He Proposed to Her on a Mountain, I Got a Cancer Diagnosis in a Hospital Chapter 02

He Proposed to Her on a Mountain, I Got a Cancer Diagnosis in a Hospital Chapter 02

When I first met Nathan, he was not yet the world-famous pianist he would become.

Back then, his parents were going through a divorce.

His father wanted the older brother. His mother wanted the younger sister.

He was the only one neither of them wanted, passed back and forth like a burden.

I felt sorry for him, so I begged my parents to adopt him.

When I realized he loved the piano, I asked my grandfather to call in a favor and get him piano lessons.

Thankfully, Nathan lived up to every expectation. He was astonishingly gifted.

In just a few short years, he reached a level other people spent more than a decade chasing.

The day he won his first award, he set the trophy on my nightstand.

Then he dropped to his knees in front of my family’s memorial portraits and swore an oath.

“I, Nathan Sterling, swear that I will be good only to Grace Bennett.”

“In this lifetime, I will marry her and treasure her like the most precious thing in the world.”

He practiced harder and harder, and the awards kept coming.

At twenty, he used every dollar of his prize money to pay for our wedding.

At the ceremony, he played a piece meant for me alone.

Then he married me with tears in his eyes.

We had a few years of newlywed bliss.

Until the name Lila Monroe started appearing more and more often.

She was his duet partner.

One day, I brought soup to visit him during rehearsal, only to walk in on him proposing to Lila in front of everyone.

I charged forward like I had lost my mind and demanded to know why he was doing it.

But right there in front of the entire room, he had someone throw me out.

I screamed until my voice broke, and all I could do was watch him kiss her.

Nathan did not come home until the following evening.

My throat tightened. “Nathan, let’s get divorced.”

He sighed and wrapped his arms around me from behind.

“No, honey. I swear there’s nothing going on between me and Lila.”

“The proposal was just because of the pact in the group. Every man takes a turn proposing to her. This time, it just happened to be mine.”

He gently brushed away my tears with his thumb.

“You know how awful her childhood was, and she was bullied by boys for years. We’re only trying to help her as coworkers.”

“We’re married. Are you really not willing to give me even that much trust?”

Looking into his sincere eyes, I chose to believe him.

He did many of the things that couples were supposed to do together with Lila.

The day I got sick with a high fever, I begged him to stay and take care of me.

But one phone call from Lila was all it took for him to leave me behind again.

Then one day, I discovered by accident that a huge sum had been taken from our account.

Nathan had done it.

I searched everywhere for him, and in the end, I found him at Lila’s house.

“Nathan, why did you take money out of that account?”

He did not look bothered in the slightest. He only reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind Lila’s ear.

“Lila’s never had a decent piano. That money was just sitting there doing nothing, so I used it to make her dream come true.”

“This piano is gorgeous, Grace. Come take a look.”

I clenched my fists and fought to keep myself under control.

“Nathan, that was our future baby fund. We agreed neither of us would touch it.”

The corner of his mouth tightened, then impatience took over. “We don’t even have a child yet, so what if I used it?”

“I’ll put the money back later when I’ve earned more. Stop making such a big deal out of this.”

My eyes stung. I raised my hand and slapped him across the face.

“Nathan, I started saving that money back when we were dating. Sell it and pay me back.”

Lila gasped and hurried to check Nathan’s face.

“Nathan, are you okay? I’m fine, really.”

“Maybe you should sell it and give Grace the money back. I’m not worth causing this much conflict between you.”

Nathan turned to me with a frown.

“Grace, what’s gotten into you now? I already told you I’d make it up.”

“For a child that doesn’t even exist, you’d really destroy Lila’s dream of making music? Your child matters, but her dream doesn’t?”

I was shaking with anger. I grabbed a chair nearby and hurled it at them.

But Lila threw herself in front of Nathan and blocked it.

“Grace, don’t be angry. I’ll talk to Nathan.”

“He only did it because he felt sorry for me, being all alone with no one to rely on…”

I dropped my gaze abruptly.

That was when I saw the ring on her hand.

“Where did that come from?”

Lila looked embarrassed. Nathan glanced at me, utterly unconcerned.

“Your wedding ring looks good with the piano, so I let Lila borrow it for a while. You’re really going to make a scene over that too?”

That casual sentence left me dazed for a moment.

He had once stayed up night after night making that wedding ring by hand. He had told me that only I suited it.

And now he had handed it to someone else as if it meant nothing.

For the past few days, while the ring was missing, I had turned the whole house upside down looking for it.

I was so anxious I could not eat, and I could not sleep.

But all he had said was:

“If it’s gone, it’s gone. I’ll buy you a new one someday.”

No wonder he had not cared.

He was the reason it was gone in the first place.

So vows really only meant something while love lasted.

My nails bit into my palms, and I could not feel a thing.

“Nathan’s kindness is more than I could ever repay,” Lila said, tears slipping down her face.

Then she rose onto her toes and kissed him on the lips.

I lunged forward to slap her, but Nathan kicked me away.

“Grace, you’re Mrs. Sterling, not a lunatic.”

“She was only thanking me. Why are you being so old-fashioned about this?”

“Thanking you?” I let out a cold laugh. “Then why doesn’t she just give herself to you while she’s at it?”

He called me unreasonable and shut me out.

Even from outside the door, I could still hear him praising Lila.