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."

The next morning, Kenia descended the stairs and saw two people seated at the dining table.

She halted her steps. No matter the circumstances before, he never allowed those women to stay overnight. Eliana Quinn, her stepsister, had become the first.

Struggling to suppress her complicated emotions, she walked towards the kitchen, avoiding the sight of the two people being intimate.

Kenia picked up a bowl, ready to serve herself porridge, when Eliana strutted in, heels clicking against the floor.

She looked up at the exaggerated outfit of the woman in front of her.

It was really amusing to be dressed like that early in the morning.

Eliana deliberately approached her, tauntingly, "Kenia, I'm going to snatch everything from you, one by one. Now that he doesn't love you anymore, let's see how long you can hold onto being the lady of the house!"

After serving the porridge, Kenia abruptly placed the spoon down and met her gaze.

"Stop daydreaming. You only deserve to take what I don't want."

Eliana stamped her foot in anger. "What do you mean!"

Kenia had no intention of continuing the argument, but unexpectedly, Eliana bumped into her, knocking over the bowl of steaming porridge in her hand. The bowl shattered, and porridge splattered everywhere.

Eliana cried out, "Ouch! That hurts! Kenia, why would you do this to me?"

Hobson heard the commotion, pushed open the glass door, and hurried towards her, carefully inspecting her right hand.

"Hobson, I know Kenia doesn't like me, I can leave. But I didn't expect..."

Upon hearing this, Hobson looked at Kenia with a cold gaze. "Kenia, I never thought you could be so vicious, just like your father!"

She wanted to argue, but his icy stare silenced her as he picked up Eliana and headed out.

Watching their retreating figures, she glanced at her arm, reddened from the hot porridge, and took a sharp breath.

"Kenia, I swear I'll never let you get hurt in this life, I'll always protect you!"

His promise from when they were in love suddenly echoed in her mind, and she let out a bitter laugh.

While tending to her burn, Kenia received a message from a colleague at the hospital.

She opened it to find a photo of Hobson carrying Eliana.

"Dr. Watson, your husband called all the ER doctors to come here for this woman because of a minor burn!"

She sighed deeply and typed a few words. "It's fine, we're about to divorce."

"Oh god! Well, it's better to be rid of a cheating man like that!"

Seeing her colleague stand up for her, she smiled and put down her phone.

Hobson hadn't returned home for many days. In these days, she completed several major surgeries and returned home late at night, only to find the vast villa empty.

Kenia slipped off her high heels, leaned against the door, and crouched down.

Though she had grown accustomed to his absence long ago, the loneliness still lingered.

Kenia trudged back to her room, weary, and retrieved an album from the drawer. She traced her fingers over her portrait, her thoughts drawn to memories.

It was a collection of 99 portraits Hobson had drawn for her when they were in love. People said that a notorious playboy settled down after finding true love.

Back then, he had pursued her relentlessly after their first meeting in the university art studio, proposing under an extravagant fireworks display over a port.

She removed the ring from her right hand, stayed silent for a long time, and finally placed it on the divorce papers.

In the morning, Kenia had just finished a surgery and returned to her office for a brief rest when the emergency department nurse knocked on her door, breathless.

"Dr. Watson! There is a patient who was in a car accident and needs urgent medical attention!"

She didn't hesitate for a moment, grabbed her white coat, and hurried out. After getting dressed, she entered the operating room and saw the man on the operating table, covered in wounds.

Her hand trembled as she picked up the scalpel.

The man on the operating table seemed to muster all his strength to say one sentence. "I want a different lead surgeon!"

Colleagues around her all turned their eyes towards her. She glanced at the man drenched in blood and placed the scalpel back on the tray.

"Call Dr. Lambert. He has more experience."

With heavy steps, Kenia walked out of the operating room and waited quietly outside to see what would happen inside.

Suddenly, the nurse rushed out, and Kenia quickly spoke up. "What's wrong?"

The nurse, sweating profusely and anxious, said, "The patient is hemorrhaging severely and urgently needs blood!"

Kenia pondered for a few seconds. "Take mine!"

The nurse was stunned.

"Don't just stand there! His blood type is very rare, and we don't have time to get it from the blood bank!"

Before drawing blood, the nurse hesitated, unsure if she should proceed.

"Dr. Watson, can your body handle it?"

"Saving his life is what matters most."

The surgery concluded successfully. Kenia, pale but determined, walked to his hospital room.

Hearing the voices inside, her hand paused mid-air, resting on the doorknob.

"Hobson, I'm so relieved you're awake! I was so scared. Please don't do dangerous things for me again!"

The man gently stroked her hair, a smile forming on his lips.

"The prize for the race was the necklace you've always wanted. I wanted to make you happy."

Kenia stood motionless at the door, unsure how to face it all.

She had risked everything to donate blood for him, yet her husband had risked his life for a lover's smile.

"Hobson, I heard you had a hemorrhage. It was my blood that saved you. It hurt a lot!"

Hobson looked at the woman's arm, his expression softening.

"Eliana, you're so good to me. I'll have my assistant buy you the latest handbag as compensation."

Kenia didn't rush in to argue. Maybe she would have in the past, but now she didn't care at all.

She watched the two embrace through the glass door and turned away.

After finishing her work in the evening, she returned to his hospital room.

Hobson saw her and didn't bother to hide his disdain, sneering as he spoke. "Dr. Watson, you must be busy. Did you make time to see if I was dead yet?"

Kenia stood at the foot of his bed, not moving closer.

"You're a patient at our hospital. I came to check on you."

Hobson sneered again. "On the operating table earlier, I really wished to die at your hands, so I could reunite with Sarah Barnett. But then I thought, I haven't taken enough revenge on you yet. I can't die yet."

She stood quietly, unwilling to argue with him anymore.

They had quarreled too many times in the past, all to no avail.

"If you hate me so much, you could just divorce me."

This statement seemed to infuriate him. He suddenly sat up and advanced on her step by step.

"Kenia, don't even think about it! Don't think you can get rid of me through divorce. We're tied together for life."

Hobson suddenly grabbed her by the throat, his expression icy as he spoke.

"You should carry your father's sins and make amends with Sarah and me for the rest of your life!"

"I'm just a substitute for her to you. What's the point?"

Kenia's thoughts drifted back to the past, to the first time he cheated and got drunk in a bar. When she came to find him, she overheard Hobson talking to his friends.

"Hobson, I still don't understand why you married her."

"She looks a lot like Sarah. I believe Sarah wouldn't want me to be alone."

At that moment, she realized she had been a substitute from the start.

But she couldn't stop loving him.

Hobson released his grip, and she turned and walked towards the door.

"Kenia, I hate that I still love you, and I hate your father."

She couldn't hear his words, as they were too quiet.