Vermilion

“You're beautiful,” James said, gently caressing Bella's lips.

Zia's face instantly paled as she watched her husband kiss and praise another woman's beauty. She took a few steps back from the slightly open door of James's office. Zia's world seemed to collapse when she found out her husband was having an affair with the person closest to her.

James's nurse was none other than Zia's best friend, Bella.

Ten minutes earlier, Bella had called Zia to inform her that James was having a seizure and asked her to bring the medication to James's office immediately.

Upon hearing the bad news about her husband's condition, Zia braved the heavy snowstorm without wearing any warm clothes, unwilling to make her husband suffer any longer while waiting for her to bring him medicine.

It never crossed Zia's mind that she would see her husband being affectionate with his nurse.

“James, how long will you keep up this charade of pretending you have a heart condition and lost your memory?” Bella asked.

“Until Zoe feels what Audrey felt,” James replied firmly.

“What do you mean?”

“I want to make Zia suffer so much that she wants to end her life.”

Like being struck by lightning, Zia's body trembled violently as she listened to James and Bella's conversation and felt the bitter cold. However, her heart felt like it was on fire.

The pain Zia felt was so intense that she couldn't describe it, realizing that James had never loved her, not even a little bit. Everything Zia believed was a lie.

James had been cheating on her, lying about his physical condition, and marrying her not out of love but to get revenge for the death of Audrey, his ex-girlfriend.

“Yes, I hope you keep your word before you finally give in and fall in love with Zia." Bella supports James.

Not wanting to hear more of James and Bella's conversation, Zia slowly walked away from Noah's office. Her steps were unsteady, almost losing her balance as she faced the bitter reality she had just discovered.

She stopped at the exit door. Reflecting on her life with James, Zia realized it had been far from good. James was always angry and punished her for every mistake, no matter how small or unintentional.

Even so, Zia tried to improve herself and understand James' anger. Zia thought that James was still hurting over Audrey's death and was unconsciously taking his pain out on her.

It never crossed her mind that James was doing all this intentionally.

“Do you want your husband to die?!”

Zia was startled when someone snatched the medicine box from her hands while shouting. It was Bella, glaring at Zia. Instead of responding, Zia just swallowed hard and stared back at Bella with a blank mind.

“ZIA!” Bella screamed.

“Y—yes.” Finally, Zoe snapped out of her reverie.

“Your husband is dying, and you're daydreaming here. Where is your common sense?!” Bella exclaimed angrily and walked ahead of Zia.

Bella had always been like that, and Zia had never once felt offended by Bella's harsh words, no matter how harsh they were. But this was the first time Bella's words had hurt her.

When she entered Noah's office, Zia was shocked to see James sitting there, weak and pale, as if he were in pain. Just a few moments ago, Zia was sure James was healthy.

His acting was genuinely excellent!

“Get some water, Zia,” Bella ordered, sitting beside Noah.

And foolishly, Zia obeyed Bella's command even though she knew the two people in front of her were pretending.