Chapter 5

When I woke from unconsciousness, I was already in a hospital bed.

Outside, the sky was bright.

My mom, Evelyn, sat by my bed, her eyes red and swollen, with dark circles beneath them.

She'd always been a powerful businesswoman.

Her usually meticulously sharp makeup was now smudged and worn.

Seeing me awake, she gripped my hand tightly.

"Scarlett, did Alex hurt you?"

My eyes welled up instantly, but I forced a smile and shook my head. "No, Mom, of course not."

My mom's expression was agitated and furious. "You're still lying to me."

"If I hadn't gone to your place yesterday, no one would have known you collapsed. The cups were shattered everywhere. Were you two fighting?"

I remembered the scene from last night, and the diagnostic sheet lying on the floor.

My heart suddenly sank, overwhelmed with panic.

My mom and I had only each other for so many years.

If she knew about my illness, she wouldn't be able to bear it.

But I quickly calmed down.

From her appearance, it seemed she'd rushed me to the hospital last night and hadn't noticed the paper.

My soaring anxiety subtly eased.

I forced another smile. "Mom, I really just had a bad cold and a headache."

"I got dizzy when I got back and accidentally knocked over the tea set myself."

As I spoke, I pulled out my phone and showed her old cold diagnosis reports.

My mom glanced at them, then stared at my face for a long time in silence.

My conscience pricked, and I had to force myself to maintain a calm facade.

Time ticked by, second by second. I had a bad feeling, sensing my mom had discovered something.

But then, her phone rang.

It seemed to be something urgent. My mom stood up after the call, her expression anxious.

"Something's come up at the company, Scarlett, you here…"

She'd managed the company alone for so many years, constantly busy, it wasn't easy for her.

I immediately spoke up. "Mom, go. I'm not critically ill, and there are doctors and nurses here to look after me."

My mom hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I'll come back to see you later, then. Call me if anything happens."

I watched my mom leave in a hurry.

For some reason, I just felt like something wasn't right.

My brain cancer was already advanced. How much longer I had to live, no one could say.

After much thought, it seemed many things needed to be planned for sooner rather than later.

I pulled out my phone and called Julian Vance, my childhood friend, asking him to help me draft my will.

He was a lawyer, after all, and more professional in these matters.

Less than half an hour later, he arrived at my hospital room, looking disheveled.

The moment he stepped in and saw me in the hospital bed, his expression froze.

His voice was filled with shock. "Scarlett, what… what happened to you?"