When Forever Only Means Five Years

Episode 1

Sheldon Hurst has already lived this life once. He stayed beside Helen Leonard for five whole years while she was blind, believing they would be together the moment she could see again. Instead, the day the bandages came off, his own parents pushed him aside so his brother Sheldon Hurst could take his place.

For three years he tried to explain. Helen only told him he disgusted her, that the only one she loved was his brother. Even the day he died in a car accident was her wedding day to Sheldon. Given a second chance, Sheldon decides he will not make the same mistakes—and this time, he agrees to leave.

Episode 2

His parents are stunned when Sheldon actually agrees to go. They press him, suspicious he is scheming to ruin Sheldon's wedding. Sheldon finally says it out loud: twenty years ago Sheldon was diagnosed with leukemia and needed cord blood, so his parents had another child to save him. That child was Sheldon—never wanted, only a tool.

He gave Sheldon everything, including the girl he stayed with for five years. Then a message arrives inviting him to a hotel at eight. In his past life he thought Helen was finally ready to listen. Instead, she wanted him to see her with Sheldon, so he would let go.

Episode 3

The hotel meeting is exactly the cruelty Sheldon remembers. Helen makes sure he understands the only one she loves is his brother, then tells him to know his place—she is his brother's girl, and he should stop pestering her.

Sheldon does not fight it. He says he understands, really understands. When Helen announces the wedding is next month and hopes he will attend, he simply congratulates her and wishes her a lifetime of happiness. His calm unsettles her; she wonders why he is being so compliant. Sheldon calls him over, and Sheldon walks away without a scene, saving his grief for later.

Episode 4

Sheldon wakes in a hospital bed after being unconscious for two days. A nurse offers to fetch his family from next door, but he stops her—they do not want to see him, and he is better off without them.

The truth is plain to everyone else: while Sheldon lies in the ICU, his parents hover over Sheldon. Helen, the CEO of Leonard Corp, feeds Sheldon medicine and food, hires a retired therapist for his recovery, and showers him with gifts. When Sheldon suggests they visit Sheldon, his mother refuses, insisting Sheldon has always been strong and will be fine. Nobody comes.

Episode 5

The doctor warns Sheldon that stress and overthinking made him faint. Sheldon visits his bedside and reminds him that their parents are on his side now—even if Sheldon tells Helen the truth about the five years, nothing will change.

Sheldon twists the knife: Sheldon was born only as a tool to cure him, and growing up he got everything while Sheldon got leftovers. At every meal the table is full of seafood because Sheldon loves it, while Sheldon is left with vegetables and blamed for being picky. Sheldon says he has stopped clinging to Helen. Sheldon asks where he thinks he is going.

Episode 6

A commotion erupts: Sheldon is in the water, and he cries out that Sheldon pushed him in, begging Helen to save his only brother. Sheldon's parents refuse to believe Sheldon's side, accusing him of trying to kill Sheldon to win Helen back and even jumping in to play the victim.

They decide to leave him in the water until he confesses. Sheldon fires back—if he is unworthy, what makes Sheldon worthy? He says their lies are the reason Helen ended up with the wrong man. His parents remind him coldly that they gave him life and can take back whatever they want.

Episode 7

Sheldon still will not confess to pushing Sheldon, so the family decides to lock him up until he tells the truth. He does not resist as they drag him away—he seems to have accepted his fate on the road he took to avoid it.

A memory surfaces: Helen promising that when she regained her sight, the first person she wanted to see was the one who stayed by her side, and that they would start dating. But when she opened her eyes, she saw Sheldon first, because his parents told her Sheldon was him. She calls Sheldon sick. He admits his biggest mistake was falling for her.

Episode 8

Helen tells Sheldon she is cutting all ties with him, and he accepts it, saying he will cut ties too. Sheldon pretends to defend him, but Helen is cold—she cannot play nice with people she does not like. Then Sheldon invites Sheldon to his birthday party, asking for his blessing.

The party is lavish: imported flowers, a watch worth a fortune on Sheldon's wrist, guests whispering that Sheldon is lucky to marry Helen and that Sheldon is a parasite clinging to her. They mock him as shameless, saying his parents are far too kind to him. Sheldon stands among them, the outsider once again.

Episode 9

At the birthday celebration, Sheldon makes a wish for his father's health, his mother's youth, and Helen's eternal beauty. Then his parents announce their decision: Sheldon will be the successor of Hurst Corp and inherit all the family assets.

Helen adds her own gift—fifty percent of Leonard Corp's shares, plus a pair of family rings her grandmother said would share happiness and love through eternity. She tells Sheldon he is the only man she wants to marry. Then attention turns to Sheldon's gift, and Helen notices the watch he is wearing. She demands to know where he got it.

Episode 10

Helen recognizes the watch but not the man wearing it—and that is the cruelest part. Sheldon accuses Sheldon of stealing it, and the room turns on him, saying he even laid hands on Sheldon after being exposed. Helen says he makes her sick.

Sheldon points out the truth: after she regained her sight, Sheldon never once wore this watch, because he never knew about it—he was never the one who stayed by her side. The family insists the watch belonged to their grandfather and was meant for Sheldon. Sheldon says it was given to him, his last memento. The family calls him a disgrace and demands punishment.