Chapter 1
One year after their breakup, Scarlett Chase called her ex-boyfriend Nathaniel Blackwell for the first time, saying only two things:
“Congratulations on your wedding.”
And, “You promised to be my pallbearer when I died.”
“So the assisted suicide facility called me when they couldn’t reach you.”
Nathaniel’s voice was ice-cold through the phone. “Using this method to make me find you-what’s the point?”
In her empty hotel room, Scarlett pressed her hand against her nose, blood dripping through her fingers onto her phone screen, staining it red.
Her fingertips trembled slightly as she wiped away the blood, staring at Nathaniel’s name on the screen for several seconds before speaking hoarsely, “I’m sorry.”
After a moment of silence on the other end: “Scarlett, we’ve been broken up for a year now.”
Scarlett froze, her vision suddenly blurring.
He was reminding her, as if she could forget?
A year ago, on that torrential rainy night, Nathaniel had coldly told her they were “over” without any warning.
She had stood outside his door, waiting all night in the pouring rain.
Later, a neighbor told her that after Nathaniel broke up with her, he immediately went abroad.
In the end, he never gave her a reason, never even said goodbye.
If not for this phone call, he probably would never have contacted her again.
Scarlett stared at the cold rain outside her window, feeling as if she’d been transported back to that day, unable to speak past the lump in her throat.
After a long moment, she finally replied, “I know.”
“So if you want to die, you can do it far away from me. Don’t need to tell me about it.”
With those cold words, Nathaniel hung up without a shred of mercy.
The busy tone echoed like drumbeats, each one striking heavily against Scarlett’s heart.
She crouched on the floor for a long time before finally getting up to wash the blood from her face.
As cold water splashed against her skin, her phone rang again. This time it was the Swiss assisted suicide facility.
“Sorry for not reaching you earlier-we tried calling at noon but had to use your emergency contact.”
“It’s fine,” Scarlett replied wearily.
At noon, she had still been on the flight to Switzerland.
“For the assisted suicide procedure, we need documentation confirming your condition. You’ll need to undergo another examination here in Switzerland.”
Scarlett looked at her pale face in the mirror and replied weakly, “Alright.”
After hanging up, Scarlett took a taxi to the hospital.
As the vehicle drove through the Swiss streets, she caught glimpses of the towering Alps in the distance.
This snow white city-she had told Nathaniel countless times over the years how much she wanted to visit.
Ironically, it would now be the final destination of her life.
The test results came quickly: bone metastasis from blood cancer, treatment was now pointless.
Scarlett collected the diagnosis certificate under the sympathetic gazes of the doctors.
Just as she was about to leave, her steps suddenly halted, even her breath catching in her throat.
She never imagined she would see Nathaniel again!
He stood at the end of the hallway, still wearing the coat she had bought him. After a year apart, he seemed more composed, more distant.
His handsome, arrogant face and deep, detached gaze… Every detail had made her dream of him countless times over the past year, only to wake up
in tears.
Scarlett’s vision instantly blurred, and the carefully buried memory fragments came flooding back like a tidal wave.
From the 1,530 origami stars Nathaniel had folded for her, to the good morning and good night texts he’d sent without fail during their seven years ogether, to driving four hundred miles through a snowstorm just because she said she missed him.
She had believed she and Nathaniel would love each other forever-until that day when he gave her his cold back for the first and last time, never urning around no matter how she cried and begged him to stay.
All these memories, Scarlett thought she could eventually force herself to forget.
3ut the moment she saw Nathaniel, the bitterness she had desperately suppressed came rushing back, nearly drowning her heart.
She bit her lip hard, thinking: Switzerland is really small, isn’t it?
Nathaniel had also spotted her. After a brief moment of surprise, he frowned and walked over.
¡carlett’s heart trembled. Just as she was about to speak, Nathaniel coldly said, “I told you not to appear in front of me again.”
lis expression was frigid, his elegant eyebrows conveying an almost inhuman detachment.
¡carlett slowly clenched her hand. “I’m just here for a checkup.”
A checkup?” Nathaniel clearly didn’t believe her.
That kind of lie isn’t amusing. I made myself perfectly clear a year ago-I don’t love you anymore. Haven’t you already stalked me enough times? ‘ollowing me all the way to Switzerland will only make me more disgusted.”
The color drained from Scarlett’s face instantly.
A year ago, she truly couldn’t accept Nathaniel’s sudden breakup, so she had tried many ways to find him.
But not this time.
She looked at Nathaniel, her throat tightening, but before she could speak, she heard a voice:
‘Nate.”
Scarlett froze, turned around, and saw a woman approach and link her arm through Nathaniel’s.
The woman looked her over once, then smiled at Nathaniel. “Nate, who’s this?”
She didn’t recognize Scarlett, but Scarlett recognized her.
She was Nathaniel’s girlfriend-or rather, current girlfriend-Riley Jordan.
Nathaniel’s lips parted slightly. “Ex…”
“Neighbor,” Scarlett interrupted him quietly. “We were just former neighbors.”
Nathaniel paused, his gaze darkening slightly, but he said nothing.
Hearing this, Riley smiled and stepped forward, extending her hand. “Hello, I’m Nate’s fiancée.”
She emphasized the word “fiancée” heavily.
Scarlett lowered her head and saw a ring with a pink diamond on Riley’s finger.
The diamond caught the sunlight, reflecting a glare that stabbed painfully into Scarlett’s eyes.
She found herself asking, “You’re getting married?”
Riley smiled sweetly. “Yes, Nate proposed just last month.”
“Oh… congratulations.”
Scarlett looked up at Nathaniel, forcing a casual tone. “When’s the date?”
Nathaniel looked at her for a moment, then stated flatly, “July 1st.”
Scarlett froze, feeling as if a knife had been plunged into her heart.
Her smile instantly faded.
uly 1st.
That was the day she was scheduled to die.
