Dumped My Cheating Ex. Now I'm Sleeping Next to a Billionaire CEO novel Chapter 1731

Terrified of being pressured into marriage, Krystina quickly stood up and practically sprinted toward the karaoke machine. "I am going to pick a song."

Sylvia remained silent, lowering her eyes to take a sip of water. But Abriella had no intention of letting her off the hook. Scooting closer, she bumped her shoulder against Sylvia's. "So, what about you? Is there any romantic progress on your end?"

Sylvia's grip on her water glass tightened slightly, and she answered in an even tone. "For the foreseeable future, I just want to focus entirely on my career. I am not interested in thinking about romance right now."

Abriella sighed in exasperation and turned to Emmy. "Emmy, help me talk some sense into her. She is always fighting these battles all by herself and carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. It makes the rest of us worry so much."

Emmy studied Sylvia's impeccably made up face, easily spotting the deep exhaustion hiding beneath it. Instead of agreeing with Abriella, she took a different stance. "Regardless of the choices she makes, the only thing that matters is that she feels happy and fulfilled. If she does not want to date anyone, then as her friends, we should not pressure her into it."

Sylvia looked up, shooting Emmy a deeply appreciative glance.

Abriella shrugged her shoulders, finally backing down. "Alright, fine."

After that, the group naturally steered clear of the topic and moved on to lighter conversation. Krystina absolutely loved playing DJ at karaoke lounges, but every time she tried to hand the microphone to Sylvia, Sylvia simply waved it off and declined. That changed when a very familiar melody started playing on the large screen. It was Mao Buyi's song, Drowning Sorrows, which had always been Sylvia's absolute favorite track to sing in the past.

"This is your anthem!" Abriella immediately shoved the microphone into Sylvia's hands. "You have to sing this one, no more making excuses!"

The bright smile on Abriella's face slowly faded away. She stared at Sylvia in a daze, a sudden, sharp ache blooming in her chest. The suffocating wave of sorrow radiating from her friend made Abriella's eyes begin to burn with unshed tears. Krystina completely stopped shaking her maracas, watching Sylvia in silence as she subconsciously held her breath. Leaning back against the sofa, Emmy listened closely, her brows drawing together in a tight frown. Her sharp intuition told her something was terribly wrong, and she turned her head to look at Sylvia with deep concern.

The song was quite long. By the time Sylvia reached the latter half, the dull ache in her chest had intensified into an unbearable pressure. The doctor's diagnosis echoed relentlessly in her ears, reminding her that she was too used to wearing a disguise and that her emotions had no way out. Biting her lower lip, she could not stop the glimmer of tears from welling up in her eyes.

"A toast to tomorrow, a toast to the past... Supporting my fragile body, adding weight to my shoulders..."

When the final lyric faded out and the instrumental outro began to play, the hand Sylvia used to grip the microphone was trembling completely out of control. Her terrifying physical somatization had actually chosen this very moment to strike.