My Death Countdown (by Netulla) novel Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Ms. Rhodes, this is Dignitas calling. Did you personally apply for euthanasia on December 25th?”

Sylvia Rhodes’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, but her voice remained calm. “Yes.”

“Very well. Your application has been approved. You have two weeks to put your affairs in order.”

Just after Sylvia hung up, the bedroom door opened.

Her husband, Adrien Farrell, entered, letting in a sharp gust of cold air. Upon seeing her, he smiled and raised a deli- cately wrapped gift. “Syl, happy birthday.”

Sylvia smiled softly. “My birthday was yesterday.”

Adrien froze. A flicker of panic and embarrassment crossed his face.

“Sorry, I’ve been too busy with work lately.”

He squatted down and gently massaged her calves, changing the subject. “How are you feeling today? Any discom- fort in your legs?”

He pressed too hard, his slender hands turning red. Veins stood out on the backs of his hands, a striking sight.

His skill was undeniable, but Sylvia felt nothing.

When she didn’t respond, Adrien looked up to ask, but his phone suddenly chirped in his pocket.

He pulled it out and glanced at the screen. The moment he saw the name, a smile spread across his face.

Whatever he’d been about to say was forgotten. He stood up abruptly.

“Syl, I need to handle something for work. I’ll come back to massage you later.” Then he headed to the study.

Sylvia stayed silent, watching him leave,

Even after he was gone, his genuine, irrepressible smile replayed in her mind.

He’d smile wholeheartedly over work?

It must have been about someone he liked.

After all, she’d seen him smile like that many times before.

Every morning in high school, she’d hurriedly finish her milk and rush downstairs, and there he’d be, smiling just like that. He’d walk over, take her heavy backpack, and take her to school on his bike.

They were both 18 back then, young and bright, immature yet full of life. They were completely smitten with each

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other.

Their love story unfolded just like a romance novel–a bond nurtured over years of growing up side by side.

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They dated in secret, keeping it hidden from both their parents and teachers. They promised to get into the same uni- versity and make their relationship public one day.

They pushed each other to improve. In the end, both scored nearly perfect on their SATs and were admitted to Har- vard University.

Everything should have ended perfectly there.

But something unexpected happened.

Just one day before school began, they were in a car crash. When the car was about the hit them, Sylvia pushed Adrien out of the way.

He walked away unharmed, but she was left paralyzed from the waist down.

Misfortune never comes alone. That same year, Sylvia’s parents died in a plane crash. She buckled under the weight of the blows and fell into a deep depression.

Adrien was heartbroken. Right after graduation, he proposed.

He vowed he’d never let her down.

He had kept his word throughout their three–year marriage.

But the truth was exposed two weeks ago when Sylvia found his diary.

The man who declared his love every day had been pouring out his pain in that diary.

He wrote that he’d proposed out of a sense of duty, fearing that otherwise, everyone would blame him.

He added that every time he came home, the heavy, suffocating feeling made it hard to breathe; every second he spent with her was a new form of torture.

He noted that if he could have a second chance, he would have chosen the wheelchair. To him, the physical suffering was a far lighter weight than the crushing guilt of her sacrifice.

He admitted that he’d fallen for another girl, Kiersten Tresham. She was vibrant, bright, and lively, just like Sylvia had been before the crash.

The next day, Sylvia got several messages from Kiersten.

“Sylvia, Adrien told me you’ll never walk again. You’ve known each other for so many years. Can’t you just let him go?”

“Do you realize he’s been trapped in a living hell because of you? He wishes he were dead. But he can’t because he has to put on a brave face and take care of you. How miserable.”

“If he hadn’t met me, he might’ve lost his mind. Don’t you feel guilty at all? I feel terrible for him. Besides, he loves

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me now. So, please let him go, so we can be together.”

Immediately after, Kiersten sent a dozen photos of herself with Adrien.

Smiling as he brewed coffee, he noticed Kiersten taking a selfie, leaned in, and posed playfully for the camera.

He peeled a whole plate of shrimp for Kiersten and wiped sauce from her fingers.

He followed her footprints on the beach, then brought her a handful of seashells, a beaming smile on his face.

By the time she finished looking at all the photos, Sylvia’s heart hurt so badly she could barely breathe. It felt like it was shattering.

But her eyes had run dry of tears, a hollow emptiness staring back from them.

She didn’t reply, but Kiersten didn’t stop.

Every day after, Kiersten sent new photos, each stamped with a date.

On November 21st, Adrien and Kiersten walked together in the park as the sun set.

On November 26th, they went to a pottery studio and made a vase together.

On December 1st, they attended a concert, talking about music and their future.

The photos of them kept coming…

Each timestamp was a silent contradiction to Adrien’s claims of working late.

Even on her birthday yesterday, Sylvia waited all day and night for him.

But he never came back because he was enjoying fireworks with Kiersten.

Looking at those photos, Sylvia smiled bitterly until tears spilled out.

Back when they were both 17 years old, Adrien had loved Sylvia with all his heart.

Now that they were 25, he didn’t love her anymore.

That night, Sylvia sat by the window all night. The following day, she submitted all the necessary documents to an overseas euthanasia organization, resolved to end her life.

She thought, “Adrien, you’re all I have left.

“But you’ve been running from me.

“Then I will let you go and set myself free.”

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