9.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ had already finished packing her luggage; all Noah Walker had to do was carry it out.
It took forty minutes to get from their place to the bus station. Noah Walker had two hours and twenty minutes—plenty of time to run downstairs, buy her a bag of brown sugar, and be back in less than twenty minutes.
But he didn’t go.
He was almost arrogantly convinced that period cramps were just an excuse, that it couldn’t possibly hurt that much. He thought Bạch Tiểu Dụ was faking it, using this as a way to vent her frustration after finding out he’d had dinner with the Female Coworker last night.
He felt that just making her a glass of water with white sugar was already proof he was a good man—Bạch Tiểu Dụ should be grateful for that.
Noah Walker made up his mind to make Bạch Tiểu Dụ realize her mistake, refusing to let her have things her way.
Ibuprofen wasn’t working. Bạch Tiểu Dụ crouched by the bed, curled up, her face so pale it was frightening. Her whole body ached and trembled, goosebumps rising all over her skin.
(1) Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), mainly used to relieve mild to moderate pain, including headaches, toothaches, muscle pain, and joint pain. It is also commonly used to reduce fever and inflammation.
Anyone with a bit of sense could see she wasn’t okay.
But Noah Walker acted as if he were deaf and blind, not seeing a thing.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ pretended to be angry, thinking that Noah Walker would go out and buy it for her in a little while.
That’s how it always was before—whenever she asked him to do something, he’d say no at first, but in the end, he’d go.
She thought this time would be the same.
A while later, Noah Walker came out of the bathroom and saw Bạch Tiểu Dụ still crouched by the bed. "Are you still upset?" he asked.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ just replied with a quiet, “Yeah.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll play for a bit, then. Let me know when you’re done being mad so we can talk.”
He spent half an hour arguing with her, then lay next to her playing games, watching her curled up in a ball, unable to move, and still calmly accused her of being stubborn.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ really couldn’t take it anymore. In a weak voice, she pleaded, “Can you buy me a bag of brown sugar?”
Noah Walker kept playing his game, not even looking up. “I’m on a business trip today, I don’t have time. Ask someone else.”
Bạch Tiểu Dụ was so angry she nearly fainted. “You have time to play games but not to buy me brown sugar?”
“Women are so dramatic!” Noah Walker snapped, annoyed by her question. He put away his phone, grabbed his suitcase, and walked out the door.
She didn’t know if he was actually going to buy brown sugar or not.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ clung to her last bit of hope, waiting for him to come back.
She waited from nine o’clock until midnight, suffering through three hours of pain.
When the clock struck twelve, Noah Walker still hadn’t returned. Her phone stayed silent—the only call she got during that time was from her best friend, Giang Dao Dao.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ saw a photo he posted on his social feed—he was already in the car.
He had time to post on social media, but not to send her a message.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ laughed and cried at the same time, feeling pathetic for still hoping for anything from him at this point.
"Damn it!"
By the time Giang Dao Dao rushed over, Bạch Tiểu Dụ was drenched in sweat, looking like she’d just been pulled out of the water.
"Damn, damn, are you okay? Don’t scare me like this!" Giang Dao Dao was nearly losing her mind at the sight of her friend looking so pale. "I’m taking you to the hospital!"
Bạch Tiểu Dụ weakly waved her hand. “I’m fine, it’s just cramps from my period. Some brown sugar water will do the trick.”
She tried to stand up, but her unsteady movements terrified her best friend even more.
"For real, look at yourself—does that look like you’re fine?"
Bạch Tiểu Dụ still wanted to be stubborn. She felt like this wasn’t a big deal, that there was no need to go to the hospital—it would just be too expensive.
"Shut up already!" Giang Dao Dao refused to listen to Bạch Tiểu Dụ’s protests, not allowing her to say no, and dragged her outside. "Right now, immediately, you’re coming to the hospital with me!"
10.
It was appendicitis.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ inwardly scolded herself for being so pathetic.
Her first reaction to the diagnosis was: Thank goodness, so I wasn’t just being dramatic after all.
The truth was, she’d been in pain for several days now.
A few days earlier, she’d already started feeling discomfort in her stomach—especially at night, when her whole abdomen would ache dully.
She’d mentioned it to Noah Walker, but he just told her she was being weak.
Things other people could eat without a problem would make her feel sick after just a bite.
Noah Walker thought she was making excuses, using her health as a pretext, and would poke fun at her for it.
He’d imply, "Bạch Tiểu Dụ has her head in the clouds, but her constitution’s as thin as paper. She’s got the life of a servant but always comes down with the illnesses of a princess."
Over time, Bạch Tiểu Dụ started doubting herself too. Was she really just being dramatic and unreasonable? Was she really that weak?
Honestly, she wanted to be coddled, wanted some comfort. She knew Noah Walker was busy, and she never intended to bother him to take her anywhere.
But instead of comfort, all she got was a basketful of harsh words.
The next day, she went to the hospital. She’d already taken a number, but sitting there felt like sitting on pins and needles. Noah Walker’s cutting words echoed in her mind, and she just couldn’t bring herself to take another step.
In the end, she didn’t go through with the appointment. She couldn’t even explain why, but she really had given up.
Somehow, going to the hospital had become something strange—just getting close to it would make her remember Noah Walker’s words.
It was as if going to the hospital meant she was just being difficult on purpose.
She, along with her resentment and pain, endured it all until the day Noah Walker left on his business trip. She held out so long that she was diagnosed with appendicitis, and when all the pent-up frustration finally exploded, she sent Noah Walker a breakup text—just like before, she got no response at all.
That was just how Noah Walker was—he refused to acknowledge anything he didn’t want to see.
No reply, no reaction, just cold indifference, as if he hadn’t seen a thing.
He always preferred this kind of cold violence.
The doctor, hearing how many days she’d endured, couldn’t help but sigh, “Girl, you really have a high tolerance.”
Bạch Tiểu Dụ pressed her lips together and smiled without saying a word. Her best friend beside her rolled her eyes, cursing Noah Walker for the thousandth time in her heart.
The doctor suggested she be admitted to the hospital for IV treatment first, and if things didn’t improve, they’d have to operate.
The young woman loved looking pretty and didn’t want to suddenly have scars on her body, so she also wanted to try conservative treatment.
Giang Dao Dao didn’t even need to hear the whole conversation between her and the doctor to guess what Noah Walker had done. She was so angry her face turned red.
Swallowing her anger, Giang Dao Dao handled the hospital admission paperwork for Bạch Tiểu Dụ, running around to help her buy everything she’d need for her stay.
It wasn’t until Bạch Tiểu Dụ was hooked up to an IV that Giang Dao Dao finally had a moment to sit and catch her breath.
If it weren’t for Giang Dao Dao, Bạch Tiểu Dụ would have been all alone in this city—she could have died and no one would have known.
Seeing her like this, Giang Dao Dao felt both angry and heartbroken. Since the hospital didn’t allow loud outbursts, she vented by furiously typing out curses, filling the screen with words that made Bạch Tiểu Dụ burst out laughing.
"You’re still laughing!" Giang Dao Dao snapped. "Don’t tell me you still want to be with that guy?"
Bạch Tiểu Dụ shook her head. "This time, it’s really over."
Honestly, brown sugar water can’t cure appendicitis.
Is this really something worth breaking up over?
Of course not.
Compared to Noah Walker having a candlelit dinner with the Female Coworker, this was a minor thing—almost insignificant.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ knew her body belonged to herself. If she didn’t go to the hospital because of a few words from Noah Walker, that was her own responsibility, and she deserved to pay the price for her choices.
Noah Walker hadn’t technically done anything wrong—this was just a small matter. But when these little things happened over and over again, it made her feel incredibly, unbearably upset.
She knew about the things Noah Walker did outside. She’d argued, she’d left home, but in the end, they always made up.
Because she knew Noah Walker would never really cross the line.
What Noah Walker enjoyed was the thrill of flirting with the line—"the red flag at home never falls, but the colored flags outside flutter in the wind." That was how he proved his own charm.
(1) The "red flag" refers to the wife, while the "colored flags" refer to mistresses.
He liked to stand right on the edge, enjoying everything that came with it.
Noah Walker himself knew that if he ever truly cheated, Bạch Tiểu Dụ would leave him without a second thought.
This man understood that Bạch Tiểu Dụ was the perfect person to marry. Noah Walker could go wild with his flings, but the one he’d ultimately marry would still be Bạch Tiểu Dụ.
He never crossed the line, never truly betrayed her. He relied on Bạch Tiểu Dụ’s softness after their eight years together—at most, she’d make a fuss for a few days, but in the end, she’d always come back.
He wasn’t afraid.
Marriage was the carrot Noah Walker dangled in front of Bạch Tiểu Dụ—she could see it, but never quite reach it.
As long as Noah Walker didn’t actually betray Bạch Tiểu Dụ, as long as she could still see that carrot and the string holding it didn’t break, she would always forgive him.
With Noah Walker’s constant, year-round gaslighting, sometimes Bạch Tiểu Dụ even wondered if it was all her own fault.
But this time was different.
The pain was so intense that it snapped Bạch Tiểu Dụ back to her senses.
She finally saw the truth: Noah Walker didn’t love her the way she thought he did. Only now did she truly see how cold he could be.
Pain triumphed over her love-struck mind. She was battered and bleeding, and when she finally realized Noah Walker didn’t love her, she understood—he just knew how to control her.
Her best friend, who only saw her twice a month, could tell something was wrong just by hearing her voice. Yet the man who’d shared her bed for eight years dismissed her pain as nothing but stubbornness.
11.
The final straw was the message Noah Walker sent after she got hurt.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ’s veins were so thin that it was hard to get an IV in. Usually, the vein would collapse after just one attempt. Not only did it waste needles, but the IV would often slip out. Watching this, Giang Dao Dao’s heart ached for her.
Her left arm was so bruised from all the failed attempts that it was practically useless. The usual treatments weren’t working, and Bạch Tiểu Dụ couldn’t take it anymore—she decided to go through with surgery.
She was under anesthesia during the operation and didn’t feel a thing, but once she was out of the operating room, the pain in her abdomen was excruciating.
The doctor said that during the surgery, they discovered an infection below her appendix, so she’d need to keep getting IV fluids.
The night after the surgery, Bạch Tiểu Dụ ran a high fever. Her stomach felt like someone was stabbing it with a knife, and the pain often made her burst into tears.
Her best friend stayed by her side the whole time. The pain was so overwhelming that Bạch Tiểu Dụ could barely remember who Noah Walker even was.
Worst of all, the day after surgery, she still hadn’t passed gas. If she wanted to recover, she had to get up and move around; otherwise, the infection wouldn’t heal properly.
Lying still meant she couldn’t pass gas, but moving even a little was agony. She had to keep getting IV drips, and at times, Bạch Tiểu Dụ even thought about ending it all.
Right then, Bạch Tiểu Dụ received a pitiful-sounding message from Noah Walker.
It had been ten days since Bạch Tiểu Dụ texted Noah Walker to break up, and in all that time, Noah hadn’t shown the slightest concern for her. The first time he reached out was just to ask her to take care of him.
What made it even more ridiculous was that they were both staying in the same hospital.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ’s illness kept flaring up, and after more than half a month in the hospital, her weight dropped from nearly 60 kg to just 50 kg.
Whenever Noah Walker contacted her, all he did was talk about himself—he never once asked how she was doing.
Even when they met today, he didn’t notice how much weight she’d lost, or that all she drank was hot water.
He didn’t know a thing.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ had seen what it looked like when he loved her, so she knew now that he didn’t.
Noah Walker came to see her today not because he loved her so much, but because he realized that life without a "caretaker"—having to do everything himself—was just too exhausting.
She’d had enough. She didn’t want to look back anymore.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ waited for Noah Walker to finish talking from across the table before she spoke. Once she was done, that was the end for both of them.
She didn’t exaggerate a thing; in fact, her tone was incredibly calm.
"Noah Walker, I really appreciate you reaching out to me after everything that’s happened." Bạch Tiểu Dụ even managed a smile. "I really am hopeless when it comes to love. If you’d come to me a little sooner and said these things, maybe I would’ve caved."
Maybe fate didn’t want them to get back together, because Noah Walker reached out to Bạch Tiểu Dụ when she was in the most pain after surgery, shamelessly emphasizing his own suffering and hoping she would come visit him.
But Bạch Tiểu Dụ didn’t care at all—she could barely take care of herself.
Noah Walker sat there, completely at a loss, his hands and feet fumbling awkwardly.
He didn’t know. He really didn’t know any of this.
"You..."
“You didn’t reach out to me because you love me. You only love the way I took care of you.” Bạch Tiểu Dụ stood up. “Noah Walker, just admit it—you only love yourself.”
“That’s not true!”
Seeing that Bạch Tiểu Dụ was about to leave, Noah Walker panicked and grabbed her hand. But Bạch Tiểu Dụ was ready for this—she turned aside and slipped out of his grasp.
Bạch Tiểu Dụ smiled at him. “See?”
Noah Walker was stunned.
“My wounds haven’t even healed, and you still grabbed me like that. You didn’t care if you hurt me. And now you say you love me—do you even believe that yourself?”
Noah Walker wanted to explain, to argue, to use the same manipulative logic he always relied on to convince Bạch Tiểu Dụ. But he realized he couldn’t get the words out.
All his excuses had always depended on Bạch Tiểu Dụ’s love for him.
Because her love for him was greater than his for her, Bạch Tiểu Dụ believed whatever Noah Walker said.
But now that Bạch Tiểu Dụ didn’t love him anymore, nothing he said would work.
A man over six feet tall stood in front of Bạch Tiểu Dụ and broke down in tears. Bạch Tiểu Dụ acted as if she didn’t see it, picked up her bag, and walked away.
Just like when Noah Walker once grabbed his suitcase and opened the door—so determined, so resolute—she, too, would not look back.
[The End]