The Undying Starlight

On Valentine's Day, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Overwhelmed by shock and fear, I called my husband, Karsten.

"Kars, I'm on a business trip and about to board the plane. I'll bring you a gift when I get back. Love you."

Before I could finish, the busy tone on the phone left me with a wave of disappointment.

I returned to the villa where my parents had lived, wanting to cry my heart out in front of their portraits.

As soon as I stepped into the living room, I heard a woman's moans coming from my parents' bedroom.

"Darling, Valeria's parents' portraits are over there. Doing it here feels like we're being watched. Let's change rooms." The voice of my husband, who was supposed to be on a plane, was dripping with desire.

"They looked down on me when I had nothing, broke us apart, and forced me to marry Valeria. Now, let them watch how I shower you with love."

***

I stood in the villa where I had grown up, feeling as if I had fallen into an ice-cold abyss. In between Karsten and Theresa’s ragged breaths were filthy words that tore at my very soul to pieces.

I clamped my hand over my mouth, desperate to stifle my sobs. Using the last of my strength, I slowly backed out of the villa.

Before my parents death, they had a will to be buried in their distant hometown, thousands of miles away from the urban city. I wanted to keep a part of them close to me so I refused Karsten’s suggestion to sell our old villa. There, I kept their portraits and hired a housekeeper to clean regularly, so I could stay by the portraits and pray for them whenever I missed them.

Today I got diagnosed with breast cancer. I was overwhelmed with fear and grief. I came to the villa hoping to cry my heart out and find some semblance of comfort.

However, my husband who was supposed to be thousands of miles away in the city were in the old villa. Worse, he was entangled with his ex-girlfriend in front of my parents’ portraits.

I had the impulse to burst in and pull those two shameless people apart, but I didn’t have the strength for that. Even if my life was ticking away, there were more important things I needed to finish before I could face my parents.

In the end, I retuned to the home Karsten and I shared back in the city. The first thing that greeted me was our photo wall. Countless pictures of us embracing, smiling. Ah, how painfully ironic they looked now.

I reached out, my fingers grazing Karsten’s handsome face in the photos. It was that unfairly beautiful face that had me spellbound. He used to be just a nobody at Thalmann Legacy Holdings.

At that time, I was fresh out of college and visited the company to see my father.

Among the exhausted, greasy-haired, middle-aged programmers sat Karsten—dressed in a crisp white shirt, his features delicate and refined. His youthfulness radiates a college heartthrob charm. I fell for him at first sight.

Staring at the wall covered in memories, tears flowed uncontrollably down my face. After crying my heart out, I went to the study. I hadn’t even reached the safe when my phone rang.

“Valeria, I still advise you to start treatment as soon as possible. Your breast tumor is less than one centimeter, and there’s no spread to the lymph nodes. It’s still in the early stages.”

“Ludwig, you don’t have to comfort me. My mom died of this disease. I know exactly how dangerous it can be.”

His voice was gentle. “Your mom was diagnosed at an advanced stage, and the treatments back then weren’t as advanced as they are now. You have to trust me—I got the title of ‘the youngest specialist in breast cancer’ for a reason after all.”

I took a deep breath, memories of Karsten’s betrayal flooding back. I refused to die early and let my father’s hard-earned legacy fall into Karsten’s hands.

“Alright. Once I’ve taken care of everything, I’ll entrust my life to you.”

Ludwig let out a soft laugh and said, “As long as I’m here, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

My eyes burned, tears threatening to fall again. When I received my diagnosis this morning, I really wanted to hear Karsten say those words for me.

“Thank you, Ludwig.” My voice was tight. I quickly ended the call since I didn’t want my childhood friend to notice something was wrong.

I sat there in a daze for a moment before forcing myself to regain my composure. I opened the safe and took out a document—an agreement signed by Karsten.