Chapter 3
883 Words
Maya had barely gotten home when frantic knocking rattled the door.
The moment she opened it, Evan stepped inside.
His face looked dark as storm clouds. His gaze swept across the messy living room before settling on her. "What are you looking for?"
Maya rubbed at her throbbing temple. "My thesis. The final submission for the Golden Scalpel Award is due today."
Evan loosened his tie and slipped off his coat, calm enough to sound like he was discussing the weather. "I gave it to Lydia. It's just an award. Let her have it. You can't take everything for yourself."
Pain twisted violently through Maya's stomach, draining all color from her face.
Just like last life.
One careless sentence from him had erased years of her work.
"That's my thesis." Maya turned toward the door. "I'm taking it back."
Evan grabbed her arm, his grip tightening. "It's just a title. Does it really matter that much to you?"
Maya spun around, her voice trembling. "That thesis was my father's final wish for me. I spent five years on it. Evan, who gave you the right to decide for me?"
His expression darkened, though his tone softened slightly.
"Lydia's leaving soon. This is her last chance."
"I already made you Vice President of the hospital. What else could you possibly be unhappy about?"
Maya was about to answer when his phone rang.
Evan glanced at the screen, then turned and walked toward the study, deliberately avoiding her.
Before the door fully closed, Lydia's sweet, clingy voice drifted out from the phone.
"Evan... my ferret's in acute kidney failure. The vet said only imported high-purity immunoglobulin can save it...
"But the medication's heavily restricted. You have to reserve it in advance. Can you help me?
"I need it today, or it won't survive..."
'High-purity immunoglobulin.'
The words pierced straight through Maya's chest.
Back in her previous life, her father had suffered severe transplant rejection after surgery. He'd needed the exact same medication just to stay alive.
The supply had been limited, expensive, and nearly impossible to obtain without connections.
She'd begged Evan for help back then. He'd only frowned and refused.
"It's too difficult to get restricted medication. I'd owe people favors. Try another solution or ask the hospital to transfer some stock."
At the time, she'd been desperate enough to sell her mother's jewelry and beg anyone she could think of for help.
By the time she finally got the medication half a month later, her father's condition had already deteriorated beyond saving.
But now, for Lydia's pet ferret, Evan answered without hesitation.
"Alright. I'll contact someone right away. I'll make sure you get it today."
So in front of the woman he truly loved, "too difficult" and "owing favors" were nothing but excuses reserved for Maya alone.
Listening to the tenderness in his voice from inside the study, Maya slowly lowered the hand she'd raised.
Forget it. Any more questions would only humiliate her further.
She turned to leave when her phone suddenly buzzed.
A video from Evan's sister, Chloe, popped onto the screen.
Under the morning sunlight, Lydia leaned against Evan's shoulder and wrapped her arms around him affectionately.
"We should keep watching sunrises and sunsets together like this forever."
Evan didn't push her away.
The warmth in his eyes was something Maya had never once received from him.
Another message from Chloe followed immediately after:
Chloe: Do you really think stolen happiness means anything?
Maya let out a quiet, mocking laugh and opened their old chat history.
Every message inside reeked of her past desperation.
Maya: Chloe, I found the bag you wanted. Can you forgive me for dirtying your shoes?
Maya: Evan's birthday is coming up. Do you know what he likes? I want to make up for the twenty-eight years of gifts I missed.
Maya: Can I spend New Year's Eve with your family this year? I can cook...
Reading those words now made her chest ache.
If her parents had seen how low she'd humbled herself for love, how heartbroken would they have been?
Maya lowered her eyes and blocked Chloe without hesitation.
The only way to breathe freely was to cut worthless people out of her life completely.
The pain in her stomach twisted harder and harder.
Pale-faced, she braced herself against the wall.
Then she remembered.
In her previous life, three months from now was when she'd been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer.
Five years of treatment had reduced her to skin and bone.
She looked up at her reflection in the mirror.
The woman staring back looked exhausted, but there was light in her eyes now.
Hope.
A desperate hunger to live again after death itself.
This time, more than love, she wanted to survive.
Early the next morning, Maya forced herself out of bed and headed straight for the hospital.
She had just joined the line for bloodwork at the medical exam department when her phone rang again.
It was Evan calling.
After a brief hesitation, she answered.
His voice came through cold with suppressed anger.
"Maya, you knew today was Lydia's award ceremony, so why would you send funeral clothes to her? What the hell are you trying to do?
"Get to the Golden Scalpel Award ceremony right now and apologize to Lydia."
- Writer
