A Year of Punishment

I rushed to the city’s most luxurious villa district. This had once been our love nest, Zann’s and mine. Now, it overflowed with guests, bright and jubilant.

Wanda stood before a six-tier cake, wearing a glittering tiara on her head and a couture gown flowing around her. Like a princess, she clung to Zann’s arm.

She closed her eyes, clasped her hands, and smiled blissfully as she made her wish.

“I wish to always stay by Zanny’s side.”

Zann gazed at her with adoring eyes, a tender smile drawn.

He then retrieved a velvet box from his pocket.

My breath hitched.

I knew that box all too well.

Inside was a necklace, the token of our love he had given me on our wedding day.

A year ago, I had to sell it to cover his medical bills.

Back then, he’d promised he’d buy me something better someday.

Yet now, that very necklace rested around Wanda’s neck.

She touched it, feigning hesitation as she said, “Zanny, thank you for granting my birthday wish.

“But didn’t this belong to Neve? Won’t she be upset…”

A flicker of guilt crossed Zann’s face before he quickly regained his composure.

“It’s fine,” he said calmly. “She won’t mind. I’ll get her a better one.”

Applause thundered through the villa as I stood at the edge of the crowd, watching as my heart was carved raw.

He had already redeemed our token of love all along, just not for me.

I stumbled out of the villa as my phone began to vibrate frantically in my palm.

Wanda’s messages came one after another, each word like a knife.

[I recognized you at the club that day. Zann Lima is mine, and so is the necklace. You’re nothing but a stray dog.

[You might as well go die, Neve Steele.]

My nails dug into my palm as I stared at the screen. The taste of blood filled my mouth.

By the time I stumbled back to my apartment, night had fallen.

The strong painkillers were almost worn off. The doctor said once the effects were gone, my time would be up too.

The moment I opened the door, Zann greeted me as he rolled over his wheelchair. An apologetic smile appeared on his face as he said, “Eve, I qualify for the clinical trials!

“I’ll be able to walk again soon!

“Then, I’ll reclaim the Lima family! And you’ll be my Donna once more!”

I stared at the unappetizing plate of aglio olio, charred shrimp shells clinging to it, with my emotions tangled beyond words.

Noticing my blank stare at the dish, he scratched his head awkwardly.

“It might not look great, but it should taste okay.”

Then he pulled out a crude, handmade string necklace.

“Eve, look. I made this necklace for you. Once my legs are healed, I’ll find a way to buy back your necklace,” he spoke in regret etched on his face.

I accepted it, fingertips brushing its rough surface. My heart felt as if something was stuck in my throat.

After a moment of silence, I didn’t call him out.

I simply sat down and forced down the aglio olio, salty and bitter, bite by bite.

Early next morning, Zann rose before dawn. He changed into clean clothes and said to me energetically, “Eve, I’m going to the hospital for surgery, and will come back anew. I’ll make you the most dazzling Donna. Just wait for me.”

With a bitter smile curling my lips, I looked at him and replied, “I will.”

After he left, my brain cancer flared up.

A wave of excruciating pain washed over me as my vision turned black and I collapsed to the floor.

In my hazy consciousness, I seemed to have returned to our childhood.

Zann was braiding my hair, holding a piece of candy, smiling warmly as he said, “Neve, when I grow up, I’ll build you a castle and make you the happiest princess.”

Trembling, I mustered my last ounce of strength. With bloodstained fingers, I slid across the screen to send my last message.

[Zann, I’m not waiting anymore. My life repays you and Wanda. Bury me with my parents.]

Each word drained every ounce of energy from my body, as if pouring all the grievances, agony, and despair of the past year into that brief message.

When the message was sent, every shred of burden was lifted.

I closed my eyes, utterly drained.

My phone rang ceaselessly beside me.

Was Zann calling? Or more taunting messages from Wanda?

I could no longer hear. It didn’t matter anyway.

All I felt was exhaustion, so utterly tired, and all I wanted was to sleep and never wake up again.

In the hospital, the red light outside the operating room went out.

The doctor removed his mask and gestured “OK” to Zann.

Relief washed over him. He ripped off the monitoring device and headed straight for the exit.

Feigning weakness and feeling frantic inwardly, he was desperate to rush back to the apartment to see me.

The moment he stepped out of the hospital doors, a luxurious SUV abruptly pulled up before him.

The car door swung open, and Wanda rushed toward him with tears streaming down her face while clutching a custom-made cake.

“Zanny, you promised to make up a special birthday trip for me! Have you forgotten my ‘depression’ isn’t fully healed yet?”

Her sobs shook her body like a willow in the wind, her frame trembling as if a breeze could knock her over.

Zann frowned deeply. Looking at the pitiable sight of his childhood friend, he was in a tangled mess.

He had indeed made that promise. And her depression had always weighed heavily on him like a heavy stone.

He sighed, bound by “responsibility,” and ultimately nodded.

Wanda immediately broke into a smile and proceeded to carefully help him into the car.

A faint perfume scent filled the cabin, but it stung his senses.

Zann pulled out his phone, intending to text me to say his surgery went well and to tell me not to worry.

Before he could type, however, Wanda suddenly clutched her chest as her face turned pale.

“Zanny… I feel sick. Carsick.”

As she spoke, she collapsed onto him, and the red wine in her hand spilled and splashed directly onto his phone.

“What are you doing!” Zann snapped, pushing her away.

Wanda fell right back into his arms due to the momentum, sobbing even harder.

“I’m sorry, Zanny. I didn’t mean to. I just felt so sick…”

Zann stared at the woman sobbing heartbreakingly in his arms, then glanced at his black screen as his irritation simmered over.

“It’s fine,” he said after taking a deep breath to force himself to calm down.

“It’s not your fault, it’s okay.”

His gaze, however, drifted through the car window, fixed on the distant horizon.

Silently, he repeated my name, “Eve, Eve…”

He reassured himself that he was merely accompanying Wanda on a trip. Upon his return, I’d surely rejoice at his “recovery”.

While he bent down to wipe the wine from his clothes, Wanda deftly swiped his phone from his pocket.

Her fingers danced on the screen, unlocking it in a flash. Her gaze locked on my final message, each word as if written with every drop of blood and every ounce of strength I had was poured into it.

Her lips curved into a cold smile. Without hesitation, she deleted it.

She proceeded to block my number, turn off all notifications, and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

All these were done in merely seconds, yet they had altered everyone’s fate.

The vehicle continued down the road toward the airport, yet Zann felt a hollow emptiness in his chest, as if something vital was quietly slipping away.

Again and again, his hand brushed the phone in his pocket, yet he never found the courage to turn it on and check.

Wanda saw it all, panic flickering in her heart, but she hid it behind chatter and laughter while clinging to him.

That night, she woke screaming from a nightmare and threw herself into his arms.

“I dreamt you left me, Zanny… I was so scared…” she said in a trembling voice.

Zann sighed helplessly, patting her back gently.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m here,” he said softly.

Yet, his gaze drifted through the car window, fixed on the pitch-black night sky.

He silently murmured to himself again, “Eve, what are you doing right now? Do you miss me?”

During the day, Wanda had deliberately planned visits to remote places under the guise of adventure.

No signal, no messages; the poor network reception had rendered Zann’s phone nearly useless.

He tried several times to contact me, yet he failed each time.

Wanda kept brainwashing him, saying, “Neve loves you so much. She must be waiting for you at home. She won’t blame you.”

His resolve was slowly fading as her words temporarily suppressed his doubts.

Without realizing it, he sank deeper into the web of lies Wanda had woven around him.