For the ninety-seventh time, my boyfriend of eight years was in a secret relationship, Soren Whitaker, once again chose to abandon me for his first love, Hannah Ruiz.

The first time was on the day he proposed to me. Coincidentally, it was also the day Hannah returned to the country. I waited for him by the seaside, standing in the cold wind all night.

The second time was on my twenty-fifth birthday, a party he had carefully planned. On the way home, we were ambushed. To protect the two of them, I was seriously injured. Yet Soren left me behind and carried Hannah away.

This time, the ninety-seventh time, I was in my second trimester of pregnancy. I slipped at home.

I called him. He said he’d be there soon. I endured the sharp, unbearable pain and waited for half an hour. The ambulance arrived and just then, I got a message from him, saying, [Hannah’s depression flared up. I have to go to her.]

I didn’t reply. I simply picked up the pen and signed the surgery consent form myself.

The baby couldn’t be saved. After crying through the night, I greeted Soren the next day with a cheerful smile.

What he didn’t know was that I was only waiting for the ninety-ninth time he would hurt me.

After that, I would leave completely. Just because he had once been kind to me ninety-nine times.

But when I finally boarded the helicopter to Europe and reclaimed my identity, why did he break down in tears, begging me to look at him just one last time?

***

Looking at that cold line of text on my phone, tears burst from my eyes, rolling down my cheeks and blurring the pool of blood beneath me.

Before being wheeled into the operating room, I steadied my voice and dialed a number in Europe.

“Send a helicopter to Texas. This time, I’ll go back with you.”

There was a two-second pause on the other end as if they couldn’t believe what they heard and then they answered quickly, afraid I might change my mind again.

I hung up and silently said goodbye to Soren in my heart. That’s it.

I didn’t want to love this kind of man anymore. If the child wasn’t meant to stay, then so be it.

After comforting the emotionally shattered Hannah, Soren came to see me at the hospital.

When he learned the baby couldn’t be saved, his eyes filled with guilt and pain. He held me tightly, gently kissed the top of my head and softly patted my back.

“We’ll have another child in the future.”

My eyes welled with tears, soaking my lashes. Soren lay beside me, holding me close. The long-lost warmth made me instinctively nestle into his arms.

He kissed the corner of my lips.

“Sleep. No matter what happens tonight, I’ll be here with you.”

Feeling reassured, I closed my eyes, about to drift off, when his phone suddenly vibrated.

Hannah’s timid voice came through the crackling static. “Soren, I had a nightmare… So much blood… I… I’m scared…”

Before she could finish, Soren had already gotten out of bed and started dressing.

“Hannah’s condition still isn’t stable. Here in Texas, I’m the only one she trusts. I have to go take care of her.”

His voice was soft. I couldn’t tell if he was speaking to me or just murmuring to himself.

I kept my eyes closed and pretended to be asleep, saying nothing.

Soren seemed relieved, leaned down to kiss my forehead and tiptoed away.

Hannah was his first love.

Years ago, when the Ruiz Family went bankrupt, she was sent abroad to avoid trouble and broke up with Soren.

A year ago, she returned in a high-profile way. From that moment on, she became a shadow between me and Soren, always there, never fading.

She always found a way to appear at the most important moments between us, using any excuse to pull him away.

Countless times, she used her so-called depression episodes to take away the nights that should have belonged to me and Soren.

She clung to the guilt he felt for her. Later, she claimed she couldn’t afford rent and moved into the home I shared with Soren. Then, pouting and saying she couldn’t sleep well alone, she insisted he stay by her side.

At first, Soren complained to me. But eventually, he simply sent me out of the master bedroom and let Hannah move in. Lying awake in the guest room, I could sometimes hear Hannah’s coy whining and Soren’s helpless attempts to comfort her.

They grew closer and closer. Compared to me, Hannah seemed more like Soren’s wife. Slowly, her place in his heart became greater than mine.

Just like today, when I, five months pregnant, fell and started bleeding heavily. Yet Soren, just because Hannah said she was feeling down, ignored my life and ran to her.

And now, once again, because she had a nightmare, he broke his promise to me and quietly left to be with her.

Not long after he left, I received a hotel check-in message. He had sent it to the wrong number.

A little while later, I saw Hannah had just posted a video on social media.

She was curled sweetly in Soren’s arms, waving a sparkler, her face glowing with joy.

I froze for a moment, then absentmindedly gave the post a like. The composition was quite nice.

From my phone’s notes, I pulled up a list and marked a check after the ninety-eighth time.

The ninety-eighth time. I could no longer remember when it started when his hurtful actions stopped stirring even the slightest ripple in my heart.

Soren and I had been in a secret relationship for eight years. In that time, he helped me ninety-nine times. Initially, he even saved my life.

However, everything changed when Hannah returned.

Still, I chose to endure ninety-nine instances of pain from him just to repay the kindness he once showed me.

He had been good to me once, so I repaid him with self-destruction.

Each time he hurt me, that kindness meant less and less until the ninety-ninth time, when it would be gone completely.

I slept very lightly.

Before dawn, I heard Soren quietly open the door and come in.

He lay down beside me gently as if he had never left the night before.

I didn’t move, but I could still smell the faint scent of him. It wasn’t his. It was Hannah’s.

Soren wrapped his arms around my waist and fell into a deep sleep. But I couldn’t sleep again.

I turned to face him, eyes lowered and silently watched his sleeping face.

I instinctively reached out, wanting to trace his features, but just before my fingers touched him, I pulled my hand back.

Soren still looked the same as he did years ago. But the person in his heart was no longer me.

I turned my back to him again.

In the darkness, a tear slipped from the corner of my eye, soaking into the pillow.

Just one more time left.

When I felt Soren stir beside me, I knew he was awake. I sat up and reached for my phone on the nightstand.

He paused for a moment, clearly surprised to see me awake so early.

Under the pale moonlight, the scar at the corner of his eye became more visible.

It was the mark left from when he took a bullet for me.

I still remember how he pulled me, frozen with fear, into his arms.

The bullet grazed his cheek, nearly blinding him.

Afterward, I applied ointment to the wound, my heart aching the entire time. But he didn’t mind at all.

He only said it was a man’s badge of honor.

The wounds a man suffered protecting the woman he loved were a lifetime’s pride.

He had kissed away my tears then, calming my frightened heart.

“Don’t cry. As long as I’m here, I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

I lowered my eyes.

He wouldn’t let anyone hurt me. Turned out anyone didn’t include himself, huh?

How laughable.

I never imagined the final time would come so soon.

While Soren went downstairs to buy me food, the doctor came in with a hesitant look on his face.

“Miss Diana Silva, the results from the specialist consultation are in.”

He paused and sighed. “Due to poor care during pregnancy and delayed treatment after the miscarriage, your uterus has suffered severe damage. Surgery must be done right away. The uterus has to be removed.”

It hit me like a thunderclap.

“There’s, no way to fix it? Doctor, I… I’m only twenty-seven. Are you saying I’ll never be able to have my own children again?”

The doctor nodded.

“If the uterus isn’t removed, your life will be in danger. Please inform your family. I’ll schedule the surgery immediately.”

My hand clenched the bedsheet tightly. After a long hesitation, I still called Soren.

At that moment, he was the only one who could sign the consent form for the surgery.

And he was just downstairs getting food. He should be back soon.

The call rang twice, then picked up.

I was just about to speak, but instead, Hannah’s voice came through the line.

“Is this Miss Silva? Soren was too tired and just fell asleep. If there’s anything, you can tell me. I’ll let him know when he wakes up.”

I hung up immediately.

“Doctor, same as last time. I’ll sign it myself.”

Since Soren couldn’t even carry out the most basic duty of a family member, then he… I would abandon him.

After coming out of the operating room, once the anesthesia wore off, in complete darkness, I reached for the phone on the nightstand, enduring the pain.

There were a dozen missed calls, all from Soren.

I stared blankly for a moment.

Maybe Hannah had told him I’d called earlier.

In our WhatsApp chat, the last message had come ten minutes ago.

[Can’t pick up the phone? I’m heading to the hospital now, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.]

I didn’t reply. I just sat quietly in the unlit hospital room, my hand resting on my lower abdomen.

From now on, I would never be a mother again. That right had been taken from me.

And all of it was because of Soren.

Suddenly, the hospital door burst open.

Light from the hallway spilled in and when I looked up, I met Soren’s worried eyes.

“Why didn’t you turn on the light? Still not feeling well?”

He flipped on the switch.

The room lit up instantly and I saw the bouquet of bright red roses in his arms.

“For you.”

I pressed my lips together.

Roses?

I never liked them. I never liked those flashy, useless things.

And worse, I was allergic to pollen.

And he knew that.

I silently observed him, trying to read his thoughts.

So? Why did you bring me roses? Could it be because Hannah liked them?

A scene flashed through my mind. The day Hannah returned to the country, 9,999 roses had filled the entire airport.

She walked gracefully through the sea of flowers and embraced Soren in the middle of that dazzling display.

Soren placed the bouquet on the cabinet and then handed me a shopping bag with a luxury brand logo.

“I had something to do at the mall this afternoon and picked out a pretty bracelet for you while I was there. Try it on? I think it will look great on you.”

Was he shopping with Hannah?

I glanced at the love marks on his neck, clumsily hidden and slowly opened the bag.

The moment I saw the diamond bracelet inside, my hand trembled.

My heart pounded and the haze from the pain cleared in an instant.

In the first year, I was with Soren, we made a promise.

I told him that if one day he no longer loved me, he didn’t have to say it. Just give me a diamond bracelet. That would be enough for me to understand.

Nine years had passed in a blink and I never thought that the day would truly come when I would receive a diamond bracelet.

Whether Soren did it intentionally or not, the moment I saw that bracelet, everything between us came to an end.

“You don’t like it?”

Seeing my silence, Soren frowned slightly and looked at my wrist.

I felt something wasn’t right.

As I was thinking, he sat beside me and reached out to remove the bracelet.

“Let me help you take it off.”

I pulled my hand back and looked at him cautiously.

“Soren, what do you mean?”

Soren hesitated. He stared at his now-empty hand for a long time before finally speaking.

“I’ll be honest with you. Hannah’s depression is getting worse. The bracelet on your wrist is something I gave you. Technically, it’s mine. I want to give it to Hannah to wear for a while. It can help calm her, like I’m with her even when I’m not.”

He paused, then added, “Diana, don’t overthink it. I didn’t tell you earlier because I didn’t want you to worry, it could affect your health.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came.

I thought maybe he gave me the bracelet out of guilt.

But it turned out it was just to prepare for taking it back.

I quietly removed the bracelet and handed it to him.

“Here.”

Soren, from this moment on, we were completely even.

Yet he didn’t notice anything strange about me. He simply clutched the bracelet to his chest, leaned in and kissed my forehead.

“Diana, I knew you were the most understanding. Don’t worry, once Hannah has this bracelet, I won’t need to stay with her so often anymore. We’ll have more time together. Diana, we’ll have a baby again very soon.”

I just smiled.

There wasn’t much time left. And there would never be another child.

Just as Soren was about to pull me into his arms, there was a knock at the door.

The doctor walked in, holding a medical chart in hand.

“Miss Silva, after the hysterectomy, are you feeling any discomfort?”

At those words, Soren suddenly stood up. In disbelief, he looked at me and then turned to the doctor.

“What did you say? What did you say Diana had removed?”