He Proposed to Her on a Mountain, I Got a Cancer Diagnosis in a Hospital Chapter 04

He Proposed to Her on a Mountain, I Got a Cancer Diagnosis in a Hospital Chapter 04

Somewhere in my haze, I heard the butler making a phone call.

His voice was urgent.

“Sir, Mrs. Sterling seems to have passed out. There’s blood coming out of her mouth.”

“You need to come back and see her right away.”

After a long pause, Nathan’s voice came through, lazy and unconcerned.

“Blood? She probably just has a bad canker sore or something. She’s always been strong. Give her something for the inflammation and she’ll be fine.”

“I’m busy helping Lila pick out a performance outfit. Don’t call me unless it’s important.”

Half-conscious, I let the butler help me back to bed.

A long time later, my mind finally cleared.

I exhausted every option I had and dragged my sick body all over the place.

At last, I gathered enough evidence to clear my name.

But on the night before I was about to turn it in, the hospital called to say my mother had taken a turn for the worse.

Nathan had cut off her medical payments.

I looked at my mother lying in the hospital bed, her breathing faint and fragile.

In the end, I gave in.

I called Nathan over and over like I was losing my mind.

Every single time, he hung up.

I had no choice but to wait for him backstage after his performance.

“Nathan, why did you cut off my mother’s medical payments?”

“She’s been good to you all these years.”

He came toward me, full of anger.

“You’ve got some nerve asking me that. Your mother’s that sick, and she still went around calling Lila shameless.”

“Do you have any idea she’s so shaken she can’t even leave the house now?”

“Nathan, isn’t it true?” I snapped.

“Grace, Lila is someone I’m protecting now.”

I fell silent for a long time before I finally gave in.

“Fine. I’ll delete all the evidence.”

“As long as you restore my mother’s medical payments.”

At last, Nathan smiled and touched my face. “That’s better.”

“I’ve been busy lately. When I have time, I’ll go see Mom.”

I took the card and went back to the hospital.

Full of hope, I walked up to pay the bill, only to be told the balance was zero.

“That’s impossible. There’s money on this card.”

The nurse frowned. “Ma’am, there really isn’t.”

Humiliated, I searched through every card in my bag.

In the end, I realized I did not have enough to cover even one day of my mother’s treatment.

No one answered when I called. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold the phone.

“Wait. I can get the money. I can…”

Without me noticing, a crowd had formed around me.

They pointed and sneered.

“Isn’t that Mrs. Sterling? Her husband’s loaded, and she can’t even pay medical bills?”

“Nathan and Lila look so much better together anyway. I don’t get why she’s still clinging to the title of Mrs. Sterling.”

“You think she stole that card from the house? I heard she tried to steal a vase last time and smashed it when she got caught. How broke do you have to be?”

“That really happened? God, that’s disgusting.”

In the middle of the chaos, someone slapped me.

I bit my lip and kept calling frantically.

Before I realized what was happening, someone shoved me to the floor.

Shaking, I bent down to pick up the phone, but the pain was so bad I could only drop to my knees.

Cold sweat broke out all over me.

I threw away the last shred of my pride and begged someone to lend me a phone. The moment he finally answered, I started crying.

“Nathan, something’s wrong with that card. Can you give me another one?”

“Stop making excuses, Grace. You’re getting too greedy.”

“Lila needs me right now, and I can’t leave.”

My nails scratched lines into the wall, and the pain was so intense I was starting to go numb.

“I’m not making excuses. I’m sick too. Right now, I’m in so much pain.”

A mocking laugh came from the other end.

“So now you’ve learned to use tricks like this to make yourself look pitiful too?”

“Grace, Lila’s emotionally unstable right now. I can’t be that selfish.”

“But my mom really…”

Lila’s voice came through the phone before I could finish.

“Nathan, thank you for spending all this on me. I loved the artificial snow.”

“Having you here with me feels like a dream.”

“I’m glad you liked it. I’ll be with you from now on.”

His voice was gentle and indulgent, nothing like the one he used with me.

I was fighting for my life, and he would not even spare me a little of his time.

Then, in my daze, an alarm suddenly blared from my mother’s room.

I stumbled forward and half crawled inside.

The monitor had already flattened into a straight line.

The doctor called the time of death.

I swallowed the agony clawing at my throat and staggered closer. “Mom…”

Then I snatched up a fruit knife and ran out like I had gone mad.

I hated them.

I wanted them to pay with their lives for my mother’s death.

I stumbled out of the hospital, and the roar of a car tore through the air.

The next second, I was thrown through the air.

The knife spun and drove straight into my own chest.

I let out a bitter laugh.

Blood spread slowly beneath me.

What a shame.

In the end, I still could not get justice for my mother.

…

After the call was cut off, a flicker of unease rose in Nathan’s chest.

But Lila took his phone and demanded that he stay with her.

It was not until the next day, half-awake, that he finally got another call.

“Hello. Is this Grace Bennett’s husband?”

“Yes. Has she caused trouble again?”

“No. She had late-stage stomach cancer, and the injuries from the car accident were severe. Despite emergency treatment, she passed away last night.”

“Please come to the hospital and identify her body.”