Sergio was suffering from a terminal illness. To seek a miracle, I knelt in front of the statue of Jesus every night before bed, praying devoutly for an hour.

However, when I learned that Sergio shared my nightly prayers to Jesus as a joke with his friends, I knew it was over between us.

What I did not expect was that they would go so far as to do something this outrageous.

I knelt on the ground, feeling numb.

In my ears were the exaggerated sounds of their laughter.

At that moment, Sergio's childhood friend Kirsten was doubled over in laughter in his arms after pretending to be Jesus.

When I prayed, I habitually left only one candle lit.

The room was too dim, and because I was nearsighted, I did not even notice that my statue had been switched out.

Kirsten, dressed as Jesus, was standing behind the altar, taking Jesus's place and receiving my kneeling for a full hour.

"See, I told you this would be so much fun!

"Elsie, your expression when you were kneeling to me was so serious!

"But I didn't expect you to still believe in this.

"If you're sick, you need to see a doctor. Even a three-year-old understands that. How do you not get it?

"I know you're desperate to live, but you shouldn't be so hasty in seeking help."

Kirsten sneered, her face full of disdain.

I looked down at the statue of Jesus that had rolled onto the ground and was being kicked around, feeling a deep sense of guilt.

Seeing that I had not reacted for a long time, Kirsten and the others grew bored and stopped laughing.

But they began to lecture me instead.

"Elsie, you really can't take a joke at all; it's just so dull," Kirsten said, looking displeased.

The others echoed her, criticizing me as well.

Even Sergio looked at me disapprovingly and said.

"Elsie, don't you know what's good for you? My friends came here specifically to see you and cheer you up because they know you are sick, and you have this serious face. What does that even mean?"

Logically, I should have argued back at this point.

However, at that moment, Sergio's words stirred no emotions within me.

I always thought that we should never argue with petty people and contend with fools.

My reaction only further enraged Kirsten and the others.

"Sergio, it seems your girlfriend doesn't like us at all and looks down on us. She doesn't even try to pretend. Forget it, we are leaving!

"You can't expect us to come back here again."

After Kirsten finished speaking, she stormed out angrily.

The others followed suit.

Sergio, seemingly feeling embarrassed, turned around and shouted at me.

"Elsie, what do you mean? Are you deliberately giving my friends the cold shoulder?

"Don't think that just because you are sick, I will always cater to you.

"I'll tell you, if you don't apologize to Kirsten and the others properly for this, I am done with you!"

With that, Sergio grabbed his coat and left in a fit of anger.

The door slammed shut with a loud noise.

I rubbed my knees, which were sore and numb from kneeling for so long, feeling an overwhelming sense of desolation.

The boy who once defended me at all costs was ultimately gone.

I did not care about the mess that Kirsten and the others had made in the room.

I just packed my belongings, took the cross I had brought with me and left.

While waiting for my flight at the airport in the middle of the night, I received a voice message from Sergio.

"Elsie, if you had any sense, you would hurry up and apologize to Kirsten and my other friends!

"They are right; I have spoiled you too much, which is why you are so reckless!

"If you keep being so willful, I'll just break up with you!"

On my phone, Sergio's drunken voice came through, occasionally mixed with the sounds of Kirsten and the others egging him on.

From the noise of Kirsten and the others, I could easily guess that they had already decided I, "the sick one", could not leave Sergio.

And Sergio, having discarded me as a "burden", had a bright future ahead of him; he shouldn't be held back by me, "the patient".

From the messages Sergio sent, it was clear he also agreed with their viewpoint.

I did not react much but simply blocked Sergio expressionlessly.

However, the next day when the plane landed, I turned on my phone and immediately received a threatening message from Kirsten.

[Elsie, if you don't cherish such a good man as Sergio, I will not hold back.]

Attached was a photo of Kirsten cuddled up in Sergio's arms, both of them naked in bed.

Seeing that photo made me feel a wave of physical nausea.

Sergio must have spent the night away and had no idea I had already left; he wouldn't see the breakup gift I left for him on the table.

Otherwise, he should have no mood to screw with Kirsten right now.

I replied to her message: [Respect and wish you happiness.]

[I left a gift for you on the table in the apartment; make sure to unwrap it and take a look.]

I did not block or delete Kirsten, thinking I might want to check in on future developments.

What I did not expect was that Kirsten and Sergio never even opened the box I left behind.

The reason was that Kirsten felt uncomfortable having her man keep things from his ex-girlfriend, and Sergio, wanting to appease Kirsten, threw the box containing his medical records straight into the trash without even looking.

It was a pity; if Sergio had opened it and actively sought treatment, he might have lived a few more days.

Maybe it was his fate.

I returned the cross and then prayed in front of it, asking for Jesus to forgive my negligence in protection.

In a daze, I seemed to hear Jesus's voice forgiving me.

Sergio only mocked me for doing futile things, but he did not know the effort I put into bringing the cross there.

It was not easy to acquire such a large cross.

I had run from church to factory to get it.

Yet Sergio and the others destroyed all my hard work in just one hour.

Sergio was right; what I did was indeed futile.