Chapter 1For three years, I believed my parents and fiancé died because of me.
Crushed by endless grief, I developed terminal cancer with only one month left to live.
I decided to return to my hometown one last time.
That's where I found them—ALIVE.
The best part? My fiancé had married my adopted sister and had a daughter with her.
My parents were celebrating with them, all smiles and laughter, like one big happy family.
So I've been dying of guilt... while they've been living their best lives?
Cute. Time to crash the party!
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To celebrate Florence's birthday, her fiancé and his family were involved in a car accident on their way home.
For three years, she had wanted to follow them, only to be held back by her foster sister, Lilian, who kept urging her:
"They're gone! You need to let it go and start living your own life."
After fainting again and ending up in the hospital, Florence was diagnosed with cancer.
The doctor told her she only had a month left.
She stopped the chemo, grabbed the framed photos of her family, and headed to their old place for one last look.
She was in a daze when a little kid slammed into her, knocking her to the ground.
A voice she knew all too well called out from behind:
"Millie, stop running off! What are you going to do if Mom and Dad can't catch you?"
Florence felt like she'd been hit by a truck. She froze, her mind going completely blank.
Mom? Dad?
The voice belonged to a man who looked exactly like the guy who'd sworn he'd love her for life!
She whipped her head around in shock—and saw Gabriel, back from the dead.
He was crouched down, scolding the boy while holding hands with her foster sister.
When he looked up and saw her, he froze in his tracks.
Lilian Frost's face turned white, and she yanked her hand away from Gabriel Knox in a panic.
"Florence, it's not what you think. Just let me explain..."
Before she could finish, Millie Knox tugged on her sleeve, pointing at Florence Vance.
"Mommy, who's she?"
The air went dead silent.
Florence stared at them, completely stunned, unable to process a thing.
She and Gabriel had been childhood sweethearts. He'd loved her like crazy and promised to keep her safe for as long as he lived.
When she was seven, she fell out of a tree. Gabriel had dove underneath her to break her fall, ending up with a broken arm—but he just laughed and told her it was fine.
When she was thirteen, she stained her skirt during her period. Even though he knew what was going on, he'd panicked and cried, swearing he'd die for her.
The year she graduated, he secretly hit the underground racing circuit. He risked everything to win a ring just to propose:
"Florence, marry me. I'm spending my life protecting you, and only you."
The devotion she'd felt back then only made the truth now feel even more like a sick joke.
She thought she'd found "the one," never suspecting he'd been sleeping with Lilian behind her back.
And this was the orphan girl Mr. Vance had left in her care—the little sister she'd babied since she was a kid.
She couldn't fathom how all her love had earned her was this kind of stab in the back.
She stood there paralyzed, a whirlwind of emotions ripping through her. Should she be relieved he was alive, or crushed because his whole life was a lie?
Since she didn't say anything, Gabriel spoke up, looking totally calm.
"Since you've seen us, we're done hiding it."
"Truth is, I didn't die back then. I've been with your sister, and we've got a kid."
Florence could barely stand, she took a few shaky breaths.
"Why?"
He frowned at her, like she was a brat making a scene, sounding totally entitled.
"Come on, you had to know. Lilian's been into me forever."
"That love letter back in high school? It was meant for Lilian. I didn't think you'd be shameless enough to actually go for it."
"I meant to set things straight, but Lilian didn't want to hurt your feelings, so she told me to keep it quiet."
The pain was crushing. She whispered, her voice gone.
"Why not just lie to me for good?"
He looked at her, totally annoyed, and let out a breath.
"Look, you're fine—the 'good wife and mother' type. I really did plan on sticking with you for the long haul."
"But on our engagement day, Lilian tried to end it all, and I realized I just couldn't quit her."
"So... that's that for us."
His flippant words stabbed right into Florence's heart.
Seeing how little Gabriel cared, the kid actually got gutsy, ran up to her, and spit.
"Get lost, you bad lady! Stop bugging my dad."
She didn't see it coming—a hard shove sent her stumbling back.
She hit the ground, her knee scraping raw and bleeding.
But Gabriel had already walked off with Millie and Lilian, not even sparing her a glance.
A cold breeze cut through her, she sat there frozen, chilled to the bone.
She'd been drowning in depression and insomnia ever since the accident three years ago.
She'd spent every night staring at the old photos until her eyes went red, her wrists a mess of scars from trying to end it all.
The grief had literally eaten her alive, leaving her with stomach cancer when she was barely an adult.
Now they were telling her it was all a lie? What was the point of all that hell?
Was it just a joke?
Chapter 2
Florence dragged her bad leg, walking back to the old mansion in a total daze.
The house, which used to be empty, was suddenly filled with a little girl's laughter.
Her parents, whom she'd buried with her own two hands, were laughing, pulling Millie into their arms.
Her brother, Jason Vance, whom she'd cremated years ago, was making faces at her.
The whole family was having a blast, but the second her name came up, the mood turned sour.
Mrs. Vance looked pained, hesitating before she spoke.
"We really crossed the line three years ago."
"She thought we were dead. She's been miserable all these years, and it breaks my heart."
Mr. Vance sighed, sounding helpless.
"We'll make it up to her later."
Jason's eyes went red as he placed Lilian's hand into Gabriel's.
"Lilian's parents died saving my dad on the front lines, leaving her all alone."
"I raised her like my own sister, gave her everything, and I even lied to my own flesh and blood for her."
"Don't you dare let her down."
Gabriel pulled Lilian into his arms, gentle as could be, and swore to her brother and parents.
"I'll spend the rest of my life protecting her."
With her parents and brother cheering them on, he slid the ring he'd picked out for Florence onto Lilian's finger.
Florence stood frozen in despair, tears flooding down her face.
She hadn't even felt this hopeless when she got her cancer diagnosis.
Turns out, they'd all teamed up to fake their deaths just to string her along for Lilian's sake.
It turned out there wasn't a single person in this world who actually loved her.
Florence sat out in the yard for ages, until Gabriel finally left with Lilian.
Only then did she shuffle back into the living room, coming face-to-face with her family's panicked looks.
Finally, Mrs. Vance couldn't hold back and spoke up, hesitant.
"The truth is, we didn't die. We got into an accident and lost touch for a while."
She gave a weak response.
Seeing she wasn't making a scene, Mr. Vance pushed his luck.
"Actually, Gabriel didn't die either. He and Lilian got married, and they've got a kid."
Florence just stayed silent.
Seeing her keep quiet, Jason frowned, getting annoyed.
"Don't blame Lilian. If it wasn't for her parents, it would've been Dad who died back then."
"We owe her. Just quit bothering Gabriel and hand him over to Lilian."
"I'll find you another guy—whatever you like."
Looking at his impatience, she felt like she was living in some twisted joke.
Why was she the one paying the price for her dad's debt?
Later...
She only had a month left. There was no "later."
Jason took her silence for agreement and started pushing his luck.
"Lilian and Gabriel are always hiding out with the kid—no place to stay, it's not good for him."
"Let them move back in."
Florence thought of her diagnosis, almost spoke up, but then just bit her tongue.
"Fine."
She was dying anyway—let them do what they wanted.
That night, Gabriel, Lilian, and their kid moved in.
Jason helped Lilian with everything, even kicking Florence out of her own room to turn it into a "princess room" for Millie.
Florence watched the jade bracelet Millie had smashed on the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Millie looked at her, totally timid.
"Did I mess up? Are you mad at me?"
Before she could even get a word out, Jason snapped at her.
"It's just a cheap bracelet. Do you have to be such a drama queen?"
"Millie is just a kid, and you're a grown adult. Why are you picking on her?"
He picked Millie up and left, not even noticing the bracelet—a gift from her parents when she was pregnant.
The day she heard about the car wreck, she'd had a miscarriage from the stress.
That bracelet was all she had left of her baby.
Now it was all in pieces.
She crouched down, trying to scrape the pieces together.
A sharp pain hit her chest, followed by a violent cough—blood started dripping onto the floor.
Seeing this, Lilian jumped in to "help," but intentionally slashed her hand and screamed.
"Ah... it hurts..."
Gabriel rushed over, saw the blood on the floor, and tore into her.
"Florence, I'm the one who betrayed you. If you've got a problem, take it out on me—why the hell are you going after Lilian?"
He took Lilian away, looking totally heartbroken, to get her hand bandaged.
Her parents rushed in and started pointing fingers, screaming at her.
"I thought you were being so good today—you were just waiting to pull this!"
"It was wrong for him to lie to you three years ago, but attacking Lilian? That's going too far!"
"Lilian stuck by you while you were grieving, helped you move on—how can you be this ungrateful?"
They just rushed off to check on Lilian, not one of them even noticing the blood on Florence's lip.
Florence felt like she'd been doused in ice water—totally hollow and defeated.
Everyone in the house was fawning over Lilian, like she was the one who actually belonged.
Fine, whatever. Let her lose all hope—this way, she could just leave without looking back...
Chapter 3
Florence bandaged her own wounds, then felt so exhausted that cold sweat beaded on her forehead, she had to lean against the wall to shuffle back to her room.
The moment the cold bedsheet touched her skin, she didn't even have the strength to pull up the blanket, so she just closed her eyes and drifted into a comatose sleep.
In the middle of the night, she felt a warm palm stroking her cheek in a daze.
She opened her eyes, Gabriel was sitting by the bed, looking conflicted.
"Florence, as long as you stop bothering Lilian, I'll treat you as well as I did before."
Florence stared at him blankly, her heart squeezed tight by an invisible hand.
She only had a month left.
He wasn't there when she was hooked up to tubes, he wasn't there when she bit her lips bloody from the pain, and now that she couldn't even stand without leaning on a wall, he came to talk about "before"?
Countless words rushed to her lips, only to be swallowed back down.
No intense questioning could bring back the three years she had been betrayed.
In the depths of her despair, she responded softly: "Fine."
Gabriel seemed relieved, his tone even turning cheerful: "Alright Florence, didn't you always want to go to the racecourse? A client gave me two tickets, let's go and clear our minds, okay?"
Without waiting for a response, he pulled her into the car.
Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of a lush green racecourse.
But when Florence arrived, she saw Lilian and her child there too.
Lilian gave Florence a fawning smile: "Florence, Gabriel invited me, but don't worry—I won't get in your way. You two ride together, I'll just have the instructor teach me."
She said it all so nicely.
However, once the lesson started, Gabriel never looked at Florence again, keeping close to Lilian every second.
Lilian didn't know how to ride, so Gabriel held the reins, teaching her hand-in-hand.
He leaned over, walking step-by-step beside the horse, looking up at Lilian from time to time with eyes full of gentleness and patience.
Millie also threw a tantrum, wanting to ride.
Gabriel hoisted him onto another small pony, holding Lilian's reins in one hand and protecting Millie's back with the other, dashing back and forth between them, clearly enjoying himself.
This scene was like a needle, piercing cruelly into Florence's eyes.
She suddenly remembered something Gabriel had said a long time ago.
Back then, they were sitting side-by-side on the grass watching the sunset, he turned his head to look at her, his tone faint but very serious.
"When we have children, I'll bring them here to ride horses. You can watch me teach them, I'll run in front, and you two can chase from behind."
She had blushed at the time, her heart as sweet as if it had been filled with honey.
Never could she have imagined that the sincerity of those vows would make this betrayal so painful.
Florence took a deep breath, suppressing the dull ache in her chest, and mounted her horse.
She just wanted to be as far away from these people as possible, for even a moment of peace.
The horse trotted off, the wind brushed her cheeks, drying the tears that had welled up without her knowing.
Suddenly, an obstacle appeared in front of her.
Days of illness and torture had made Florence's reflexes slower than before, but she still pulled the reins to try and dodge.
The horse leaped—
Mid-air, the rope holding the saddle suddenly snapped.
Caught completely off guard, Florence fell straight from the horse's back!
