Camden Price's true love, Lynn Gardner, died on my surgery table.

Unexpectedly, the malicious Camden chose to protect me from backlash and even proposed to me.

He treated me extraordinarily well after we got married.

Camden would take me to taste the hottest chili.

We would sign up for the most death-defying activities like bungee jumping.

When it was late at night, he would take me to the rowdiest and most dangerous bars to drink our hearts away.

All this led to me contracting stomach cancer.

During my late-stage cancer, I found the diary he left at home.

Everything he did with me was what Lynn wanted to do with him.

On the last page of his diary, he wrote hatefully, "She deserves to die."

I did die.

I died after Lynn was found alive. She had faked her death.

I died on the day Lynn was marrying another man.

You should be happy now, Camden.

When I fell and broke the fish tank, the glass pieces pierced my carotid artery, but all I felt was relief.

As my blood flowed, I focused on the message my colleague had sent me. "Lynn Gardner isn't dead! You didn't make any mistakes in the surgery back then. The Gardners were hellbent on framing you. They faked her death and sent her out of the country."

I did not cause her death.

When my eyes shut, my tears flowed down my cheeks like thorns scratching them.

I had endured five years of torture, but all I got in return was this ridiculous truth. I had no idea whether to feel sad for my predicament or sorry for Camden Price, who had been drowning in sorrow and pain from losing the love of his life. He had never gotten over it.

Lynn's surgery had cost me my entire life.

Yet, in the end, it was all just a game to her.

Today was the day I died.

To Lynn, it was her fabulously grand wedding.

A few days ago, I caught Camden staring at a picture on the news. He seemed to be in a daze.

He enlarged the picture and later minimized it. After looking at it over and over, his eyes turned red, and a tear fell to his cheek.

I was about to take my pills for my stomach when Camden suddenly grabbed my hand.

"What's with the act?! Lynn died of stomach cancer. You should get it too. If you want to act like her in every way, why don't you die just like she did?!"

He smacked my pills, and they fell all over the floor.

One of the pills rolled next to his foot, and he stepped hard on it. The white powder vanished instantly.

He brought out boiling hot chili and forced it down my throat.

Hot food like this would only make my stomach feel worse.

I could no longer take it and threw up.

He pushed me away with disgust and left our villa without looking back.

Not long after Camden left, I glanced at the picture in the news.

I realized that the person who was getting married and having the wedding of the century was Lynn.

There was no way I could forget her eyes.

She was supposed to die on the surgery table, but she was now being interviewed while wearing a gorgeous wedding gown. She had her hands wrapped around the arm of her groom.

Lynn smiled as she said, "The first thing I did when I came home was to have a bowl of hot chili. I craved it nearly every day when I was out of the country."

She was smiling adorably with cute dimples on her face.

I shivered when I heard her mention hot chili.

After she died on my surgery table, I had to have a bowl of it nearly every day.

I stayed by the sea and did not enjoy spicy food, but I had it for an entire year.

Every time I voiced my objections about having more, Camden would not say a thing. All he did was quietly eat the chili while staring at me with a smile.

That was when I knew that he was reminding me of the mistake I made.

His true love, Lynn, would never have died on the surgery table if it were not for me.

If he had not taken up the blame for it despite everyone's protest, I would still not be practicing medicine right now.

So, I forced more chilies down my throat day after day.

I was unable to sleep due to the immense guilt, and I started to have doubts about my surgical skills and medical knowledge. I never conducted another surgery even after years later.

Every time I saw someone lying motionless on the cold table, I would remember how Lynn died with her eyes wide open.

She had trusted me. She even told me she was handing her life over to me when she signed the surgery documents. Yet, all she received at the end was her death certificate.

This scene tormented me day and night for five years.

Now, the day had finally come for me to get my release.

I no longer felt pain the moment I closed my eyes.

However, I did not expect my soul to appear at Lynn's grand wedding.

Camden had been invited to the wedding too.

He was seated at the very front while wearing his favorite suit. He watched as the woman who once only had eyes for him walked toward another man.

Camden's eyes turned from gloomy to despair as he tested the ring on his finger.

When no one was looking, he quietly removed our wedding ring.

That was when Lynn and his eyes met.

Boiling emotions seemed to be hidden in their eyes. They had so much to say to each other.

Camden burst out with a laugh. "Why are you crying on your wedding day, Miss Gardner?"

Lynn hugged Camden right in front of the groom. He must be feeling just as awkward as I did.

Why was their love so disgusting? They treated everyone else but them like clowns they could make fun of and laugh at.

Lynn quickly released him.

She looked at Camden and said, "You will always be my best friend."

Best friend. Two words from her were enough to put a distance between them.

Camden still could not tell her what was in his heart.

The wedding was grand but long.

When Lynn held the groom's hand and swore to be together forever and never be apart, Camden trembled with anger.

His hands clenched hard. His fingers were about to dig into his skin, and yet, he refused to relax his hands.

Our wedding photo was still set as his cell's background picture. He lowered his eyes to glance at his cell and saw my message for help.

He swiped the message away and ignored it.

That was about right. Anything I did would always be wrong in his eyes.

When Lynn's wedding ceremony was over, Camden drank glass after glass of red wine during the wedding dinner. Everyone tried to stop him from drinking any more.

"Stop drinking. You'll only make Lynn uncomfortable. No one knows what happened back then. Why not find a chance to talk to Lynn about it?"

"That's right. You have more than ten years' worth of relationship with Lynn. You even punished Peyton Lang for more than five years for Lynn's sake. How can she treat you this way?"

I was punished for five straight years.

Everyone knew that his love for me was actually a facade for torturing and punishing me. I was the only one who did not know this.

I watched as Camden lowered his head to hide his teary eyes while raising his glass to toast the newlyweds. I was a little happy to see him this way.

It had been five years. Nothing I did could trigger any emotion from him.

Yet, a small gesture of toasting was enough to break him down.

Camden called my number when he was leaving. Of course, no one picked up.

His minion, Quentin, scoffed. "Who is she to lose her temper and give you a hard time? We should teach her a lesson, Camden.“

Camden listened to him and booked a hotel room to spend the night. He blocked my number right away.

He grunted coldly. "Lynn and I wouldn't have ended up this way if it weren't for her. What right does she have to lose her temper? She comes begging for my forgiveness every time she does something like this. I'm the one who always has a hold over her."

If I had not thought I was the one who caused Lynn's death, I would never have given in to him. I never would have sacrificed my dignity and future on a man who did not love me.

There was a sneaky look on Quentin's face as he said to Camden, "Since you're having a bad day because of Peyton, let's play a trick on her. We're bored, anyway."

Even as a soul, I was still filled with disgust for Quentin.

My deepest memory in the past five years was Quentin tricking me into a bar by claiming that Camden was drunk there. I was almost violated.

When I told Camden about it, he said I was exaggerating, and that Quentin was just playing a joke on me.

Since then, Camden became closer to Quentin. Every time I saw Quentin at a gathering, he would always mention Lynn. Whenever he praised her, he would force me to have a drink.

"If not for our dear Dr. Lang's superb medical skills, our Lynn wouldn't have suffered such a horrible death…"

"Dr. Lang only took her place by Camden's side because Lynn died. Everyone is aware of that. Let's not expose Dr. Lang so blatantly in her face."

I was accused of intentionally causing Lynn's death.

All Camden did was judge me from his high horse.

Although I was proud of my medical skills, repeated challenges eroded my confidence and enjoyment in the field.

My retreat became my fear. Everyone was sure that I had killed Lynn.

All I got from five years of physical and mental torture was the greatest swindle in the world.

Camden gave Quentin an unfathomable smile when he heard Quentin's suggestion, and he called my number.

It rang for a long time, but no one picked up. Camden frowned.

Quentin fanned the flames at his side. "Peyton is getting too much. She's rejecting your calls now, Camden."

Since we got together, I have never hung up on Camden before. This time, Camden had lost his cool from anger.

He repeatedly called me, but his calls were disconnected each time. Camden finally canceled all my cards following Quentin's encouragement.

"That's right, Camden. She needs to learn her lesson."

"She has been relying on you all these years and using your money. She'll come crying to you after you cancel her cards."

Camden agreed as well.

After all, I had to pay a huge compensation to the Gardners after the surgical accident.

I used up all my savings to pay them. My reputation had been compromised since the surgery, and the hospital had to transfer me to another position. The most I earned in a month was four thousand.

There were still my house and car loans, which landed me in debt.

Camden had been surprisingly generous when he was torturing me. I spent my days shifting between good days and bad days.

If I did not die, canceling my cards would push me to the edge.

I would even cry while begging for his forgiveness.

Camden had imagined millions of possibilities, but my death never crossed his mind.

Moreover, there was only one villa in our residential area. No one would discover I was dead.

Now that I think about it, what a sad life I led.

Camden went clubbing with Quentin and the rest of his friends. They headed to the place I hated the most.

Young women surrounded him in the private room. He felt annoyed by them and unblocked my number. He started checking my social media.

It was the first time he had seen it.

There was only one post in the past three days.

It was a photo I took of the side of his face.

He glanced at it and decided to show me mercy by sending me a message. He asked where I was and to come over to pick him up.

After that, he sent his location to me.

Such situations have happened quite often in the past. Camden would get dead drunk in the middle of the night. His arms would be around another woman at the entrance as they hugged each other intimately. He would get me to drive after that and pick him up.

While in the car, Camden would tell how good the woman was at cheering him up.

When my eyes turned red from his story, he would suddenly scoff and blame me for picking him up too late.

Quentin laughed when he saw the message Camden sent me.

"Aren't you something, Camden? You came clubbing but still managed to convince the high and mighty Dr. Lang to come pick you up. I wonder if she'll cry her eyes out when she arrives?"

"Let's see how long it would take for her to get here. I remember how she took less than half an hour to get to a location dozens of miles away. She even ran the red lights! Let's see how she does this time."

Everyone began betting on how long it would take for me to arrive.

Camden said confidently, "Less than thirty minutes."

Everyone roared with laughter.

Thirty minutes later, there was only silence.

He messaged me furiously and even called me.

"Why aren't you here yet? Are you looking for trouble?"

"Are you losing your temper by not returning my messages? Do you have any right to be angry? You should know your place, Peyton. You're worth nothing!"

"You were the one who misdiagnosed Lynn and caused her death. You owe me!"

"Lynn could live because her family managed to get a doctor overseas to revive her. She didn't pretend to die just to mess with your life."

Camden was hesitant when he typed out the messages.

Any normal person could tell if the Gardners' explanation was true or false.

However, Camden chose to believe them.

He was even using their explanation to be mean to me.

Camden waited for a long time. He waited for me to break down. He waited for me to come and pick him up.

However, I did not show up even after the club closed for the night.

He drank a bottle of red wine.

That was when his cell buzzed.

Camden quickly picked up his cell.

Quentin waited by his side.

When he clicked on the message, he found that it was from Lynn.

"Did you drink too much? Do you need me to pick you up?"