"Felix is just a student! You didn't pay a single cent for his tuition or living expenses, forcing him to work three jobs a day on top of classes, and he doesn't even have enough to eat or much to wear!" the man continued yelling at me.

"He's got stomach cancer now and can't even afford the hospital fees anymore! Are you finally happy now?"

I was shocked.

How could this be? I had given Dylan all of my salary every month, and he'd promised me that he would regularly send Felix pocket money and living expenses. He even vowed to take care of him on my behalf!

I hurriedly pressed the man for more details. I learned that his name was Troy Brennan, and he was one of Felix's classmates.

As it turned out, Dylan told Felix that the company had been doing extremely poorly, and therefore, he wasn't able to give him any money regularly.

Felix was worried that I would be put in a tough spot if he brought it up with me, so he didn't ask me for money. Instead, he worked odd jobs and saved up enough to even give Dylan 1,000 dollars a month to help him with the company.

And now, he was overworked to the point he'd gotten stomach cancer. He didn't want to be a burden to me and decided to hide it. He'd even planned to give up on the treatment without telling me.

I looked at Felix lying helplessly in the hospital on the verge of death and felt my heart being sliced to shreds. I couldn't hold back anymore and sobbed hard, tears and snot covering my face.

Yet, I didn't have the luxury of time to continue feeling sorry for him.

I wiped my tears away and thought of a way to come up with money urgently.

For the past five years, my life had revolved completely around Dylan, and I'd already distanced myself from my old friends. My colleagues were all eager to watch my downfall, so it was obvious that I didn't even have to bother considering borrowing any money from them.

Left with no other choice, I felt for a ring box in my pocket.

There was a pair of wedding bands inside this box, worth 15,000 dollars in total. I'd bought it with five years' worth of my savings without Dylan's knowledge, thinking of surprising him with it when the time came.

But now, I couldn't wait for that timing anymore.

As of now, these rings were the only things still of value that I had left.

I brought them to the pawnshop and was told they would only give me 6,000 dollars for the pair.

"Sorry, miss, but tiny diamonds like these aren't worth much. Given how urgently you need the money, 6,000 dollars is the best price I can offer for these.

"If you want your jewelry to keep its value, you should have just bought gemstones from those luxury fine jewelry stores instead," the pawnshop owner said disdainfully, pointing opposite the road.

I looked in the direction that he was pointing. Just as I was about to look back at him, I caught sight of Dylan inside the fine jewelry store, shopping with Lynette.

She looked as if she were hesitating between two pieces of jewelry.

"Other people's wedding bands are plain and boring. Don't you think it's too much for you to be buying an emerald one for me?"

Dylan didn't think much about it as he said, "Occasions like these only happen once in your lifetime. Of course, I need to make a big deal about it!"

The salesperson said respectfully, "Sir, these rings aren't sold individually. They are only sold in a full set, and the cost is 20 million dollars."

Lynette was shocked. "What? That's too much! I like this ring, but I don't like the necklace or earrings in the set. It's such a waste to buy the whole set!"

Although she said it like that, she still held on tightly to the emerald ring until her knuckles went white, not looking like she was going to set it down anytime soon.

When Dylan noticed it, he smiled affectionately at her and said, "That's not a lot of money. Just buy it if you like it that much. We can always give the other jewelry to your mom instead. It would be a good gift for her anyway."

I lowered my gaze and dug my nails deeply into the flesh of my palms, feeling desolate and pathetic.

Dylan told Felix that the company hadn't been doing well and didn't have enough cash flow. Dylan also forcibly reduced my daily spending to five dollars. I could barely even afford a drink with my meal at times.

He was even more ruthless toward Felix, asking him for money rather than paying for Felix's living expenses.

And yet, there Dylan was, casually spending 20 million dollars on Lynette like it was no big deal.

So, was this what he meant by them just being regular colleagues at work?

Had this been in the past, I would have rushed up to him at once to confront him and make a huge fuss. But now, I just pretended that I never saw him after all and went back after pawning off my rings.

I didn't have much time left, and I was still trying to raise enough money to cover Felix's hospital expenses. I didn't have the time to settle scores with Dylan anymore.

Dylan never came home for the rest of the day. But when he saw that I had never even reached out once to ask where he was, he surprisingly took the initiative to tell me. It was a very rare occasion indeed.

Dylan texted me and said, "I took a half-day off work today, and there was too much of a backlog of work waiting for me when I got back. I've been working nonstop since this afternoon, but I haven't completed my work yet.

"I'm not coming home tonight and staying here at the company instead."

I didn't call him out on his lie.

Instead, I directly transferred the money I made from selling the rings to Felix's account.

His owed medical bills were soon paid off with the money. However, he was still going to require at least 50,000 dollars more for the rest of his treatment.

I looked around the place.

I'd bought this apartment myself before meeting Dylan. It had taken up all of my savings to pay off the loans. And after we got together, he withheld every cent of my salary for years.

This left me with no money to buy furniture or electrical appliances. The whole apartment was empty with absolutely nothing of value.

The only solution I had now was to sell off this apartment. It should fetch a price of around 400,000 dollars. That would be more than enough to pay for Felix's treatment, and the rest of the money could also be used for his livelihood.

I stopped hesitating and called the real estate agent straight away.

"I want to sell my apartment. I don't care what price you set for it as long as I can get the money within three days."

…

"I've found a buyer. They said that they're free to come in and sign the papers today for the handover," the agent called back later to say. "But Ms. Cooper, you're selling at a significant loss because of your hurry. Maybe you should think it over first."

"It's fine. Bring the buyer in for the handover. I'm home right now."

I didn't have much time left. I had to make sure to give Felix the money while I was still alive.

I simply owed him too much. I couldn't ever make it up to him again. The only thing I could do now was to try to save his life.

While lost in my thoughts, the doorbell suddenly rang, and I ran over eagerly to answer the door.

"That was quick—"

I stopped myself halfway through my sentence.

It wasn't the agent or the new buyer at the door. Rather, it was Dylan, with a dark, broody look on his face.

"You're selling this apartment?"

"This is my apartment. I can sell it if I want to. It's got nothing to do with you."

He'd already taken my salary for himself. And now, he was still trying to interfere in my business of selling my own apartment. He really was downright shameless.

Dylan noticed the hostility in my tone and brought Lynetee inside, cocking his eyebrow at me.

"Lynette told me that she saw you at the mall today. You've been stalking us, haven't you?"

I didn't answer him, and he didn't press. Instead, he continued in a dark, threatening tone, "Do you know what I hate about you the most, Felicia? The fact that you never ask for clarification and instead always jump to the worst possible conclusions.

"Look at this properly with your eyes. The person getting married is Lynette's brother, not her. Lynette is the star employee of the company. I was just fulfilling my duties as the company's CEO by buying her a ring so she'd be more presentable.

"It's bad enough that you misunderstood everything from the start, but you went too far by trying to sell off my apartment! If the agent wasn't my friend and told me about it, and I hadn't stopped him in time, you would have committed a devious act."

He then tossed a wedding invitation to me, but I didn't bother looking at it.

He had hundreds of employees working for him at the office. If anyone said they were getting married, he would throw even more work their way without even so much of a congratulatory word.

But when it came to Lynette, he spent 20 million dollars on luxurious jewelry for her without even a blink.

It was painfully obvious that he was biased toward her. It didn't matter anymore whether it was her or her "brother" getting married.

I ignored him. I was just about to kick them out of the place when I suddenly received a call from the hospital.

"Is this Ms. Cooper? Kindly pay your brother's medical expenses as soon as possible so that we can develop a treatment plan based on your financial situation."

"I'll pay up as soon as I can, doctor. Please save Felix no matter what."

I hung up after that. Just as I was about to call another property agent, Dylan suddenly grabbed my arm anxiously and asked, "Felix is sick? What's the matter with him?"

I flung his arm off.

"He has stomach cancer! You promised me that you would take good care of him, but you didn't give him a single penny and instead took money from him! And to think that I actually trusted you about it, Dylan Abbott!"

A flicker of guilt crossed Dylan's eyes.

"The company hadn't been doing well a few years ago. There was nothing I could do. Felix is such a capable person. What's wrong with having him help out his own sister and brother-in-law?

"Fine. I'll just transfer a month's living expenses to him right now."

He was just about to make the transfer when Lynette held out her hand to stop him.

"Felicia is lying. Felix is traveling halfway across the globe as we speak. Don't fall for her lies, Dylan."

Dylan had been feeling bad earlier, but the moment he heard Lynette, his eyes blazed with anger at once. He raised his hand and slapped me hard across the cheek.

"It's bad enough that you're selling off my apartment without my permission, and now, you still have the nerve to lie to my face and cheat me out of my money?

"Have I been too lenient with you lately, Felicia Cooper? Is that why you think you can walk all over my head like this now?"

My body was weak to begin with, and I couldn't even withstand his slap. I fell to the floor in a heap after the contact.

Dylan was stunned when he saw me on the ground. He was about to help me up when Lynette said, "Dylan, she didn't even hesitate to curse her own brother just to lie to you. I bet that her claims of dying in three days unless you marry her today are fake too."

Dylan froze in his actions. He then flew into a huge fury and yelled at me.

"Felicia Cooper! You know that I hate liars the most, but you've been doing nothing but lying to me again and again lately!

"You said you'd die if you didn't marry me today, didn't you? Fine! I'll just lock you up at home for three days. We'll see if you're really going to die or not!"

I struggled hard as I fought back in despair.

"No! Felix needs money for his treatment! You can't lock me up!"

Lynette grabbed me and pinned me down.

"Dylan, it seems like she isn't showing any remorse at all. She'll definitely try to make a run for it if we just lock her up. I think we should also tie her up. I'll make sure to come in and feed her every day.

"We'll just try it out and see if she's been lying to you all along."

Dylan nodded in agreement. "Okay. We'll do exactly that.

"Felicia, you will remain tied up here while you repent and reflect on your actions. I'll let you out again three days later."

Then, he ignored my screaming and begging for mercy as he and Lynette dragged me into the room and tied me up. They even stuffed my mouth with a large wad of cloth to stop me from screaming for help.

After they were done, Dylan and Lynette then turned to leave while grinning widely and chatting amicably with each other.

I was bleeding from every nook and cranny on my face—my eyes, my nostrils, my mouth, and my ears. He would have noticed it at once if he had just turned back to look at me, but he never did.

Time passed by in seconds. Lynetter never showed up at all during this period, and I kept fainting and waking up repeatedly.

Soon, the countdown timer showed I had only five seconds left to live.

I suddenly heard the sound of someone punching in the code at the door lock, and I jolted awake at once.

A split second later, my phone lit up next to me with a text message from Troy.

"You fucking liar, Felicia Cooper! Your brother's dead now because the doctors failed to save him! I hope you spend the rest of your life wallowing in regret!"

I cried out in despair, letting out a muffled groan through the thick fabric. Tears streamed down my face.

I hated Dylan with every fiber of my being. I swore that I never wanted to see him again if there was an afterlife.

The doorlock beeped.

The countdown also reached zero.

My consciousness faded.

As I fell to the ground, the door was pushed open. Dylan walked in with a birthday cake in his hands, his voice light and cheery as he said, "See? I told you that you wouldn't die. You're still alive and kicking, aren't you? Happy b—"

He didn't manage to get the word "birthday" out of his mouth because he finally caught sight of the scene before his eyes, and he dropped the birthday cake to the floor.