Cicada Song
I was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and my wife immediately accepted her male assistant's proposal.
I overheard her telling him, “Let's have our wedding after Isaac dies. I still love him, you know.
But until then, no one can tell him about this.
He only has three months left. I don't want him to be hurt.”
What my wife didn't know, however, was that it was all a misdiagnosis.
When I found out about the misdiagnosis,
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"I'm heading out," Autumn said, walking out of the bedroom.
"Dinner's in the fridge. You can just heat it up."
"Call me if you need anything, and don't wait up for me. Get some rest, okay?"
she added as she put on her shoes in the entryway.
I stared at her composed face and asked, "Can I come with you to meet your best friend?"
She froze, a flicker of panic on her face.
"Didn't you say you didn't want to go? Besides, she's just introducing us to her new boyfriend. You'd probably be bored."
I looked down, feigning nonchalance. "I was just kidding."
Autumn was visibly relieved.
After she left, I discreetly followed her.
Inside the event hall, Autumn's best friends were gathered in a circle.
Autumn was wearing a white veil, and in the center of the circle, a man was down on one knee, gazing at her with devotion. "Autumn, will you marry me?"
Visibly moved, Autumn nodded, and they shared a sweet kiss as all her friends cheered.
"You're a total knockout, Autumn. You always have guys falling head over heels for you."
"We were so worried about who would take care of you after Isaac dies. This is such a relief."
Standing in the corner, I felt a bone-deep chill.
So they all knew. They were even looking forward to the day I die.
"Don't any of you dare breathe a word of what happened today to my husband," Autumn's expression suddenly turned stern. "I just want him to live out his last three months in peace."
Her friends all nodded.
Only then did Autumn relax.
Nathaniel asked cautiously, "Autumn, I know you're not over your husband. I can wait. I love you, after all."
Autumn squeezed his hand, her voice a warning. "Just three months. You have to be extremely low-key during this time. My husband absolutely cannot find out."
Three months?
I secretly clenched my fists. Fine. Just great.
On the way back, my mind was reeling.
I remembered our wedding day, how Autumn had cried in my arms, saying she was the luckiest woman alive to have found a man who would love and protect her forever.
When did it all change?
Ever since she was young, Autumn had been a goddess in every guy's eyes, living a wild and unapologetic life.
In college, she got obsessed with music, constantly busy with songwriting and gigs, to the point where she dropped out.
She was like the moon, so bright and completely out of my reach. Our paths never crossed.
The year I graduated from college, Autumn pissed off some big names in the music scene. Her career hit a wall, and she came home defeated.
She had a massive fight with her parents, and they kicked her out without a penny.
I found her, lent her money, and helped her find an apartment.
After that, she started getting close to me. It eventually turned into a very public pursuit that everyone knew about.
I didn't know what to do and told her that gratitude wasn't the same thing as love.
But her voice was firm. "I'm sure that I love you. I just need to hear it from you—do you honestly love me too?"
And just like that, we got married.
After we married, she didn't work. My salary was more than enough to support her lifestyle.
She was the one who pursued me so passionately, and now she was the one betraying our marriage.
Once, while I was on a business trip, a doctor friend of mine posted in our private group chat.
"Just treated a patient with a ruptured corpus luteum. The things young people get up to these days..."
When I saw Autumn's face in the attached photo, my entire body started shaking. I immediately called her.
"Hello?"
One word, and then the line went dead.
I heard it loud and clear—it was a man's voice.
Autumn quickly video-called me back, appearing on screen with her best friend, Chloe. She explained that Chloe's boyfriend had accidentally picked up her phone.
The man who appeared on camera to apologize to me then was Nathaniel Spencer.