Caius seemed to pause for a moment when he saw me and I instinctively clutched my clothes.

The next second, the system mocked me in my mind. ["You don’t actually think he remembers you, do you? The power of the original story is absolute, Tiara. To him, you’re nothing but a stranger."]

Caius brushed past me, arm in arm with Poppy, his eyes fixed straight ahead, cold and indifferent. He didn’t even acknowledge me, as though I didn’t exist. So heartless, so cruel.

Once upon a time, Caius had promised me that his eyes would only ever hold me, that I was his one and only love.

He kept his promise—his eyes truly held his “one and only love."

As they walked by, I heard Poppy chuckle softly under her breath.

The world spun around me and I collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness.

My illness had taken a sharp turn for the worse.

The system coldly explained, ["That’s because Caius and Poppy are about to get married. They’re nearing their happy ending and a side character like you is no longer necessary."]

["Their wedding day will be the anniversary of your death,"] the system said, its tone merciless.

I ran my fingers over the bright red wedding invitation, then pulled out a beautiful dress from my closet. The system’s voice suddenly turned panicked.

["Tiara, what are you doing?!"]

I replied, "Why are you panicking? Didn’t you say that no matter what, the hero and heroine will always end up together?"

The system fell silent.

I knew I was unwilling to accept this.

How could the world be so cruel?

It was me—me—who met Caius first. Me who stayed by his side for five years. Me who loved him. We had already mapped out our future together. We even picked out a cozy little house to live in after we got married. I was a designer and together we had planned everything for our future home.

A warm, shared study. A bright master bedroom with a large bay window. A cat tower in the corner—because I had said that once we were married, we’d get a cat and name it "Pebble." It would be our precious little one.

But all of that vanished when the system appeared.

Poppy once approached me herself. She told me she had awakened with special memories, that she knew she was the heroine of a book and that I was just a side character, a mere stepping stone. With a smug look on her face, she said, "You’re just a character doomed to die early. You should leave Caius sooner rather than later."

But I didn’t want to leave. Then, the system appeared, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and Caius lost his memories.

One night, Poppy sent me a photo of Caius. He was working out, shirtless and there was a faded mark on his chest where a tattoo had been removed. That tattoo had once been of the character "Deer," because he said he wanted to keep me close to his heart forever.

["I will erase every trace of you from his life. Next time, he’ll have the character for ‘Rose’ tattooed there. And don’t worry—when they send out the wedding invitations, you’ll definitely get yours."]

Now, that bright red invitation had been delivered to me. I held it in my hand and said, "I’ll be there at their wedding."

Seeing my determination, the system finally panicked.

["Tiara, you’re dying. Are you really going to ruin Caius’s chance at happiness? Have you thought about what would happen if he remembered you?"]

I froze, clutching the dress in my hands.

["Look at yourself in the mirror. The day you passed by him, did he even recognize you?"]

Because of the chemotherapy, I had wasted away. My once full, round cheeks were now hollow, dark circles etched deep beneath my eyes. My once proud, long hair had all fallen out, shaved off because of the treatment. Every day, I had to wear different hats just to cover it. I looked into the mirror at my gaunt, exhausted face and realized that even I could barely recognize myself.

["If you confront him and he remembers you, he’ll feel obligated to take care of you. But what then? You’ll die and he’ll live the rest of his life in misery. Is that what you want, Tiara? You want Caius to suffer because of you? You selfish fool!"]

Tears finally streamed down my face.

I couldn’t bear the thought of Caius suffering because of me.

I missed him so much. I missed his smile, missed hearing him call my name. I wanted so desperately to be part of his future. But I couldn’t be that selfish.

I asked, "If Caius stays with Poppy, will he really be happy for the rest of his life?"

["Of course! She’s the heroine!"] the system boasted smugly. ["The heroine is nothing like a side character like you. Look at how quickly Caius fell deeply in love with her."]

I closed my eyes, trying to block out the strange details I’d noticed before.

Caius would always touch Poppy’s pinky with a pained expression because I had once burned my finger while cooking for him, leaving a small scar. He used to feel so guilty and would gently trace that scar every time.

Caius would also buy lots of design books for Poppy, even though she wasn’t a designer.

Caius…

["If you give him up, I’ll let you see him one last time."]

The memory was abruptly interrupted by the system's words. I fell silent for a long time, unsure of what to feel.

Did I really want to see Caius again?

The system said I could only watch him from a distance and that they happened to be at the hospital today.

My body had become so weak that even walking left me breathless. I refused the nurse’s offer to accompany me and slowly made my way to the seventh floor. I didn’t know why Caius was at the hospital—was he feeling unwell? He never did take care of himself properly.

I stood at the corner, peeking out to see them. To my surprise, Poppy was with him.

I froze, my gaze landing on the document in their hands. It was their premarital health check report.

So that’s why they were at the hospital—for their wedding checkup.

The system laughed in my mind, a mocking, triumphant sound, as if satisfied with the pain I felt. I knew it despised me. It thought I had disrupted the love between the hero and heroine. It said I should never have captivated Caius in the first place.

But what had I done wrong?

I stood still, watching from afar as Poppy whispered into Caius’s ear. They looked so close, so happy. I realized it was time for me to leave.

But fate had other plans. In this small hospital, I ran into someone familiar.

Serena, my old university friend, my best friend, spotted them.

She froze, her gaze locking onto Caius and Poppy’s intertwined hands.

Caius noticed Serena too and with a smile, he said, "What a coincidence! My wedding is next week—hope you can make it."

"You’re marrying her?" Serena stammered. "But... what about Tiara?"

My heart pounded in panic. No! This can’t happen—

Serena couldn’t say it. She couldn’t bring me up.

I tried to rush forward to stop her, but my body was too frail. Each step felt like walking on knives and the pain in my head was unbearable. My vision darkened as I struggled to move forward, clinging to the wall, silently praying Serena wouldn’t say another word. Caius was so close to happiness…

But Caius let go of Poppy’s hand and took a step toward Serena, as if in a trance. "Tiara? Who is Tiara…?"

I forced myself to look up and saw Serena’s expression—utter disbelief. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Don’t joke around! Tiara is dying and you’re marrying someone else?!"

No, Serena, please don’t… this is too cruel…

I collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud. Caius suddenly turned to look at me. Through blurred vision, I saw his face. Tears streamed from his eyes, falling faster and faster...