Everyone thinks I'm just a stand-in for my elder sister Kaila, but I believe he truly loves me.

Until the wedding day, when Kaila came back.

When I was pregnant, he ignored me for days. Our next meeting was in the hospital. I was lying on a bed, so pale and thin I was almost unrecognizable.

He threw my medical records down and snapped, "Samantha Rivera, don't think you can manipulate me with the baby!"

He must have been in such a rush to get back to Kaila that he didn't even read the second page of the medical record.

Otherwise, why would he say that to a terminal cancer patient?

On my wedding night, I was alone in the hospital, reading a cold message from my husband Caden Jones.

[Kaila is feeling down, so I'll stay with her.]

I stayed awake all night, enduring the agony of the cancer cells eating away at me.

When the doctor came to check on me in the morning, I stared at the bright ceiling and asked, "Doctor, how long do I have?"

"If you terminate the pregnancy and start chemotherapy right away, there's still hope," he said.

I've heard "hope" too many times to believe in it anymore.

"Will I live to see my baby born?" I asked.

"It's hard to say."

Even the doctor was cautious with his optimism.

The hospital's smell made me nauseous, and I insisted on being discharged against the doctor's advice.

As I reached the entrance, I saw Caden. For a brief moment, I still held onto a shred of hope.

Maybe he had come for me.

"You need to move out these days."

He said, his voice filled with irritation. "Kaila is moving in, and she's not in a good place."

Hope always seemed to hurt the most.

I walked up to him, forcing a smile he once loved, and said, "I thought you came to check on the baby."

His expression softened briefly as he glanced at my still-flat stomach. "Your mother said the baby is fine. Is there something wrong?"

My mother treated Kaila like her own and saw me as a burden.

I smiled weakly and shook my head. "I'm going to stay at Echo's for a few days... How many days will be enough?"

"I'll notify you later."

We were married, but he used the word "notify."

The day after our wedding, I was told I couldn't go back to our wedding suite.

Turning around, I caught a glimpse of my pale face in the hospital’s mirrored wall, blurred and ghostly.

My face, which resembled Kaila’s by 80%, had been my greatest asset in persuading Caden to say he loved me repeatedly over the past five years.

Kaila and I were identical twins; the only difference was that she had an extra teardrop mole under her eye, making us indistinguishable to strangers.

For five years, I have been content being Kaila’s stand-in.

I would draw a teardrop mole at the corner of my right eye, just like hers.

I’ve grown accustomed to wearing gauzy dresses that I dislike.

I’ve accepted Caden calling out her name by mistake, even in bed.

I believed that if I could get used to all this, Caden would get used to me and eventually love me.

A metallic taste filled my mouth, and moments later, I was coughing up blood, the pain searing through me.

Half an hour later, facing the doctor, I declared emotionlessly that I wanted the baby removed, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"You haven’t eaten yet, so it’s a good time for another checkup. You’re very weak right now, and the risk of abortion is high. You need to ask your husband to come with you."

I hadn’t had a single drop of water since the wedding the previous day.

On my way to get my blood drawn, a child bumped into me. The parents apologized quickly and hurried off with their child.

I stared blankly after the mother and daughter as they left. The baby inside me seemed to sense my turmoil and kicked hard.

I deserted the battlefield.

Out of my selfish love, I wanted to give my child hope.

I lied. My best friend, Echo, was furious when I insisted on marrying Caden. She chose to go traveling instead of attending my wedding.

She said she would support me but also that I shouldn’t waste my life on Caden.

But I loved him. I had loved him since childhood.

Like the candy you couldn’t have as a child—even if you outgrow your sweet tooth, you still long for it.

I stayed in a hotel for three days, but when I tried to renew my room, my card was declined. I had no choice but to go home.

Caden had bought the house outright, and my name was on the deed.

His friends praised him for being a devoted husband, and even I thought he did it out of love for me.

For the past five years, I stood by Caden as he built his life from scratch.

During these five years, I accompanied him from scratch.

I was there through every failed business venture, working three jobs just to keep us afloat during the toughest times.

I even borrowed money from friends to keep Caden’s business running, which eventually led to his success.

Yet, none of my efforts mattered when Kaila, at our wedding, said, "Caden, can you forgive me?"

Kaila had always been fickle, chasing wealth and abandoning Caden when he was down.

It was I who supported him through the darkness after she left.

I thought I was irreplaceable in Caden’s life.

But I lost to Kaila.

Her few confusing words shattered the wedding I had long dreamed of.

When I opened the door to our home, I noticed all the wedding decorations had vanished.

From the bedroom, I could hear Kaila’s coquettish voice, "Caden... I love you so much. Can we stay together... forever? Oh...yes..."

A bitter, metallic taste filled my mouth, and I rushed to the sink to vomit.

Just then, the bedroom door opened, and Caden emerged in a bathrobe, surprised to see me. "Why are you back? What’s wrong?"

As he walked toward me, I stepped back, avoiding his touch.

"Nothing, you just make me sick."

I turned on the faucet and rinsed the blood from the sink.

Caden, taken aback by my tone, scolded, "Samantha, look at yourself!"

What else could he see? Just someone who was dying.

I poured a glass of milk, but before I could drink it, Kaila appeared.

"Samantha, I’m sorry. I’ve been feeling down lately and asked Caden to stay with me."

"In bed?" I said, tilting my head and mocking Caden. "I didn’t realize my husband enjoyed being a gigolo."

Kaila’s eyes widened, and she clung to Caden’s arm. "Samantha, what are you talking about? We were just impulsive. You know how Caden and I are..."

I didn’t want to hear any more. I poured the glass of milk over Kaila’s face.

She looked stunned and humiliated, then turned to Caden, blaming me.

With a sharp slap, my face burned hot.

Caden, holding Kaila, glared at me. "Samantha, you’ve gone too far! Apologize to Kaila now!"

Seeing Kaila’s smug smile, I responded coldly, "In your dreams."

Finally, I no longer had to pretend to be Kaila to make Caden happy.

I didn’t need to waste time worrying about his feelings anymore.

In the little time I had left, I wanted to love myself and the baby inside me.

Since my diagnosis, I hadn’t taken any painkillers.

Echo advised me to consider not keeping Caden’s child, suggesting I might survive.

But as a doctor myself, I knew that even chemotherapy would only delay my condition.

By choosing to have this child, was giving it hope for the future.

After Caden slapped me, I vanished from his life.

I spent one night at a hotel on credit, and the next day, Echo returned and picked me up.

During the day, I sat on the balcony, soaking up the sun and gently touching my lower abdomen, which occasionally fluttered. I often drifted in and out of sleep, only waking when Echo returned from work in the evening.

I didn't want to worry my best friend, so I lied, assuring her that I was eating and sleeping well, pretending to be full of life.

“I’ll definitely live to be a hundred years old,” I’d say, trying to sound convincing.

But at night, the pain was unbearable, like tiny venomous ants gnawing at my skin.

I lay curled up on the bed, drenched in cold sweat for hours.

The agony persisted until the early morning when I finally passed out from exhaustion.

In my dreams, Caden’s image haunted me.

I remembered how devastated he was when Kaila left, how he self-harmed and bore scars all over his body.

I didn’t want him to lose hope, so I mimicked Kaila’s look, wearing a teardrop mole and gauzy dresses.

I kissed his wounds and whispered how much I loved him.

After we started dating, he proudly took me everywhere.

I liked it when he introduced me as, “This is my girlfriend, Samantha.”

He rarely mixed up our names in public.

Once, while playing ice hockey, I cut my calf deeply. And it bled a lot.

Knowing my fear of pain, he whispered comforting words as we rushed to the hospital.

“Samantha, don’t cry. I’m here.”

Even though I couldn’t stop crying, I felt an inexplicable sweetness inside.

I was relieved that my face wasn’t disfigured, fearing that if it were, Caden wouldn’t love me anymore.

It took six stitches.

And he said each one hurt his heart.

I was in a haze when Echo woke me.

My pillow was soaked with tears, and I clutched my quilt tightly, vision blurred.

“Samantha! You’re bleeding a lot! We need to get you to the hospital!” she exclaimed.

When I looked down, I saw blood mixed with another fluid, staining my pajamas and sheets.

I woke up to the sound of a heated argument between Caden and Echo.

“Come on, Caden! Why are you pretending to care now?” Echo yelled.

“Move, I need to see Samantha,” Caden insisted.

“Are you concerned about her or the baby?” Echo retorted.

I stared at the ceiling, not expecting an answer from Caden.

“Can’t you answer that? Do you even know that Samantha...”

Echo began, but I called her name, stopping her.

She had promised not to tell Caden the truth.

A few months ago, I had received both a pregnancy ultrasound and a late-stage cancer diagnosis.

The embryo was much smaller than the area covered by cancer cells.

Echo had been furious with me for not telling Caden. “Your habit of only sharing good news drives me crazy!”

But how could I tell him?

He proposed the day after he learned I was pregnant.

I feared he’d cancel the wedding or pretend to love me because of my illness.

Echo came to my bedside, gently holding my hand and softly scolding me, “It’s too late to keep hiding this from him...”

Caden, catching only part of the conversation, asked, “What are you hiding?”

I ignored him and turned to Echo, pleading, “Is the baby okay?”

Echo hesitated, remaining silent. I felt a wave of fear and touched my belly, my nose tingling with emotion.

“Don’t worry, the baby is fine,” Echo reassured me, wiping my tears. “I’ll go get you something to eat.”

Caden reached out and touched my belly, his gaze so tender it seemed almost tangible.

"Samantha, are you trying to use the baby to manipulate me?"

He asked softly, but when I closed my eyes, he roughly grabbed my jaw.