20%
My father could no longer speak, but the moment he saw me, his eyes lit up with clarity.”
Summoning the last of his strength, he gripped my hand and traced three words into my palm.
Tm sorry.”
Then, the monitor beside him let out a long, piercing flatline.
Still holding my hand, he took his final breath.
Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face as I choked back quiet sobs.
Even after hating him for so many years because of what he did to my mother–his death still struck a chord deep within me.
It still hurts $
I remained in the hospital room for over ten minutes. After they took his body away, I turned to Winston, who was standing silently by the door.E
“Where’s Kiara?” I asked, frowning. “Isn’t she the one who always acts like the most filial daughter? Why isn’t she here?“!
“She hasn’t shown up since she forced your father to divorce Romina,” he said, expression bleak. The hospital bills are still unpaid. She’s unreachable by phone.“I
I snorted, unsurprised.
“She’s finally showing her true colors.
“You should get some rest,” I added. “Thank you for everything today.”
Winston was just about to leave when he suddenly collapsed to the floor.
Startled, I immediately called for a doctor.
After he was stabilized, I leamed the truth–he had been diagnosed with late–stage leukemia. It was too advanced for surgery. There was nothing more they could do..
my chesLI
1 sat beside his bed, watching him sleep, emotions churning
in my
“Maybe… maybe he knew he was dying.” Imurmured. That’s why he risked everything. Why he turned to smuggling, why he return the company to me.”
Denver ran a hand gently through my hair, his voice low and steady.
“That was his decision. It had nothing to do with you. Don’t blame yourself.”
I nodded, but I couldn’t stop the ache inside.
Later, we finally tracked down Kiara.
Turns out, after forcing my father to divorce Romina, she latched onto a w wealthy businessman. He promised to put her mother in a luxury care facility and even gifted her a house.
In exchange, she agreed to become his mistressi Denver’s contacts had quietly uncovered everything!
Now, with Winston gravely ill, she remained unmoved
“Why should I care if he lives or dies? I was blind to fall for a useless man like him. He couldn’t even make me a boss’s wife and dragged me down with him. He’s pathetic.”
“You were his wife,” I reminded her. “Even now, with him lying in a hospital bed you don’t want to visit? And you’re cheating on him? Where is your conscience?”
She laughed coldly
“The divorce papers are already in the mail. He should receive them soon. After that, we’ll go our separate ways. He’s been falling over himself to compensate you–but what about me? I gave him everything, and I still lost to you. Bianca, I hate you. I hate everything you have!”
“You’re unbelievable,” I snapped. “If you have any shred of humanity left, then go to the hospital. The doctors say he only has a few days”
She hung up without a word.
I sighed heavily and turned back to the hospital bed. Winston lay there unconscious–but a tear slipped from the corner of his eye.
He must have heard every word.X
The next day, the divorce papers from Kiara arrived.il
Hooked up to oxygen and IV’s, he opened the envelope slowly
The moment he read the content, he tore the document into pieces and hurled it to the ground in a fury!!
“Unbelievable. She’s dreaming! Accusing me of fraud? Of hiding a history of mental illness? I’ve never had any!”
Just then, Kiara appeared at the doorway!
She was dressed in designer brands, looking vibrant and clearly living well.
“Winston,” she said sweetly, “you have leukemia. You won’t live much longer. But I still have my youth. I don’t want to be looked down on
as a divorced woman. If we say you had a mental illness, our marriage certificate will be invalid. I’ll still count as never married. Can’t you do this one last thing for me?”
Furious, Winston mustered all his remaining strength and hurled a box of tissues at her.!!
7:14 AM ď ď
He trembled violently, gasping for breath.!!
“Don’t forget, I stole that company for you! And now, just because I’m sick, you want to walk away? You want me to fake a mental illness. just so you can remarry cleanly? You couldn’t even wait until I’m dead?”
Kiara pinched her nose, eyeing the urine bag by his bed with visible disgust. She refused to step inside the room.
“My boyfriend already arranged everything. Just sign it, and we’ll be done.”
Winston gave a hollow laugh and picked up the fruit knife from the bedside table, charging toward her.
Kiara screamed and fled.
The outburst took too much from him. His condition worsened drastically.
Eyes wide, he collapsed on the floor.
When I rushed over to help, he grabbed my hand tightly, his eyes filled with tears.
“Thank you… for staying. Bianca, I hurt you so much. And yet at the end… you’re the only one here. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” Those were his last words.I
He lost consciousness and never woke up again.
After my father’s funeral, Winston’s mother came to see me
She handed me a ring–the wedding band I’d once given to him.
I accepted it, and after she left, I walked to the river and tossed the ring into the current.
Some things belong to the past. Like this river, the past should keep moving–without regret, without reflection.
Shortly after Denver and I held our wedding, news came that Kiara had been forcibly sent to a psychiatric facility by her lover’s wife–to live out her days beside her mother.
All I felt was a quiet sigh.D
Some people have no limits–and in the end, they bring destruction upon themselves.
