Ariel was slowly regaining consciousness. She felt the back of her hand was wet. Her lower abdomen no longer hurt as much.


    Familiar with both her condition and these sudden attacks, Ariel could tell they had probably given her a shot of painkillers. She turned her head and met Jayson’s reddened eyes.


    When he noticed she was awake, Jayson opened his mouth but no sound came out. He swallowed before finally asking in a gentle voice, “Do you feel better now? Does it still hurt?”


    Ariel shook her head. Her gaze shifted to the hand Jayson was holding. She realized the dampness on the back of her hand came from his tears.


    “I’m alright.”


    Jayson stiffened at her response–the same words she always used no matter the situation. He could not imagine how she had endured such awful, painful moments all on her own. Ariel had stayed strong, facing everything in silence. Even Katie and Leonard didn’t know about her illness.


    Ariel neverined about her hardships or struggles.


    When she tried to pull her hand away, Jayson only tightened his grip.


    Restlessness crept over her. He had never acted this way before.


    “You’ve been enduring everything alone for so long. Weren’t those days unbearable?” Jayson whispered as he slowly wiped the tears from the back of her hand.


    Ariel thought for a moment. “At first, yes. But gradually it became easier to bear. Life goes on. Telling more people about it won’t change the fact that I have cancer.”


    It would only make those who cared about her anxious and sleepless, just like her.


    She preferred to tell them only when her final treatment n was decided. That way, she could minimize how long they worried and avoid wasting her own energy managing their emotions. After all, she was already exhausted.


    Ariel wasn’t perfect, but she had always tried to be rational in everything she did. She was an adult capable of handling her own affairs. There was no need to burden others.


    “You needed me, though. Isn’t that right?” Jayson asked quietly. (1)


    Ariel blinked several times before answering calmly, “I did. But you were with another woman then. Should I really have hoped you would care about me or show me sympathy if I told you about my condition back then?”


    Those were her honest thoughts over the past year. If Jayson truly had an affair, could she have made him stay by confessing she had cancer and little time left?


    Wouldn’t that have been pointless? It would have been no different from asking a man who loved someone else to remain with her out of pity.


    Ariel never wanted that.


    Even though she now knew the truth behind those incidents, the emotions she had felt back then were real. She wasn’t omniscient. More often than not, she relied on her instincts.


    Whenever she thought Jayson might be helping her, he always managed to crush that hope with his coldness.


    Most of the time, she couldn’t guess or predict his actions. He never exined himself, and she could never see through his walls. So the only thing she could do was avoid humiliating herself further.


    Ariel wasn’t ming Jayson as she spoke–just voicing her thoughts. But to Jayson, her words were knives to the heart.


    He could picture how helpless she must have felt back then. He realized the conclusions she had drawn and the walls she had built were nothing more than self–protection. He was the reason she had fortified her heart.


    Jayson drew in a long breath, trying to suppress the terrible ache within him. “I’m sorry.”


    11


    There was nothing else he could say or do at that moment except apologize.


    Ariel nced at her other hand, the one connected to the IV. The fluid bag was nearly empty. “You don’t have to feel guilty about my illness. It wasn’t your fault. I even kept it from my grandma and uncle. I wanted it to remain a secret. That was entirely my choice.” <fn378e> Fresh chapters posted on find?novel</fn378e>


    She could see the guilt tormenting him, but she had no intention of making him suffer more.


    A wave of emotions surged through Jayson. He looked at her with reddened eyes, filled with sorrow and regret.


    “Also…” Ariel, looking haggard but resolute, fixed her gaze on him. “I was ready to care for the child since it came to me. You knew how much I loved children. And it was a life connected to me by blood. I was never someone who would rashly decide to give up something so precious.”


    9


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