This Is Farewell, Forever

My wife, Karen Quinn, pretended to be trapped in a fire and called me for help. Without a thought for my own life, I charged into the flames to save her and came out so blackened by smoke that I looked like a lump of charcoal. Just as I was grieving, convinced something terrible had happened to her, I found her standing in the safe zone with her male best friend, Cade Morrow, neither of them with a scratch on them. She held up her phone and burst out laughing. "Todd, are you out of your mind? You've been fooled ninety-nine times, and you still fall for it like an idiot." Some of the others couldn't stand it anymore and warned her, "Aren't you afraid he'll divorce you if you keep going this far?" My wife shot me a sideways glance and said with contempt, "My first love died because of him. A little suffering like this is letting him off easy. "Besides, he's a pathetic nobody that no one wants. I'm the only one who'd ever feed him. Where else could he go without me?" What she didn't know was that I was dying. This time, I was really going to leave her for good. Chapter 1 I looked at my wife, Karen Quinn. The disgust on her face blurred together with the faces of everyone who had ever bullied me. Yet back then, every time I was bullied, she was the one who threw herself in front of me without a second thought, protecting me and looking after me. She had even broken the rules and taken punishments from her family time and time again, just to stand up for me. Everyone envied us as childhood sweethearts who had grown up side by side. Both our families had arranged a marriage alliance between us. But if I had known that marriage would turn us into enemies who couldn't stand the sight of each other, I would rather have stayed her friend for the rest of my life. Right now, Karen and her male best friend were still laughing at me. And I finally said the words I hadn't dared to say in five years of marriage. "Karen, let's get a divorce!" The laughter stopped abruptly. Shock flashed in Karen's eyes. She refused without even thinking about it. "No. I don't agree." I looked up at her in surprise. Did she still have even a sliver of feelings for me? Before I could think any further, she raised an eyebrow in displeasure. "You know our company's stock will drop the moment I get divorced, so you're using that to threaten me, aren't you? "Todd, don't forget that you owe me a life. You're going to spend the rest of your life paying it back. Don't even dream of getting out." A stabbing pain shot through my heart, and my sickly face went a few shades paler. Right. She hated me with everything she had. How could she possibly still have feelings for me? I was only fooling myself. Five years ago, because I married into her family, Karen was forced to break up with her first love, Kayce Foran. At first, she knew there was no fighting a family marriage alliance, so she didn't push back. She even made me a solemn promise. "Todd, I'll forget Kayce and build a real life with you. "It's just that I broke things off with him so suddenly. I'm afraid he'll do something stupid if he can't handle it. Can we keep our marriage from him for a while before we tell him?" Being by her side was enough for me, so of course I did whatever she asked. I nodded and agreed to a private wedding that we would keep from the public for the time being. But on the day of the wedding, news of our marriage alliance leaked online. Two powerful families joining forces made headlines, and soon the whole world knew. On his way to the venue, her first love was in a car accident and died at the scene. Devastated, Karen rushed to the morgue, where she found a bloodstained wedding invitation on his body. Everyone around her accused me of leaking the news and sending him the invitation. "Todd, I already promised to build a life with you. Why did you have to be so cruel? Why did you kill him?" Chapter 2 Karen flew into a rage right then and there, convinced I had killed her first love. I explained countless times that I had nothing to do with it, but she never believed me again. From then on, she hated me to the bone, and her attitude toward me changed completely. Not only did she lash out at me with cruel words, she openly kept Cade Morrow, her first love's look-alike, by her side. To protect her reputation, she told everyone he was just her male best friend. On top of that, she regularly amused herself by toying with me. Pranks like today's had played out again and again over our five years of marriage. I had long since grown used to their mockery. I kept my head down, said nothing, and quietly endured her scolding. Fresh out of the fire, I was covered in soot and grime, and my clothes were torn in several places. I was a complete mess. Some of Karen's friends couldn't stand it anymore and draped a jacket over my shoulders. I had barely croaked out a thank-you through my parched throat when Cade strode over, ripped the jacket off me, and threw it aside. He jabbed a finger at me and shouted, "Todd, you killed your mother, and you killed Karen's true love. "You have two lives on your hands. You don't deserve a comfortable life. You're going to walk all the way home and take every sneer and dirty look people throw at you." Without thinking, I looked at Karen. Karen didn't say a word. Her silence said she approved of what Cade was doing. I smiled bitterly. My mother died giving birth to me. My father and older brother had always believed I killed her, and they were harsh on me from the time I was little. If I wasn't going without food or decent clothes, I was being berated or beaten. But Karen had always quietly reached out to help me. She even comforted me. "Life and death are in fate's hands. Your mom's death isn't your fault, so don't let what other people say get to you." Now, though, she let Cade say these things without stopping him. Wasn't that the same as agreeing with everyone else that it was all my fault? My father and brother loathed me, and now even Karen, the only light in my life, hated me to the bone. I just couldn't understand it. I had been careful about every word and every move since I was a child. Where exactly had I gone wrong? A wave of pain surged through me, and I shook my head. Forget it. There was no point thinking about it anymore. I had stage four lung cancer anyway. I didn't have many days left. Once I was dead, they'd probably feel they had finally gotten their revenge. I walked on in silence while Cade gleefully filmed me from behind. A flicker of reluctance crossed Karen's eyes, and she waved a hand to stop him. "Enough. He's my husband on paper, at least. If someone passing by records this and posts it online, it'll hurt my family's reputation." After all, she had built a public image as the perfect, devoted wife. If word got out that she was mistreating her husband, people would talk. She warned everyone there not to breathe a word about what had happened today. Then she drove me home and shoved me out of the car. Without looking back, she stomped on the gas and sped off. The household staff snickered at the sight. They muttered that I was an imposter living in a home that wasn't mine and had brought all this on myself. Not a single one of them dared to help me. I had gone numb a long time ago. I limped back to my bedroom. I showered and changed. Exhausted after the long day, I drifted off to sleep. I didn't know how much time had passed. Suddenly, a loud crash rang out. Someone had kicked my bedroom door wide open. Cade stormed in, furious, and ordered the bodyguards to drag me out of bed and onto the floor. Then he slapped me hard across the face, again and again. Through the ringing in my ears, I heard him roar, "Todd, I underestimated you! How dare you post what happened online, stir up public outrage, and ruin Karen's reputation?!" Chapter 3 While I was still dazed, Karen walked in on her high heels, stepping into the room she hadn't once set foot in since we got married. Cade lowered his head and apologized. "I'm sorry, Karen. I made sure everyone who was there kept quiet. I never thought Todd would leak it himself. "Looks like tricking him with the fire this time made him really angry. He's willing to go down in flames as long as he takes you with him." Only then did I understand. Someone had leaked what they'd done to me earlier that day, and they were blaming me for it. Karen was about to lay into me when she suddenly noticed my swollen face. She froze, then turned on Cade. "You hit him?" Why did she suddenly care? The pain she had caused me was a hundred times worse than a few slaps. Cade raised an eyebrow and shot back, "Are you feeling sorry for him, Karen?" Karen looked at his face, which was so identical to her first love's, and gave a cold, haughty snort. "Don't hit him in the face next time. It looks bad." My lowered eyes darkened. So she was only worried about the company and her image. If she didn't still care a little about what people would say, she wouldn't spare me a second glance even if I were beaten to death. Karen looked down at me. "Todd, did you leak it?" Of course I didn't. But would she believe me if I said so? Ever since Cade moved into the house, he had framed me over and over again. No matter how I explained or tried to prove myself, even when I threw the evidence right in her face, she only ever believed Cade. Just because he looked like her first love, she saw him through rose-colored glasses and was convinced everything was my fault. Every time I explained myself, she hated me a little more. I was tired of explaining by now. I just let out a quiet hum. "If you think it was me, then fine. It was me." Hearing my answer, Karen seemed to finally have somewhere to let her emotions out. The corners of her eyes reddened, and she threw her purse at me. "What's this? You're not being stubborn this time? You're finally admitting you were wrong? "Todd, if you had admitted your mistakes sooner, you wouldn't have had to suffer so much!" She had a servant bring me ice for my face, though her tone stayed flat. "Once the swelling goes down, you're coming with me to a press conference. We'll show everyone how in love we are and put these rumors to rest." Seeing that Karen wasn't going to punish me any further, and that her attitude had softened quite a bit, Cade tugged at her in confusion. "Karen, Todd caused our PR department a huge headache. You're just going to let him off that easily?" In the past, Karen went along with almost everything he said. This time, though, she raised an eyebrow and brushed him off. "Didn't you already hit him? He's been punished. Just make sure it doesn't happen again." For some reason, a spark of hope lit up inside me. I looked at her expectantly. "Karen, if I died, would you be sad?" Karen frowned in irritation. "Todd, don't push your luck! If you died, I'd happily set off fireworks for a whole month to celebrate." I gave a miserable smile. I had let my imagination run away with me. She was still the same Karen who hated me to the bone. The pain in my lungs spread through my entire body. I clenched my teeth to keep from groaning, yet deep down I felt a faint sense of relief. That was fine. Her wish would come true soon enough. Seeing the pain on my face, Karen shot me a sideways glance. "Wipe off that sallow makeup. I'm not falling for your sob story." I froze. She thought my sallow complexion was makeup. She had no idea I didn't have long to live. Chapter 4 Karen had just turned to leave when her secretary came over holding a phone. "Ms. Quinn, there's a call for you." Karen put it on speaker. A soft laugh from her business rival came through on the other end. "Ms. Quinn, the rumors online are just a little warning. You'd better drop out of this bid. Otherwise, if I'm not careful, all the videos I have might just get released." The call ended. Karen opened the video and went pale. So her rival was the one who had stirred up the online backlash. They had all wronged me. Cade apologized, looking ashamed. "Karen, it's my fault for not looking into it properly. I almost ruined everything." Karen couldn't bring herself to blame him and sighed. "At the end of the day, we got careless and gave someone something to use against us. We'll just be more careful next time." Seeing Karen's deep frown, Cade gritted his teeth, helped me up, and stiffly apologized. "Todd, I misunderstood you this time. If you're still upset, go ahead and hit me back." Before I could even move, Karen reached out protectively to stop me. "Don't be ridiculous! You were only trying to help me. He's the one who didn't open his mouth and explain himself. That's not on you." Ha. It was my fault again. But when had she ever believed a single one of my explanations? I said nothing. Right in front of me, her own husband, she slipped her arm through Cade's and comforted him as they walked away. She didn't spare a single glance for me, the one who had been wronged. Everyone else in the room trickled out after them. My body, which I had been forcing to hold up, finally gave out. A wave of dizziness swept over me, and I collapsed to the floor. When I came to again, all I could smell was disinfectant. I was about to open my eyes when I heard Cade whisper, his voice giddy, "Todd has stage four lung cancer. He doesn't have long to live. Killing Kayce back then and wrecking their relationship was worth it after all. "Now I'm finally about to get everything I worked for!" My whole body shook. So all these years, I had been taking the blame for someone else! For a moment, I desperately wanted to tell Karen the truth. But a second later, I gave up on the idea in despair. I had no proof. Nothing I said would make Karen believe me. Once Cade's voice had faded away completely, I took out my phone, got in touch with a private detective, and had them look into it. Whether Karen believed me or not, I was going to clear my name before I died. I didn't know how much longer it was before Karen finally rushed in. The moment she came through the door, I actually caught a trace of worry in her eyes. But when I blinked again, there was nothing in her eyes but cold severity, as if what I'd seen had only been an illusion. She asked the doctor, "Why did he suddenly pass out?" The doctor hesitated. Cade answered for him. "Oh, he just has low blood sugar. It's nothing serious." Karen let out a breath of relief and believed it without even asking me. She had me discharged and brought me home. She had the housekeeper cook a whole table of food, then pushed a bowl of beef stew in front of me and nagged at me to eat. "Todd, have I ever let you go without food or clothes? Who are you putting on this pitiful act for? "Hurry up and eat more, so people don't go around saying the Quinn family starves its live-in son-in-law." Karen cared about appearances more than anything. So even when our relationship was at its worst, she never did what my family had done, cutting back on my food and clothes so everyone would know I was unwanted. Instead, for the sake of so-called appearances, she defended me in public and put on a show of being a loving couple. Chapter 5 When I didn't say anything, Karen set down her silverware and was quiet for a moment. "I was wrong to blame you for what happened before. I have something for you. Wait here." She got up and went upstairs to get it. I stared after her, puzzled, wondering why she was suddenly being so nice. Meanwhile, Cade pulled a small booklet out of his bag and waved it in front of my face. "Do you know what this is?" I ignored him. The next thing I heard was the sharp sound of paper ripping. He tore the booklet to shreds and grinned at me with a sinister smile. "These are the love letters Kayce wrote to Karen." I froze. Before I could react, Cade started shouting at the top of his lungs. "Todd, Karen treasures those more than her own life! Stop!" Karen rushed over at the commotion and saw her first love's handwriting torn to pieces and scattered all over the floor. Cade's eyes went red, and he slapped himself across the face. "Karen, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have taken them out in front of Todd and given him the chance to tear them up." Karen's face darkened. She slapped me hard and hurled a set of luxury car keys at me. "I was going to get you a car of your own. Now I can see you don't deserve it!" Here it was again. She was blaming me without even bothering to find out what had happened. I couldn't hold back anymore. I wanted to tell her the whole truth, but I had only gotten out the words "It wasn't me" when the butler dropped to his knees beside us. "Ms. Quinn, I failed to stop Todd from tearing up the keepsake. It's my fault too. Please dock my pay." The other servants jumped in one after another. They all seemed to be admitting fault, but they were really pointing the finger at me. Everything from five years ago was playing out all over again. When I saw the smug look in Cade's eyes, I finally understood. He had bought off every one of these people a long time ago. Seeing me try to defend myself, Karen exploded. "Todd, you're still talking back? You'll never change!" Then, she turned to the butler and said, "Lock him in his room. Let him out when it's time for the press conference." The bodyguards dragged me away. She carefully gathered up the scraps of paper while comforting Cade. "Don't be upset. It's not your fault. Todd is just vicious. He won't even leave a dead man's belongings alone." Just like always, she didn't trust me. But that was fine. I was about to become a dead man too. I was locked in the room, and they took my phone. Without my medication, I passed out from the pain and came to again, over and over. I lost count of how many times, and I lost all track of time. Maybe it was because I had breathed in so much smoke trying to save Karen, but I could feel my condition getting worse. My consciousness slowly slipped away. The moment my eyes closed for good, the screen of my phone, locked away in a cabinet, lit up. It was a message from the private detective: [I found out the truth. I'm sending the evidence to Karen right now. Man, don't forget to pay the rest of my fee.] Meanwhile, Karen figured it was about time to let me out. She was just about to walk in the front door when a courier handed her a sealed document envelope. "Are you Karen Quinn? Please sign for this." Karen took it, and the moment she saw the writing on it, she froze.