Melissa smiled and shook her head. “I’ve said all this to tell you, if you’ve wronged me so much and regretted it so deeply, how can divorce be so easy?”
George was shocked and looked up. “What?”
“I said, since you’ve wronged me, then you should make things right. Come to me, apologize, and do everything I did for you. That would be fair, don’t you think?”
“Divorce? How can it be that simple? You’ve always done whatever I asked. For five years, no matter what I did, you never let go. You’ve spoiled me and my temper. You’ve made it so that the whole City N knows what’s going on between us. Now you just want to let go? Are you hoping I won’t be able to get married and will stay with you alone?”
“Since it’s come to this, you have to finish what you started. You’re not afraid of death, so why are you afraid of trying again with me?”
She looked at George’s stunned expression, pulling her lips into a smile as she said, “This time, I’m the one taking the first step toward you.”
“So, George. We won’t be apart.”
George could hardly believe his ears. He wanted to ask what had changed her mind.
But Melissa finished speaking before he could say anything else.
“George, can you call my name again?”
“Melissa.”
“Yeah.” Melissa leaned against him, eyes closed. “Go to sleep. I’ll stay here with you.”
George was indeed exhausted and worn out, especially with the anti-inflammatory medication, but he couldn’t bring himself to sleep. It felt like a dream, and he feared that if he fell asleep, he would wake up and find it all gone. “I don’t want to sleep. If I sleep, will you be gone?”
“I won’t be gone.” She held his hand. “I’ll stay with you, always.”
For the rest of her life, she would remain George’s late wife.
George eventually couldn’t resist the effects of the medication. In his extreme weakness, he closed his eyes.
Once his breathing became steady, it felt like his entire body had stopped breathing.
Melissa felt the silence as he stopped speaking.
The flutter in her heart was uncontrollable.
It started as soft sobs, but soon turned into silent pain.
The kind of heart-wrenching pain that made George open his eyes again. “Melissa, what’s wrong?”
Melissa, who had thought he was already dead, jumped in shock, looking up at him. She couldn’t control her sorrow and said, “George, I don’t want you to die. Can you please fight to stay alive? We just started over. Can’t you stay with me?”
“This world is too scary. Can you hold my hand tight and let’s walk through it together, George!”
George coughed, a little amused. “Who told you I was going to die?”
Melissa, her nose still dripping and tears hanging on her face, looked at him in confusion. “They told me to come see you for the last time.”
A flash of disappointment crossed George’s eyes. Had everything she just told him been a lie?
He calmly reached for the tissues on the bedside and gently wiped her face.
“They lied to you. I’m fine.”
Melissa stared at him, her face still stained with tears.
George, while feeling happy, also felt deeply disappointed.
No wonder she had changed so suddenly.
No wonder she had forgiven him.
She had thought he was dying.
“Was it you who lied to me, or was it them?” Melissa couldn’t tell anymore.
“I would never lie to you about something like this. I’m really fine. It’s just a lung infection and some sunburns. After some rest, I’ll be okay, including my hand. I’ll live, and you don’t… you don’t need to feel pressured or pity me,” George said, struggling to get the words out.
Melissa cried and laughed at the same time, then stood up and punched George. “Are you an idiot?! You’re not dying, and yet you’re still saying stuff like that!”
After she said that, George coughed hard from her punch. His hand instinctively reached for her, wanting to apologize.
But Melissa forcefully pulled her hand away, glaring at him with a face full of stubbornness and embarrassment. George’s hand stopped in the air, and he lowered his gaze.
The next moment, Melissa tightly hugged him. “I’d rather they lied to me than lose you.”
His heart, which should have been heavy, felt a little disbelieving as he blinked in surprise.
Melissa opened her mouth and bit him hard. “You have to live a long life because I’m going to torture you for the rest of it.”
George felt a warmth in his eyes. He hugged her tightly. “Okay.”
“I’ll still have my bad temper, I’ll still be petty. If I’m uncomfortable, I’ll say it. I won’t tolerate you. If you make me cook a whole table of food and wait for it until dawn, you’ll see.”
“I won’t dare. I’ll definitely report it. And I won’t make you cook for me in the middle of the night.”
“I’ll be busy too. I have a lot of exhibitions to attend. I’ll be in the studio all day, and you’ll be busy with work too.”
“Then we’ll pick a time when we’re both free. If we’re super busy, we can still meet at night.” George stroked her hair, feeling like he was dreaming. “I’ll go along with you. Don’t be afraid. This time, I’m walking toward you. Even if everything you said is a lie, I’d still take it happily.”
Melissa tilted her head back. “As long as what you say is true, then what we talked about earlier, we’ll work on it together.”
He looked into her eyes and nodded firmly.
He would get better. He would take care of her for the rest of their lives.
******
Lillian had been back in City N for days, constantly receiving invitations.
But she was solely focused on spending time with Jasmine and Quincy, turning down every single one. After all, with Conrad backing her, she wasn’t afraid of anyone trying to trip her up.
The movie kept delivering good news.
More and more organic buzz flooded the internet with praise. Lillian’s studio could barely keep up with making new posters, and each night, the box office numbers broke another record.
People-both those who knew her and those who didn’t-kept bringing up her movie online.
Even she had found herself at the center of public discussion.
But aside from her studio’s official announcements, she had only shared a single promotional post on Twitter-keeping an unbelievably low profile.
Amid the chaos of her busy schedule, Lillian started noticing something off about Conrad.
He was constantly sneaking off with his phone.
He would even get up in the middle of the night, quietly slipping out of the room while she was asleep.
The first time she noticed, she had woken up suddenly, instinctively reaching out to find the warmth of his embrace-only to grasp nothing but cold sheets.
At first, she didn’t think much of it.
But once the suspicion took root, she couldn’t ignore it anymore. Even when he picked up calls from their daughter, he looked guilty-like he was afraid she’d catch on-often sneaking off to answer in private.
She knew they had been through too much together to start doubting him again.
But she couldn’t stop herself from wondering.
Did he think she didn’t love him as much as before?
Had he… gone looking for someone else?
Or… was he secretly taking those pills again?
The more she overthought, the worse she felt.
Late-night phone notifications.
A computer with yet another changed password.
Jasmine mentioning that all the wedding dresses in the closet had disappeared.
All of it felt wrong.
Then, he started working late.
Sometimes, he wouldn’t even come home before midnight.
If he did, it was only after she had already fallen asleep-when he would slip into bed and hold her from behind.
Lillian wanted to ask him about it, but she was afraid of breaking the fragile peace they had.
Because the moment she voiced her suspicions, the moment she let those words escape her lips-
Their relationship would backslide again.