Dumped With Cancer: I Became The Woman He Spends His Life Chasing

On New Year's Eve, Aria Hart watched Julian Lawson come home with an eighteen-year-old model on his arm. Her fingers tightened around the late-stage stomach cancer diagnosis, while he mocked her without even blinking. "If I'm not marrying her, what, you think I should marry you?"

Aria had given him ten full years, only to be repaid with the news that Julian was going to marry someone else.

This time, she neither argued nor fought. After calling the hospital and agreeing to go abroad for treatment, she quietly disappeared.

She thought it would end cleanly there, but after Aria left, Julian completely lost his mind.

He ran from his wedding in front of everyone, put all his work on hold, and searched for her across the world.

Eventually, he found information about Aria at the hospital.

The nurse frowned. "Are you her family member?"

Julian nodded urgently. "I'm her husband!"

The nurse shook her head. "That's impossible. She said she has no family member. And she isn't here anymore."

......

As the New Year bells rang, Aria received two "gifts."

One was a set of photos of Julian on a date with an eighteen-year-old model, snapped by gossip reporters.

Everyone in the office turned to look at Aria, waiting for her to rush home and slap the other woman like she used to.

The other "gift" was a pathology report from the city oncology hospital-stomach cancer, with a recommendation to transfer to an overseas treatment center as soon as possible.

Whispers erupted around her.

"What's going on? Did her husband cheat again?"

"Stop talking nonsense. They've been together ten years and never got married."

"Not married? Then maybe she's just a side piece. No wonder she's always so eager to go after the other woman."

The vulgar comments reached Aria's ears. She ignored them completely, took leave, and went home.

The key had barely slipped into the lock when a woman's sweet, syrupy laughter drifted from inside.

Aria pushed the door open. High heels and stockings were scattered across the living room carpet.

On the couch, the eighteen-year-old model Lila Bennett was wrapped in Julian's white dress shirt, barefoot and curled up in his arms.

And Julian, the man Aria had loved for ten full years, lowered his head to kiss the top of Lila's hair, his gaze so gentle it felt unfamiliar.

When he looked up and saw her, his brows knit instantly. He pulled Lila tighter into his arms, as if afraid Aria might hurt her.

Aria didn't say a word. She simply stood there in silence. She didn't explode like before, didn't rush forward to slap the woman.

Lila put on a panicked act. "Oh! Aria, I didn't... Julian said you wouldn't be home tonight..."

Aria looked at Julian, the pain in her chest dripping like blood. "Julian... you promised me. You said you wouldn't bring another woman home. That was the line."

Julian stood up and stepped in front of Lila, his voice turning cold. "Aria, I bought this place. If you don't want to live here, then get out. Who the hell do you think you are, trying to control me?"

Aria froze, the weight of ten years settling over her.

At fifteen, when she first learned what love was, Aria gathered her courage and confessed to Julian. He said nothing, but he allowed her to stay.

At eighteen, an opportunity to go abroad lay right in front of her, and she was tempted. But when Julian got drunk, held her, and choked out, "Can you not leave?" she cried and gave it up.

At twenty-one, with a little alcohol for courage, Aria asked Julian, "What are we, exactly?" What she got was his vague answer, "You're different."

And at twenty-five, ten years of devotion were repaid with a single sentence, "Who the hell do you think you are?"

She had always believed that if she waited a little longer, once he was done playing around, he would eventually turn back to her.

But now, she could no longer lie to herself.

"Who do I think I am?" Aria suddenly laughed, moisture gathering at the corners of her eyes. "Julian, it's been ten years. Do you have any shame left?"

Julian's expression darkened, as if she'd struck a nerve. He stepped closer in angry humiliation. "I have no shame? You were with me since you were fifteen, stuck to me for ten years, clinging on and refusing to leave. Do you have any shame?"

Aria's mind exploded. Her thoughts shattered, the color draining from her face in an instant.

She remembered being twenty, when he got drunk and mistook her for his college sweetheart. Afterward, she became pregnant by accident, and as she lay on the cold operating table, he never even called, only had his assistant deliver a check.

She remembered standing in for him against ruthless business rivals, being cornered and threatened in an underground parking garage, while he was busy fueling rumors with a female celebrity, too stingy to offer even a single word of concern.

She remembered countless late nights waiting outside his mansion, waiting for him to stumble back drunk, just to make him a bottle of warm milk, only to hear him drunkenly call out another woman's name...

She had given everything, yet couldn't even earn the title of "girlfriend," reduced instead to a shameless hanger-on.

The air froze for a few seconds. Lila suddenly choked up. "Aria, I know you hate me... but Julian and I are serious! You can't keep trapping him with the past!"

Aria suddenly felt exhausted, so tired she couldn't even summon anger anymore.

Julian shot her a glance, irritation rising. "Drop the pathetic act. If you don't want to keep this going, then leave. No one's stopping you."

"Lila, I'll take you out for a meal now. Looking at this old woman kills my appetite."

Lila let out a soft laugh and hooked her arm through Julian's.

"Julian Lawson," Aria said his full name for the first time, "if I said I'm sick, that I'll be going abroad for treatment soon, that I may never come back... will you be sad?"

Julian froze for a moment, then scoffed. "What are you trying to pull now? Playing pitiful to force me to kick her out? Aria, can you grow up already?"

The door slammed shut with a bang.

Aria remained in the darkness, not knowing how long she had been sitting there.

Fireworks burst and faded outside the window, but the light of the new year never reached her eyes.

Her phone suddenly vibrated. It was a message from Julian.

Her fingers trembled, her heart giving a foolish little jump. Had he regretted it? Had he finally remembered that she was still sick?

She opened the message. There was only one cold line. "Bring me a full set of ultra-thin condoms to room 808. Now."

Another line followed. "If you don't come, consider us broken up."

It was always like this.

For ten years, every time she tried to leave, he threatened her with "breaking up." Every time she softened and went back, he trampled her dignity even harder.

She stared at the words and suddenly laughed, even as tears splashed onto the screen.

It was a naked provocation, but Aria was too tired. She didn't want to keep tearing at each other anymore.

She stood up and went to a convenience store to buy condoms.

Twenty minutes later, she left the items at the hotel front desk and turned away without looking back.

Back home, she called the hospital, her voice calm, frozen solid. "Hello, this is Aria. I agree to the transfer. I'll go abroad for treatment."

"Understood, Ms. Hart. Please come to the hospital in seven days to register. You'll be taking the hospital shuttle to the airport."

When Julian received the box of condoms, his brows knit tightly in irritation.

It was too quiet. So quiet it didn't feel like Aria at all.

He remembered last year, when he'd taken another girl out to dinner, Aria had driven her Porsche straight through the restaurant's glass doors, then smashed a wine bottle over the girl's head, blood mixing with spilled wine across the floor.

Last month, when she'd caught him at the movies with some rising starlet, Aria had dug up the girl's plastic surgery history, tax issues, and proof of sugar-daddy deals within three days, wiping her clean out of the entertainment world.

Ten days ago, at his birthday party, he'd put his arm around an influencer. Aria had flipped the cake table on the spot, smashed a bottle, and pressed the jagged glass against the girl's throat. "Get close to him one more time," she'd said, "and I'll make sure you never speak again."

Aria was infamous in their circle for being the kind of crazy that didn't care about consequences.

But this time?

She delivered the condoms and vanished, without even a single accusation.

An inexplicable irritation crawled under Julian's skin. He messaged Aria a warning. "Behave yourself. Don't touch Lila. Or you're out of this city, and even then, I won't spare you a glance."

The next day was the Lawson family's New Year banquet.

He even called Aria personally, his tone all command. "Seven tonight. Dress properly. If you don't come, we're done."

Aria didn't want to go. But then she thought of it, only six days left before she was gone. Why stir up trouble now?

She chose the plainest black gown she owned. The moment she stepped into the banquet hall, she saw Lila in a couture dress, clinging to Julian's arm, smiling sweetly as if she belonged there.

Julian was raising a glass with his cousin, his voice pitched just loud enough for her to hear. "Aria? Hah. She's been so obedient lately."

His cousin teased, "She's that quiet? Maybe she's actually heartbroken. Don't you feel even a little bad?"

Julian let out a scornful laugh, his gaze dripping with contempt. "A woman who's already been used up, what's there to feel bad for? Does she really think she's the wife? Ten years, stuck to me like gum on a shoe. She should take a good look in the mirror."

Laughter exploded around them.

"Exactly! Simps always end up with nothing!"

"Julian's already been more than generous. She's an orphan, totally out of her league. If it were me, I'd have dumped her ages ago."

Aria stood at the entrance, her blood freezing in an instant.

For ten years, she'd thought about leaving more than once. But every time, Julian would get drunk at just the right moment, spoke a few truthful words, and make her hesitate long enough to stay.

But this time, she was really leaving.

Aria dug her nails into her palm until it went numb with pain.

Julian spotted her then.

Instead of holding back, he leaned down and kissed Lila right in front of everyone, his hand sliding along her waist in a shameless, intimate caress.

Everyone turned to look at Aria, their eyes full of ridicule.

Julian went off to toast his parents, Richard Lawson and Catherine Lawson. Lila slipped away from the crowd and walked toward Aria, smiling brightly as she delivered the most vicious words. "Aria, Julian said you're an old woman now. He's had his fun with you, and now you bore him. Why don't you take the hint and get lost? At least you can keep what's left of your dignity."

Aria didn't want to deal with her. She spat out coldly, "Get out of my way. Don't push me."

But Lila suddenly shoved her hard. Aria stumbled back and crashed onto the marble floor.

Lila shrieked and dropped to the floor as well, clutching her ankle as she sobbed, "Aria! Why did you push me? What did I ever do to you?"

Julian strode over. He didn't even spare Aria a glance, only helped Lila up as he barked, "Aria! What the hell is wrong with you? Lila's pregnant and you still dared to lay hands on her? Get out! Don't dirty my home!"

"P-Pregnant?" someone gasped.

"Oh my god, was Aria really vicious enough to go after Lila's baby?"

Aria braced herself against the floor and tried to stand. Her knee burned with pain.

But what hurt more was her heart. The time she'd miscarried for him, he hadn't even bothered to visit her at the hospital.

Now another woman was pregnant, and he looked ready to tear someone apart, protective like a wolf guarding its cub.

She suddenly laughed, laughing at how stupid she'd been for ten years.

No one helped her up. She pushed herself to her feet, brushed the dust from her skirt, and walked out of the banquet hall step by step amid the mocking laughter.

Julian froze. Aria had just learned another woman was carrying his child and she didn't even react?

The wind outside cut to the bone. Aria didn't call a car, walking a full ten kilometers home in high heels that had already rubbed her heels raw.

Back at the villa, Aria opened her mobile banking app, ready to transfer the deposit for the Edelmark hospital's advance payment.

The screen lit up. There wasn't a single cent left.

She thought it was a system error and refreshed the page three times. Still zero.

Her hands shaking, she called customer service. The response on the other end was polite and professional. "Ma'am, the two million dollars in your account were transferred in full yesterday. The recipient was Mr. Julian Lawson."

Two million.

Five years ago, during her first internship at his company, she'd been ostracized for being an orphan and had cried as she said she wanted to quit.

Julian had pulled her into his arms and transferred the money into her account, his voice gentle. "Take it. What's mine will be yours from now on."

She never touched that money.

Even after she got sick and only dared go to a community clinic, she gritted her teeth and held on, treating that money as the last proof of whatever "affection" remained between them.

But now, Julian had taken it back.

Aria's head buzzed violently, her vision going dark as nausea churned in her stomach. She had to brace herself against the wall to keep from collapsing.

She had five days left before her flight. Without that money, her visa would be revoked, and her chance at treatment would vanish completely.

She took a taxi to the Lawson Group headquarters.

The receptionist stopped her. Aria gave Julian's name. "I'm Julian's... I-I'm here to see Julian."

The receptionist's expression turned subtle. "Mr. Lawson is in a meeting... but Miss Bennett is inside."

Aria ignored the comment and walked straight toward the top-floor office.

The door wasn't fully closed. She heard intimate laughter drifting from inside.

"Julian... stop it..." Lila panted softly. "It wouldn't look good if someone saw..."

"What are you afraid of?" Julian chuckled quietly. "Who would dare come in without my permission?"

Aria pushed the door open.

In front of the desk, Lila was straddling Julian's lap, her shirt half open, lipstick marks smeared across her skin.

Seeing Aria, Lila shrieked and ducked behind Julian like a startled fawn.

A spasm twisted through Aria's stomach, and she nearly vomited.

But she bit down hard on her tongue and forced herself to speak. "Julian, the two million in my account, did you transfer it?"

Julian adjusted his cufflinks unhurriedly, looking at her the way one looked at a beggar. "What, does it hurt now?"

"That was my money!" Aria's voice trembled. "That was for my treatment!"

"Yours?" Julian scoffed. "Who was it who said, 'As long as you're here, money doesn't matter'? And now you're keeping accounts with me so carefully?"

He stood up, pulling Lila tightly against him, his voice turning icy. "You made Lila cry more than once. That money counts as compensation. And a warning."

The blood drained from Aria's body.

Compensation? A warning?

For a new lover, Julian was actually saying something like this to her.

"If there's a next time," Julian stepped closer, his gaze vicious, "get the hell out of my house. Don't make me throw you out myself."

Aria's lips trembled. She wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

Shame, unease, fear... a mess of emotions swallowed her whole.

She couldn't leave.

She was an orphan, raised in an institution. The apartment Julian had bought for her was her only shelter.

Without that place, she wouldn't even have somewhere to wait for death.

She had always believed that even if he didn't love her, he would at least remember their ten years together.

Reality slapped her hard in the face. In his eyes, her life wasn't worth even a single tear from Lila.

Julian took Lila's hand. As they passed Aria, he dropped a cold remark. "Remember your place. Don't even think about comparing yourself to Lila. As long as you behave, I won't throw you out."

The door closed. The sound of high heels faded away.

Aria stood alone in the empty office, then slowly crouched down.

She wasn't crying. It was her body curling in on itself by instinct, like a hedgehog stripped of its spines, too weak even to protect itself.

Just then, a message popped up on her phone from the company's art director. "Aria, there's a model exhibition in three days. The pay is one million dollars."