

Howard actually loved Victoria, but after the Taylor Family went bankrupt, the Brown Family didn't approve of their relationship and forcibly separated them.

Victoria went abroad to pursue her dreams, and Howard, to resist his family's arranged marriage, chose Elisa in front of all the elders.

Originally, he was supposed to marry Elisa's sister.

At that time, Elisa needed a way to break free from the Garcia Family, so she agreed.

To everyone, she and Howard were just using each other, but few knew she had already fallen in love with Howard. So she still married him despite his lack of love.

For three years, she took care of Howard meticulously, thinking through her efforts, he would have come to love her one day. But a month ago, as soon as Victoria returned, he immediately ran to her and had been with her ever since.

Elisa finally realized that he only ever loved Victoria. As for herself, she was just a tool he used to defy his family.

How could anyone love a tool? No matter what she did, it was all in vain.

As Howard came home, the living room was shrouded in darkness, the usual night light for him gone, and Elisa, who would always curl on the couch waiting, was absent from her spot.

He frowned, feeling a bit uncomfortable, and turned on the light.

The butler, Angus Anderson, came downstairs upon hearing the noise. Howard handed him his coat and asked, "Where is she?"

Though he didn't name names, Angus understood immediately. "Mrs. Brown went to her room early. She should be asleep by now."

Hearing this, Howard's eyes flickered, and he waved Angus off, striding back to the bedroom.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw Elisa sleeping on the bed. Howard walked past the bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

With a body still damp, he had just lain down when Elisa suddenly turned and kissed him. Howard was taken aback. "Aren't you asleep?"

After knowing her stomach cancer and Howard's affair, how could Elisa sleep?

She hooked her arms around Howard's neck, kissed his thin lips, and skillfully unbuttoned his shirt, her hands sliding along his muscles, starting to caress him.