Chapter 1

It was only after being diagnosed with cancer that Sera realized nothing in this world was truly insurmountable.

The boss she despised? She could just fire him.

The toxic friends? She could cut them off instantly.

The overbearing mother-in-law? She could snap back whenever she pleased.

And the husband who never loved her? She could walk away from him without a second thought.

Later, she would discover that the life once choked by dark clouds could clear up into a brilliant, endless blue in a single moment.

……

"Sera, the pathology results are back. It’s late-stage uterine cancer. At this point, surgery or radiation won't do much. You have six months left, a year at the absolute most."

Inside the quiet office, the doctor looked at her with eyes brimming with profound sympathy.

Sera felt a violent roar echo in her mind, her vision fading into a stark, numbing blankness.

Dr. Blake leaned forward slightly, his voice dropping. "Regarding Charles... would you prefer to tell him yourself, or should we pass the news along?"

The Charles he referred to was Sera's husband.

He was a prominent surgeon at this very hospital.

It took a long, agonizing moment before Sera could force the words past her lips. "I'll tell him myself."

She had no memory of how she actually stumbled out of the hospital gates.

Staring at the endless surge of traffic and bustling crowds, she couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that her life was down to a six-month countdown.

At that moment, a quote she had once read online flashed through her mind with haunting clarity.

Death doesn't wait until you are old. A sudden, fierce urge bloomed within her chest. She wanted to drop everything, strip away every burden, and spend whatever time she had left doing exactly what she wanted to do.

As she sat in the back of the cab heading home, her phone buzzed.

It was her supervisor, William. "Sera, I heard you went to the hospital today. Everything alright?"

Hearing his voice, Sera’s fingers tightened instinctively around her phone.

"Late-stage uterine cancer. I have six months left."

The line went dead silent.

Sera didn’t give him a chance to recover, her voice clinical and detached. "Process my resignation. I won't be coming in to handle the paperwork. For the time I have left, I intend to actually live."

With that, she hung up.

Outside, a sudden rain began to fall, tracing slow, weeping lines down the car window.

Sera dialed her husband's number.

It rang several times before Charles finally picked up, his voice carrying its usual crisp, detached elegance.

"I was in the middle of something. Is there an emergency?"

His tone wasn't that of a man speaking to his wife of five years. He sounded like a polite stranger handling an interruption.

A dull, familiar ache throbbed in Sera's lower abdomen. "Come home. There's something I need to tell you."

"Alright. But I have a department dinner tonight, so it will be late," Charles replied evenly.

Sera didn't argue. She simply ended the call.

She couldn't help but wonder if things would be different if he had married Chloe instead.

If Chloe called him right now, would he drop everything, abandon his dinner, and rush straight home?

……

When Sera reached the apartment, she sat alone on the living room sofa for hours, lost in her thoughts.

Finally, before Charles could return, she began packing her bags.

It didn't take long to fill two large suitcases.

She lined them up neatly by the entryway, then sat back down to wait for her husband.

It was ten o'clock in the evening when Charles finally walked through the door. Clad in casual designer wear, he paused when his eyes met hers on the sofa.

It was glaringly obvious that he had only just remembered she had something to tell him.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Long used to his cold indifference, Sera merely reached out and calmly handed him the medical report.

"I went in for a checkup today. Dr. Blake said it's late-stage uterine cancer. I only have about six months left."

Charles froze, his face momentarily blank.

There was no rush of grief, no visible sorrow, not even immediate panic.

It was pure disbelief. He couldn't comprehend how someone as young as Sera could be stricken with such a terminal illness.

As a medical professional, Charles knew precisely what those words meant.

After a long, heavy silence, he finally spoke. "Don't immediately jump to the worst-case scenario. I'll speak to Harrison tomorrow morning. There must be treatment options."

Sera just sat there, staring at him.

This was her husband of five years, reacting to the news of her impending death.

She looked closely, but she couldn't find a single trace of genuine heartbreak in his eyes.

After what felt like an eternity, Sera stood up, her movements slightly unsteady. "Charles, do you know what you make me feel? You make me feel completely worthless. Like my entire life has been an absolute failure."

Without waiting for his response, she turned her back on him and walked toward the door.

Only then did Charles notice the suitcases standing by the entryway.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Sera gripped the handle of her luggage, never turning around. "I only have six months left. I want to live for myself for once. I want to do the things I actually love, and I want to see the world before I leave it."

Charles closed the distance between them in a few swift strides, catching her wrist.

"Given your medical condition, you cannot possibly travel alone. I have several major surgeries scheduled this week, so I can't leave to go with you right now."

Hearing those words, a wave of profound irritation washed over her.

She violently shook off his grip.

"Charles, do you have any idea how incredibly fake you are? You don't actually care, yet you still feel obligated to play the part of a concerned husband."

"Being around you makes me feel pathetic. It makes me question why on earth I ever chose you to be my husband!"

Sera had always known she was nothing more than a compromise to him.

He had married her only after his first love, Chloe, had married someone else.

Leaving him standing there with a stunned, unreadable expression, she pulled her suitcases open and walked out of the apartment without a single backward glance.

……

Sera booked herself a seat on the earliest available flight.

First class. Destination: Aspen.

Sitting in the exclusive VIP lounge, she snapped a picture of her very first first-class ticket.

She opened her social media account and posted it online.

Countdown: 180 days. Time to enjoy the final moments of my life. As the plane soared into the clouds, Sera gazed out at the endless expanse of blue and white.

She suddenly thought that, in a way, she was luckier than most people because she knew exactly when her time would run out.

In this world, some people die in sudden accidents, while others simply wait to wither away from old age.

Accidents give no warning, and those who die of old age never know which year will be their last.

But she knew. She knew precisely how many days she had left to live.

Early the next morning, Sera finally arrived in Aspen.

The moment she stepped out of the airport, a luxury shuttle sent by her five-star resort was already waiting for her.

The chauffeur was impeccably attentive throughout the drive.

The back seat was fully stocked with gourmet snacks and premium beverages.

As she leaned back against the plush leather, the ride was so smooth she couldn't feel a single bump, nor did she experience even a hint of car sickness.

Sera vividly remembered how much of a germaphobe Charles was.

In the past, whenever she rode in his car, even if her blood sugar crashed to the point of dizziness, she wasn't allowed to eat a single piece of candy.

When she felt nauseous and on the verge of throwing up, Charles would only ever say one thing to her.

"Don't ruin the leather."

But now, she could do whatever she pleased, entirely free from anyone else's restrictions.

Suddenly, her phone began to ring.

It was Charles.

The moment she answered, his voice cut through the line. "Sera, where are you right now?"

"Aspen."

Charles’s voice maintained its characteristic, unbothered calm. "I’m booking you a flight back immediately. You need to return tomorrow."

"Chloe’s mentor happens to be one of the top oncologists specializing in uterine cancer. I’ve already reached out to her. Once you're back, I’ll take you in for a comprehensive evaluation."

Chloe was Charles’s ex, his unforgettable first love.

One was a gynecologist, the other a brilliant surgeon.

Though they worked in the exact same medical center, Charles had meticulously avoided all contact with Chloe over the years.

Yet, Sera knew he had never truly let her go.