Gale thought to herself that it should still be early in the morning because Shawn always woke up early. She had only slept in the early hours of the morning, tormented by him, yet she felt surprisingly refreshed with only a few hours of sleep. Gale glanced drowsily at the clock. It was one in the afternoon. She was startled. It was already this late.Instinctively, she wanted to wake Shawn up, but seeing him sleep so deeply, she hesitated. He had been up so late last night. She thought he should rest a little longer. Gale relaxed into his embrace, obediently not moving to avoid waking him up. "Hmm? Awake?" Shawn murmured with a low hum. "What time is it?""One o'clock," she replied softly.He did not respond, just rolled over and pulled her in closer. "When did you wake up? I didn't make any noise to wake you," Gale asked. "I woke up when you woke up.""Really?"Shawn smirked, his eyes still closed. "It's time to get up; it's already afternoon," Gale poked his chest.

Gale took a sip of coffee. "You're really so healthy and fit. I can't walk anymore. Let's skip shopping today and rest."Healthy and fit? No, that was far from the truth. Shawn's expression darkened. He had already been diagnosed with cancer. Just thinking about his illness made his throat dry and itchy, uncontrollably urging him to cough. He had thrown away the medicine; he knew he would only cough more violently in the future.Shawn was in a state of confusion now. He knew the outcome and knew where he was headed, but he had not figured out how to handle it. Should he face the outcome alone, or should he let someone face it with him? He cherished every minute and every second spent with Gale more and more. "I'm going to the restroom." Gale stood up. "Let's head home after. Joshua and Nicole should be home from school soon.""Okay," Shawn said, crossing his legs and watching her walk away.He always managed to spot her in a crowd. In his eyes, she was unique. What should he do a

After pausing, Aurum softened his tone. "I'm not here to argue with you, Shawn. You want to protect Gale, and so do I. If you can't, then let me. I've done a lot of things I shouldn't have, and I know I was wrong.""But, Gale doesn't know the truth. Let's keep her in the dark. Otherwise, with your illness and my despicable actions, how could she bear all of it?"Shawn lifted his chin. "Aurum, listen. The reason I haven't given the evidence to Gale yet isn't because of my illness. It's because you have those photos of Ivy. Understand?"Aurum hadn't expected that Shawn still intended to give the evidence to Gale."Shawn, you're dying, and you still want to expose me in front of Gale, making her hate me?""If she hates you, it's your own doing, you deserve it!"Shawn's stance didn't waver. In fact, he loathed Aurum's hypocriticism even more."Fine, Shawn, have you considered that if you tell Gale everything I've done, she'll distance herself from me? After you're gone, if somethi

Out of the corner of his eye, Shawn watched Aurum walk away before he slowly released Gale. He even wiped away the drool at the corner of her mouth.“This is so embarrassing. How am I supposed to face people now?” Gale buried her face in his chest. “So many people saw it!”“So what if they saw? I'm kissing my wife; it's perfectly natural,” Shawn said.“It's not prudent to do it in public.”Shawn replied calmly, “What's the harm? What's so bad about it? If someone wants to kiss someone but doesn't have anyone, I'm just making single people envious."Gale burst out laughing. Just then, her phone rang. She thought it was Shawn's and said, “See, you're playing hooky from work, and now Fiona is calling... I really feel sorry for Fiona. Being the assistant to the president is such a tough job.”“It’s your phone, Galey.”“What?!”Gale checked and saw it was indeed her phone ringing, and the call was from Ivy. She answered immediately, “Hello, Ivy.”“Gale, are you free tonight?” Ivy a

He hadn't handed over the evidence yet because he had to protect Ivy.“President Wood, that’s not what I want. It's what you and Aurum want.” Ivy's voice pulled Shawn back to reality. “I’ve always said, I want to make the evidence public, I want Aurum's true face exposed. I want him and Paul to bear the consequences and pay the price!”“Ivy, you know better than I do what will happen if those photos of you and Paul get online!”“I don’t care! If my career is ruined, so be it!”Shawn frowned. “You can give up your career, but not your life! You’re still so young!”Those unsightly photos would circulate online, to be viewed and talked about by many. No matter how many years passed, people would still remember. The humiliation would torture her for years.“The moment Aurum sent me to Paul's bed, I was already destroyed!” Ivy said, shaking her head. “No, it’s not right. From the day I met Aurum, I was no longer myself.”Shawn's sharp gaze fell on her. “Do you still love him?”“Yes.