The Only Family I Ever Had Chapter 02

The Only Family I Ever Had Chapter 02

The next morning, I woke up with no memory of the day before.

Nothing.

Not even fragments.

It wasn’t until I checked my phone and saw two reminders that I understood what I was supposed to do.

[Two days until departure.]

[Today’s tasks.]

Slowly, everything came back into focus.

I went outside and had the lavender torn out.

In its place, I planted rows of cherry trees covered in unopened buds.

That afternoon, I took cough medicine before going to see Ethan Brooks.

If I was leaving, I had no right to keep someone else waiting for a future I couldn’t give him.

So I told him the truth.

I told him about my illness and that I was leaving the country for treatment.

Ethan stared at me, his shock quickly giving way to concern.

“Does Sebastian know?”

I thought carefully, then shook my head.

“I don’t think so. And please don’t tell him.”

Ethan agreed.

Then I handed him a folder.

“Can you look this over for me?”

He opened it.

His expression changed immediately.

“Claire, you’re transferring all the shares your parents left you to Sebastian? This is your inheritance.”

“My parents also left me a trust fund. It’s more than enough to cover treatment.”

I paused.

“I’m not coming back to the U.S.”

I looked down at the documents.

“Consider this my way of thanking him for taking care of me all these years.”

A faint smile touched my lips.

“I caused him enough trouble when I was younger.”

It was strange what the heart could survive.

Six months ago, Sebastian’s coldness had devastated me.

I still remembered what he’d said when he finally lost patience with me.

“Claire, have some self-respect. Stop clinging to me like I can’t get rid of you.”

At the time, those words had gutted me.

Now, remembering them barely hurt.

Maybe the disease wasn’t only taking my memories.

Maybe it was taking the intensity with them.

The love.

The pain.

And the kind of love for Sebastian I should never have let take root.

I looked at Ethan.

“Sebastian’s wedding is the day after tomorrow. He probably doesn’t want me there. Could you give this to him after I leave?”

The share transfer agreement was my second wedding gift.

Ethan’s expression sobered.

“I will.”

After thanking him, I returned to the Whitmore estate.

Mrs. Parker told me an international package had arrived.

Inside was the Swiss SIM card Dr. Carter had sent me.

For the first time in months, I felt light.

I spent the next two days at the estate, hoping to see Sebastian one last time and say a proper goodbye.

Wedding preparations kept him away.

He didn’t come home until the night before the wedding, my final night in New York.

By then, I was coughing so hard I could barely breathe.

The sound must have carried through the house.

Panicking, I shoved a handful of cough tablets into my mouth.

At that exact moment, Sebastian opened my door.

I coughed violently.

Blood spilled from my mouth.

White pills scattered across the floor, streaked with blood.