The Light That Came Too Late

Chapter 2 The Truth Beneath the Mask

I had believed he was so moved he could not speak. In truth, he had been terrified that opening his mouth would make him burst out laughing.

Everything my mother and I had poured our hearts and souls into giving him was nothing more than a careless flick of his wrist in his world of luxury.

Flora tilted her head, her smile as sweet as sugar. "Come on, guys, don't tease Damian. It was my idea not to have a baby yet, so I told him to keep the baby. I heard she's stingy and money-obsessed. If it's a boy, we'll just pay two million to buy him. A girl? We can raise her somewhere else. It won't cost much anyway."

Those words drove into my chest like knives.

I desperately hoped Damian would say something, anything, in my defense, but he stayed silent and disappointed me once again.

A guy suddenly let out a mocking laugh. "Flora, the prank target you chose is totally lame. For a measly ten thousand, her dad got on his knees begging me to buy his land. How can their family be so ridiculously poor? I almost laughed myself sick holding it in!"

Flora giggled and melted into Damian's arms.

Damian's face darkened, as if I had embarrassed him in front of his friends.

Yet in my mind I saw my father, back bent with age, walking ten long miles through the mountains, covered in mud, just to hand me the savings he had scraped together all his life for the corneal surgery.

His eyes had shone with quiet pride despite the dirt. "My daughter is so beautiful... Damian has to see what you look like at least once."

I stood there quietly, but inside me, everything had already collapsed.

My phone chimed. Caitlin had sent the confidentiality agreement.

Caitlin: Sweetheart, are you sure you don't want to reconsider? This medication is extremely painful. Even grown men can barely endure it.

I signed my name without hesitation. I knew no physical pain could ever match the agony of this betrayal. It felt as though I had been ready to die peacefully in the winter cold, only to be dragged back into the living world by this fresh, unbearable hurt.

Back in my small rented room, I fought through waves of pain, gathering every trace of Damian's things and throwing them into the trash. I even tore the precious album of our shared dreams into pieces.

Inside had been photographs of every first I had risked my life for: the perfect bungee jump where he held my trembling body and we threw peace signs together, the scuba dive where he panicked and gave me mouth-to-mouth after I blacked out, the skydiving moment when my legs went weak and he laughed while gently pushing me out of the plane.

All those precious memories I had bet my life on, believing they would stay beautiful for him forever, were now revealed as nothing more than his ordinary entertainment.

At eight thirty, the exact time Damian usually came home, he deliberately tapped his white cane loudly against the floor.

He muttered, "Why didn't you come pick me up?"

In the past, I would have hurried over immediately, apologizing and comforting him with soft words. Today I did not move.

"Saving those two bucks on gas again... what a cheapskate."

Though his complaint was quiet, I heard every word clearly.

I could hardly believe my own ears.

I had been stingy only with myself, skipping painkillers and sewing the baby clothes by hand to save every penny.

But with Damian, I had never held back, heartbroken over his supposed orphan status and lack of support, even though every bit of that story had been a lie.

After a long, suffocating silence, Damian sounded surprised.

A small medicine bottle slipped from my hand and rolled across the floor, stopping right at his feet.

My heart pounded violently.

If he took off the blindfold now, he would see the glaring words "Anti-Cancer Medication."

Perhaps a flicker of regret would cross his face.

Every single night, I had stayed up until my eyes burned red, translating ten manuscripts just to earn money he never needed, and he had pretended not to notice.

Yet the moment he started to bend down, his phone rang.

Damian's lips curved into a quick smirk. He tossed a small box toward me.

"Your birthday present. I need to take this client call."

I looked at the velvet box and felt completely empty for the first time.

As I stepped into the bedroom to get my medicine, I heard Damian chuckle lightly on the phone. "No big deal. Her illness isn't contagious. She should have recovered long ago. She's just being dramatic. I swapped her meds quietly, and everything turned out fine anyway."