I had been stationed at a medical outpost on the edge of the western desert for eight years. In the eighth year, just when I thought our long-distance relationship, stretched across over a thousand miles, was finally about to end, my transfer request was rejected again. The reason was always the same: "Key medical personnel in remote areas, transfer temporarily deferred." With red-rimmed eyes, I dialed Ethan's number, but a little girl answered the phone. "Are you looking for my daddy?" the little girl's voice was soft and sweet. "Daddy is blow-drying Mommy's hair. They're going out for dinner soon." Daddy? That word hit me like a bucket of ice water, freezing me to the core. I thought it had to be a wrong number. After all, everyone knew how deeply Ethan loved me. He came out to the desert to see me almost every month. Even if he could only stay for one weekend, he said it was worth it. He once said, "Sarah, when you come back, we'll get married." Sarah POV Through every harsh day when sandstorms raged, and through every lonely late night under a single lamp, I relied on that promise to hold on. So how could Ethan Bennett, who had always been waiting for me to return for our wedding, possibly have built a family with another woman and had a child? I was about to hang up when a deep, gentle voice suddenly sounded. "Emma, stop playing with the phone. We're going out for dinner." That male voice, so familiar it felt carved into my bones, came through the phone without warning. It was Ethan! In an instant, my whole body went stiff, and my mind went completely blank. Ethan was actually married, and he even had a child? I was just about to question him when I suddenly heard another woman's voice follow, "Ethan, I heard Sarah's approval document for her transfer back was rejected by you again?" At those words, my breathing stopped, and my eyes widened in disbelief. The person speaking was none other than her good friend, Mia Collins. Over the phone, Ethan gave a faint "Mm." His casual response was like a sharp blade stabbing fiercely into my heart. "You can't keep rejecting her applications forever," Mia said with a sigh. "She's already twenty-eight. If she stays there any longer, she'll be past her prime. What good man with a decent background would want her in the future?" "Let's talk about it next year," Ethan said in a cold and calm tone. "If she comes back now, with her qualifications, this year's promotion spot for attending surgeon might not be yours anymore." Mia sounded a little hesitant. "But if you won't let her transfer back for the sake of my promotion, won't that be a little unfair to her?" "It's fine. She's soft-hearted and won't mind," Ethan paused, then said as if it were perfectly natural, "Besides, the desert also needs good doctors. She's treating patients there too, so there's no real difference." The call ended without warning right there. My hand trembled uncontrollably as I held the phone, unable to believe everything I had just heard. Treating patients there too... What a convenient excuse. So there was no real difference. So it turned out that the biggest thing keeping me away all these eight years was Ethan. The same man who kept saying he loved me and couldn't wait for me to come back so we could get married. And even in the year when I had the best chance of going back, he rejected my application again, just so Mia wouldn't miss out on her promotion. I felt as if all the blood in my body had frozen, as if my whole heart had been cut into countless pieces by a blade, and my body shook like a sieve. I suddenly remembered that back then, when the medical team selected someone to support a remote area, the person originally chosen was Mia. Mia was her parents' only child, and at the time, her mother happened to be seriously ill, so she nearly broke down when she learned she was about to be sent to the frontier. I looked at my friend's pale face, then looked at Ethan, who was my boyfriend at the time. I remembered the flash of pain that crossed Ethan's eyes then. Back then, I naively thought that the pain in Ethan's eyes was sympathy for Mia's situation. So my heart softened, and I volunteered to stand up and say, "I'll go. I'm in good health, and I adapt well." Ethan did not object to it, and he did not try to make me stay. He even expressed support. He held my hand, his gaze complicated, and only after a long time did he say, "Sarah, don't worry. Once you've stayed there for a full year, I'll find a way to transfer you back. I'll let you suffer for this one year first, and I'll wait for you to return." Mia hugged me even harder and cried until she could not speak. "Sarah, thank you. You're the best friend I'll ever have in my life! When you come back, I'll definitely be your bridesmaid!" But now, the man who said he would wait for me to return and the woman who said she would be my bridesmaid were together! My best friend had married the man I had spent my entire youth loving, and they even had a child! They had kept me in the dark and deceived me for a full eight years! How absurd, and how shameless! After returning to my dorm, I dragged a metal box out from under the bed. Inside were all the things Ethan had sent me over the past eight years, neatly stacked. There was a thick pile of letters, each one written in his handwriting, and every signature at the end was always "waiting for you." Yet now, looking at those words again and at his caring lines in the letters, I only found them painfully ironic. There were also scarves, books, and other things he had sent me... I had once treasured every single item like a precious gift, and they had been the warmth and motivation that supported me through this harsh environment. But now their existence seemed to silently mock my stupidity and ridiculousness all these years. If not for that phone call, I might still have no idea that my best friend and the man I loved most had betrayed me long ago. My eyes were red, tears blurred my vision, and my heart felt as if it were being twisted by a knife, hurting so badly that even my breathing trembled. I never wanted to see these things again, so I threw them all into the fire pit one by one. I let everything I had once treasured be swallowed by the flames and burn to ashes. Just then, the station supervisor knocked on my door, his expression grave. "I just received news that your mother is critically ill and is being resuscitated at the hospital. They said you must go back as soon as possible no matter what!"
Sarah POV My mother was critically ill and being resuscitated? Hearing that shocking news, my vision went black, and I had to hold on to the doorframe to steady myself. But my transfer order had just been rejected, and leaving my post without permission would have serious consequences. I was so anxious that I paced in circles, and with no other choice, I went to the phone booth again and dialed the number I knew by heart once more. This time, Ethan himself answered the phone. "Ethan!" I begged with a choked voice. "My mom is critically ill and being resuscitated. Please help me find a way, okay? Let me go back and see my mom..." Back then, my parents had disagreed with my application to go far away to the western desert, but with Ethan's support, I had stubbornly gone ahead and broken their hearts. At the time, I thought I was only going there for one short year and would not be separated from them for long. Unexpectedly, once I came here, it lasted eight years. For a full eight years, I could not go back to visit my parents. If I could go back, I would apologize to Mom and Dad in person and stay by their side properly. However, the other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds. Then Ethan refused me in his usual calm tone. "I already know about your mother's condition. I'll help you contact the best doctors, so just stay there." "No!" I said in a panicked rush. "Ethan, my mom isn't just sick. She's being resuscitated! This might be the last time I get to see her..." "I know," Ethan interrupted me with a hint of displeasure. "But under the current circumstances, even if you come back, it won't help. The station needs you more." My expression froze, as if I had heard something inside my chest shatter completely. I never imagined that at the critical moment when my mother was critically ill and being resuscitated, he would still be so heartless. Over the phone, Ethan said softly again, "Sarah, I want you to come back as soon as possible more than anyone. I'll definitely transfer you back next year. But the prerequisite is that you don't abandon your work without permission." He wanted me to go back as soon as possible more than anyone? It was as if I had heard the biggest joke in the world, because the person who least wanted me to go back was clearly him, wasn't it? Next year, and next year again... Over all these years, he had used eight next years to give me hope again and again, trapping me in this desert like I was a fool and spinning me in circles with his lies. Now that things had come to this, did he think I would still believe in some so-called next year? "Ethan," I said with my nerves stretched tight, hearing myself ask him in an unusually calm voice, "what exactly am I to you?" After a brief silence, his slightly impatient voice came through. "Sarah, stop making trouble. Be good and follow the arrangements. After your transfer request is approved next year, I'll personally go there and bring you back." I was just about to speak when I suddenly heard a childish voice. "Daddy, you promised to take Mommy and me to the aquarium. When are we leaving?" "We're going now." The busy tone sounded, and the call was hung up. I stood frozen in place, endless cold sinking deep into my bones. My mother was on the brink of life and death in the emergency room, and he would not even let me go back to see her for the last time, while he himself was going to accompany Mia and their child to the aquarium? Was this the man I had loved for ten years? Was this my best friend? Endless disappointment turned into blade after blade, piercing my heart over and over. At that moment, I could not care about anything else, and a wild thought began to grow in my mind. I could not just sit there and wait helplessly. I had to go back and see my mother one last time! I turned and went to the station supervisor's office, placing an application form on his desk. The station supervisor adjusted his glasses, looked it over, and stood up in shock. "Application to join the international peacekeeping medical team? Sarah, are you kidding me? Do you know what kind of place that is? It's a conflict zone, the language is different, and there are infectious diseases! Once you go, it's at least two years, and..." "Supervisor, I heard that team members who voluntarily sign up for the peacekeeping medical team get a half-month family visit leave before departure, and they also receive assistance with urgent family matters. Is that true?" "Yes, that rule exists, but..." "No buts." I raised my head, my eyes slightly red, but my gaze was resolute. "My mother is critically ill. This is the only way I can get back to see her as soon as possible. Please approve it." The station supervisor knew about her relationship with Ethan and hesitated. "Then have you discussed this with Director Bennett?" "My affairs," I said coldly and firmly, "have nothing to do with him from now on." That afternoon, the approval document stamped with a red seal came down. Along with it came a special emergency family visit leave slip and a bus ticket for the fastest route to the provincial train station. That evening, she boarded the bus leaving the station.
Sarah POV After two straight days of bumpy travel, I finally arrived in New York. On this journey, I had barely closed my eyes, and I was still wearing the old coat I had put on when I left the station. It was covered in travel dust, and my hair was a little messy. But I could not care about any of that. I did not even have time to go home and drop off my luggage. As soon as I got off the bus, I dragged my suitcase straight to the hospital. However, the moment I stepped into the hospital, my steps suddenly stopped. At the end of my line of sight, a familiar figure appeared before my eyes. The man stood tall and straight, wearing a well-tailored dark coat. His bearing was noble and gentle, and even among the bustling crowd, he was still the kind of person people noticed at a glance. It was Ethan. He was holding a little girl about five or six years old in his arms. The child lay weakly against his shoulder, her small face flushed with an abnormal redness, and she looked very unwell. And the woman standing beside him was none other than Mia. They were talking to a doctor in a white coat, and Mia reached out from time to time to touch the child's forehead, her face full of worry, while Ethan tilted his head slightly and comforted her in a low voice. What a warm and harmonious scene for a family of three. I froze in place. Even though I had already known all of this from that phone call, and even though I had kept telling myself along the way to stay calm, not to care, and that it was not worth it. But when this scene truly crashed into my eyes, I still felt as if someone had stabbed me hard in the chest. Just then, Ethan seemed to sense something, and his gaze swept over casually. The moment our eyes met, his expression first turned shocked, then quickly became angry. "Sarah?" The words almost burst out of him, his tone full of disbelief. I withdrew my gaze, did not want to deal with him, and turned to leave. But I had just taken one step when Ethan stuffed the child into Mia's arms, strode after me, and blocked my path in just a few steps. "Why are you here?" He looked me up and down, his gaze sweeping over my travel-worn appearance and the suitcase beside me. Instead of showing even a word of concern, he furrowed his brows. "Did you run back on your own?" His voice was very low and carried obvious anger. "Sarah Lane, do you know what kind of issue it is to leave your post without permission? Do you know you'll be punished? This is absolutely reckless!" "I didn't..." I had just tried to say that I had come back with approval, but Ethan cut me off and grabbed my arm with so much force that it hurt. "Come on. I'll take you to the station and buy you the earliest ticket back. After you go back, write a proper self-criticism and accept the punishment!" He dragged me outside, his steps fast and urgent. He pulled me so hard that I stumbled and almost tripped. "Daddy!" Suddenly, from not far behind us, the child cried noisily, her voice full of tears. "Daddy, I want Daddy to hold me..." Ethan's movements clearly paused. That word, Daddy, was like a needle stabbing into my eardrum. My face turned even uglier, and I forcefully shook off his hand, my voice as cold as ice. "Ethan, I don't need you managing my affairs. If you have time to worry about whether I'll be disciplined, you should go take care of your own daughter first!" Ethan froze, and a trace of guilt flashed quickly through his eyes. "Sarah, it's not what you saw. I..." He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but Mia, who was walking over with the child in her arms, interrupted him. "Ethan." Mia stopped in front of us, and when she looked at me, surprise and complicated emotions intertwined in her eyes. "Sarah, when did you come back? Why didn't you tell us in advance? Ethan and I could have gone to pick you up." Looking at her hypocritical face, my stomach churned, and I felt utterly disgusted. But I was anxious to see her mother now, and for the moment, I had neither the time nor the energy to settle accounts with them. Without saying a word, I pressed my lips together coldly, turned, and walked away. "Sarah!" Ethan instinctively stepped forward to chase after me. "Ethan." Mia grabbed his sleeve with one hand and said anxiously and worriedly, "Emma has a high fever and feels awful right now. She keeps crying for you to hold her. Let's take Emma to see the doctor first, okay?" The child lay on Mia's shoulder, whimpering in discomfort, and called to him weakly, "Daddy... hold me..." Ethan stopped in his tracks. He looked back at his listless daughter, then looked at me. A few seconds later, he took the child. "Okay. Daddy will take you to the doctor." When I had walked some distance away and could not help looking back, the three of them were already gone from the lobby. I could not help tugging my lips in a mocking smile. It turned out that whether he cared or not was so obvious, yet I only understood it today. All these years, I had truly been blind to love a man like that for so long.
Sarah POV I found my mother's ward, and the moment I pushed open the door, my fingers were trembling. On the hospital bed, my mother lay with her eyes closed, her face sallow, and monitoring equipment surrounded the bedside. My father sat beside her, with far more white hair at his temples than I remembered, and he looked utterly exhausted. Hearing the door open, my father looked up. When he saw that the person standing in the doorway was the daughter he had not seen in eight years, my father froze for a long while, and his eyes instantly reddened. "Sarah?" My mother also slowly opened her eyes, her cloudy gaze focusing on my face. Her lips trembled a few times, and tears slid down from the corners of her eyes. "Sarah, I thought I wouldn't get to see you before I died." "Mom, please don't say that." I threw myself to the bedside and held my mother's thin, bony hand. My throat felt as if something had blocked it, and for a long time, I could not speak. My father wiped his eyes and stood up. "I'll go call the doctor." The doctor came quickly, flipped through the medical record, and looked at the monitoring data, his expression not relaxed. "Ms. Lane, your mother's condition... to be honest, it isn't very optimistic." My heart tightened. "Doctor, didn't my mom already make it through resuscitation?" "She did make it through resuscitation," the doctor sighed. "But your mother's heart disease has been recurring again and again for so many years, and each time, her condition gets worse than the last. This time is especially serious. Although her vital signs are stable for now, she still needs continued observation, and whether she can completely get out of danger is still hard to say." It had been recurring again and again for so many years, and her condition had gotten worse each time? I felt a chill rush up from the soles of my feet, and my whole body felt as if it had fallen into an ice cellar. I knew my mother's heart was not good. All these years, every time I spoke with Ethan on the phone, I would ask about my parents' health. Ethan always answered her, "Don't worry. They're both in good health." "Your mom has been in good spirits recently." "Everything is being watched over by me. Don't worry." He had never mentioned a single word about my mother's heart disease recurring again and again, or that her condition was getting worse year by year! I had never doubted what he said, but he had even lied to me about something like this! I stood where I was, my hands ice-cold, my fingertips trembling. "Sarah?" My mother's voice pulled back my thoughts. "Come here and let me take a good look at you." I suppressed the surging emotions and sat back down beside the bed. My mother held my hand and carefully studied my face, her eyes full of heartache. "You've lost weight. You must have suffered a lot over there." "It wasn't hard, Mom. I'm doing fine." "Silly girl, I know you don't like to complain." My mother caught her breath and said weakly, "My body is getting worse year by year, and I probably don't have many years left. I only have one wish now, and that is to see you get married." She tightened her grip on my hand. "Since you're back this time, pick a date and marry Ethan. You two have been together for so many years, and he has been waiting for you all this time. It hasn't been easy for him." A sharp pain twisted at the tip of my heart, as if it were being cut back and forth by a dull knife. I lowered my lashes and shook my head bitterly. "Mom, this marriage... I won't go through with it." My mother froze, and my father also looked stunned. "Everything was fine, so why are you suddenly saying you won't get married?" My mother grew anxious and struggled to sit up. "Did something happen? Did you and Ethan fight?" I opened my mouth, but I did not know how to say it. How was I supposed to tell my mother that the man everyone thought was waiting for me to come back and marry him had already had a wife and child long ago? How was I supposed to tell my mother that the future son-in-law our whole family trusted had not only hidden his marriage and child from me, but had also hidden my mother's illness from me and deceived me again and again? In everyone's eyes, once I returned, I should marry Ethan. After all, everyone knew about our relationship of so many years, everyone knew he was waiting for me, and everyone thought we were a match made in heaven. But what was the truth? He had turned my eight years of trust and deep love into a complete joke. But I could not say these things. If I said them, my mother would worry. If I said them, my mother might become so angry that her condition would worsen. I took a deep breath and forced out a smile. "Mom, we didn't fight. I have something else going on." She paused, then made up an excuse. "I've applied for an opportunity to study abroad, and the higher-ups have already approved it. I only have half a month to come back and stay with you, and after half a month, I have to leave." "Study abroad?" Mom and Dad looked at each other, both stunned. "Mm." I nodded. "So the wedding can only be put on hold for now." As soon as I finished speaking, the ward door was suddenly shoved open. I turned back and saw Ethan stride in, his face terrifyingly dark. "Who's going abroad? Going to what country?"
Sarah POV My expression instantly turned cold, and my voice held no warmth at all. "This is my business. It has nothing to do with you." Ethan's brows were tightly knitted. "How does it have nothing to do with me? You were transferred from our hospital to the western desert, and you can't come back without approval. But what did you do?" His tone was stern. "You have no sense of responsibility. You left your post without permission and snuck back here, and now you're making up some excuse about going abroad? Sarah, do you know how terrible an impact this will cause?" Listening to his series of questions and accusations, I sneered in my heart. So after all these years, it turned out that in his heart, I was this kind of irresponsible person. He did not even have the most basic trust in me. Ethan stopped looking at me and turned toward my parents by the hospital bed, his tone easing a little yet still heavy. "Sarah snuck back this time. If she's found out, the consequences will be unimaginable. I have to send her back immediately, and I hope you can understand." My mother's face went pale, and my father froze too, looking at me in disbelief. "Sarah, did you really sneak back?" "No." I frowned and explained to my parents, "I came back with approval." I took the leave slip out of my coat pocket and handed it over. Ethan reached out first and snatched the paper. Without even looking at it, he tore the leave slip into scraps in his hand the next second. "Sarah!" He flung the scraps into the air and said darkly, "You actually dare to forge a leave slip. That makes your offense even worse!" Seeing the family visit leave slip I had only gotten by joining the international peacekeeping medical team be torn apart without hesitation by him, I was so angry that my whole body shook. "Ethan, what right do you have to tear up my leave slip? Are you insane?" Ethan's eyes grew even darker, and without giving me any chance to argue, he grabbed my arm with one hand, his grip so strong it felt like he was going to crush my bones. "Come on. You're coming back with me right now. I'll help you fight for a lighter punishment as much as possible!" "Let go of me!" I struggled desperately, but he was too strong, and I was dragged two staggering steps toward the door. Just then, my mother's urgent cry came from behind me. "Sarah!" I turned back and saw my mother anxiously struggling to sit up from the bed, her face pale, gasping for breath, and reaching out as if she wanted to grab something. "Sarah." Before the words fell, my mother's body went limp, and she collapsed straight back onto the bed, closing her eyes. The monitor suddenly let out a piercing alarm. "Mom!" I did not know where the strength came from, but I suddenly shook off Ethan's hand and threw myself to the bedside. My father was also terrified and shouted with a trembling voice, "Wake up!" "Mom! Mom, don't scare me!" I frantically pressed the call button at the head of the bed, my voice hoarse and broken. "Doctor! Doctor, hurry! Someone come quickly!" The doctor soon rushed over, checked my mother's condition, and looked grave. "The patient's condition is critical. She must be resuscitated immediately." "Then resuscitate her!" I was so anxious that tears fell straight down. "What are you standing there for? Hurry!" But the doctor did not move. He stood there, his gaze passing over me and turning toward Ethan, who stood at the door. I followed his gaze and instantly understood. This was Ethan's hospital. Here, his power was greater than the sky. Ethan met my eyes, his expression calm and his tone flat. "Sarah, as long as you're willing to honestly go back to the desert with me and accept the punishment, I'll immediately arrange for people to resuscitate your mother, use the best imported medicine, and guarantee her safety." My breathing stopped, and all the blood in my body seemed to freeze at that moment. I looked in disbelief at the man before me, the man I had loved for a full ten years and once thought I would spend my whole life with. To keep Mia from losing her promotion spot, he was actually using my mother's life to force me back to that desert? All my disappointment, anger, and sorrow broke through my chest like a flood. But as I looked at my mother's pale face on the hospital bed, unconscious and unmoving, every second of delay meant another degree of danger for her. So at that moment, I could not explode, and I could not go against him. The most important thing right now was to save my mother first, because nothing mattered more than her safety. I clenched my hands tightly, my nails digging into my palms, desperately holding back all my emotions. "Fine." I heard my own voice, barely forced out of my throat. "I'll go back with you." Only then did Ethan smile in satisfaction. "If you had listened this obediently earlier, she wouldn't have passed out from anger again." Hearing that sentence, I felt cold all over. I thought, it's fine. Once I return, the supervisor can prove she came back with approval.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "NovelMaster" app ? search for "449018", and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster