Chapter 23
Facing the cold wind, I gradually cleared my mind and recalled my mother’s final dying words.
She knelt before her father’s tombstone, burning spirit money that would last him beyond the next lifetime.
Her dry eyes couldn’t squeeze out a single tear.
“Elizabeth, why did your father, a man with no future, come to provoke me? Why did he provoke me but not stay to walk half this life with me? Why did he leave me alone in this world?”
At that time, I was too young to understand what Mom meant.
I just hugged Mom to comfort her.
“Mom, you still have me and Sophia Montgomery. We’ll always be here for you.”
She looked at me, her eyes suddenly turning sorrowful. She seemed to want to say something but stopped.
She kept holding me and apologizing over and over.
“I’m sorry, Elizabeth. Mom has failed you and Sophia.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Please forgive me…”
After Dad got sick, our family was burdened with massive debt, which finally disappeared with Mom’s death.
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Chapter 23
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Seeing how pitiful we sisters were, no one brought up the debt
anymore.
It wasn’t until my bone cancer diagnosis that I understood why Mom kept apologizing to us.
Hereditary bone cancer hung like a sword over my sister Sophia Williams and me.
We had to be ready at any moment for its strike.
Now I can’t give anyone answers.
I won’t selfishly chain Robert’s future to mine.
I refuse to make him suffer like Mom did.
After a night of reflection, I decided to drop out.
I remember next week’s lottery numbers – gambling my luck away, but at least it’ll fund our treatment.
Will my life be as short as last time? I’ve no clue.
But at least I want to give it one more shot.
I want to search overseas for a chance to survive.
If I intervene early,
maybe my odds of survival will improve.
Just a bit more.
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The next day, I told Olivia about this.
This time, I didn’t want to hide it from her.
She was right–close friends shouldn’t keep secrets.
Besides, she got into a car accident searching for me in my previous life.
That made me realize how precious our bond truly is.
I didn’t want Olivia worrying over me.
Yet when she heard the news,
Olivia didn’t break down sobbing as I’d expected.
Instead, she calmly said:
“Don’t worry. I’ll lend you my luck for the rest of my life.”
“You definitely won’t be chosen by fate.”
“Elizabeth, you’ll stay healthy”
“and live to be a hundred.”
Yeah, okay.
I smiled and replied, “Live to be a hundred!”
After saying goodbye to Olivia, I went to the counselor’s office to complete my dropout surgery.
I listed family reasons for dropping out.
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In my previous life, during the years apart from Benjamin, I had been critically ill and endured people’s pitying looks.
They’d think: What a pitiful girl, so young yet having lost her parents.
I hated those pitying gazes.
I was determined to conquer my illness–if not on the first try, then the second.
I believed I’d eventually triumph.
As I finalized the dropout procedures, the counselor patted my shoulder earnestly.
“Elizabeth, this is your choice. The school respects it.”
“You’ve shared so much with your classmates. Go bid them proper farewells–leave no regrets behind.”
Regrets?
Benjamin was the only one I could think of now.
One I have loved, one I have failed:
The best farewell is probably to leave without saying goodbye.
If we ever meet again. I hope I’ve already beaten cancer by then.
Just as I was about to leave the office, I abruptly collided with Benjamin, who’d been called in.
The moment we crashed, the withdrawal letter in my hand fell to the floor.
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