Bloom and Fade in Sunflowers

"I am willing to go to Otresh and join Doctors Without Borders." Kenia Watson's voice was firm.

The Chief Medical Officer hesitated for a moment before speaking. "The aid mission to Otresh will last at least two years. Does your husband agree with you going?"

She rotated the ring on her right hand, took a moment of silence, and then answered, "We're about to divorce. I hope you won't tell him where I'm going after I leave."

She had tolerated so much, continuously searching for the truth from years ago.

When she was diagnosed with cancer, her husband was having an affair with her stepsister.

This time, she chose to let go and leave, refusing to be entangled with him any longer.

"Hobson Watson, in a month, we will be free."

Yet, when she was critically ill, he knelt by her hospital bed, praying repeatedly for her to wake up.

......

"Dr. Watson, have you made up your mind? Otresh is engulfed in war, and you may not return."

Kenia picked up the pen from the table and resolutely signed her name. "I am willing to go to Otresh and join Doctors Without Borders."

The older Chief Medical Officer approached her and held her hand. "Like your father, you have a noble heart as a doctor. But does your husband agree with you going?"

Kenia's face softened with a gentle smile. "We're about to divorce. His opinion no longer matters."

After returning home from the hospital, what greeted her was the sight of her stepsister sitting on her husband's lap, the two intimately entwined.

She let out a cold laugh and, as she passed them, threw out a remark. "Hobson, you really have no standards if you find someone like her appealing."

Hobson's hand stroked the woman's slender waist, his deep eyes fixed on Kenia.

"Is that so? She is much better in bed than you."

With those words, they shamelessly kissed in front of her.

She cast a cold glance at them and went upstairs to her room.

Hobson watched her retreating figure, clenching his fists, but still managed a smile at the woman before him.

"Hobson, do you think she'll be angry?"

Hobson frowned slightly, caressing her right cheek.

"She loves me too much to be angry."

Once in her room, Kenia retrieved a report from the drawer, her brow furrowed.

The report felt like a dagger to her heart.

Late-stage stomach cancer.

She recalled the day of the diagnosis, pacing the hospital corridor with a restless heart, which compelled her to dial Hobson's number.

At that moment, she only wanted to hear his voice, even if he had nothing kind to say.

But the call was answered by her stepsister's voice. "Hobson is in the shower. Do you need something?"

Her hand trembled as she abruptly hung up the phone.

Hobson resented her, all because of a rumor.

When they first married, Hobson was deeply in love with her.

But in the second year of their marriage, after hearing rumors that her father's medical mistake had caused the death of his first love, he never showed her a kind face again.

Hobson publicly exposed the incident, leading to her father succumbing to the pressure and taking his own life.

He then began frequenting nightclubs and bars, bringing home one woman after another, being intimate with them in front of her.

At first, Kenia couldn't believe he no longer loved her. She repeatedly accused him, but he coldly replied, "I will never love the daughter of a murderer again."

Now, being with her stepsister was just another way to get back at her.

Hobson knew what she cared about most and how to make her heart ache.

Kenia's eyes dimmed, clutching the report tightly before tearing it into pieces and throwing them into the trash.

"Hobson, we will soon be free."