My Boyfriend Removed My Ventilator

“Sally, didn’t you say you couldn’t breathe?” Sophie’s voice drifted in from the side.

She walked toward me with a birthday cake covered in lit candles.

“My grandma said blowing out candles is good for your lungs. It’s good for your health. Can you blow out these twenty candles in one breath? Just think of it as a birthday present for me, okay?

“Maybe it’ll even help you get better.”

She blinked with an innocent face. “I just want to help you recover. You’re not petty enough to refuse such a small request, are you?”

What an absurd idea!

But her friends around her began to cheer immediately.

“Blow them out! Blow them out! Blow them out!”

“Yeah, Sally, blow them out for Sophie!”

“In one breath! It has to be in one breath!”

Justin’s eyes lit up as if he had found a new game to play.

He grinned as he pulled me away from the wall and pushed me down in front of the cake.

“Did you hear that? Sophie’s doing this for your own good. Are you still going to be difficult? Know your place!”

As he spoke, he pulled out his phone, opened a livestream app, and pointed the camera at me.

“Good evening, everyone! My girlfriend hasn’t been feeling well lately and insists that she can’t breathe.

“But our kind Sophie’s here to help with some… candle-blowing therapy. If you enjoy this, like this video, and subscribe to Sophie’s channel!”

Hundreds of curious viewers flooded into the livestream, and the comments rolled across the screen.

[Wow, the streamer is wild!]

[Blowing candles as treatment? That’s a first. Sounds interesting!]

[That girl looks so pale. Is she really sick?]

[You’re naive. This is scripted. Look at her eyes! She acts pretty well.]

I shook my head desperately. My throat rasped as I tried to pull away.

But Justin held the back of my neck and forced my face closer to the flames.

Heat scorched my skin and singed strands of my hair. The smell of burning filled the air.

On the edge of suffocation, I touched the watch on my wrist.

It was the custom-made watch Alex had given me. Pressing the side button three times would trigger the highest-level emergency alert and send my location with a live recording.

I gathered every bit of my strength and pressed it.

One press.

Two presses.

Then, a third.

I looked at the face I once loved deeply through the flickering flames.

“Justin… I’m breaking up with you.”