Chapter 2
Luckily, a nurse nearby couldn't bear to just watch and gave me a hand.
"This lady needs a wheelchair more," the nurse said.
Lillian raised an eyebrow at the nurse. "Are you new here? Don't you know my dad owns this hospital? If you dare take her side, I'll have you fired right now."
Her words left me stunned. Suddenly, I finally understood why this hospital, fully capable of saving Elliott, had refused to help.
These people were no different from killers.
"Lillian, are you doing this on purpose?" My eyes were bloodshot, fists clenched so hard.
Lillian wasn't fazed by my fury at all. Instead, her grin just got even more brazen.
She said, "So what if I did it on purpose? If you hadn't hooked up with Leonel while I was gone, we wouldn't have been kept apart for all those years.
"If your son hadn't scared Alex, he wouldn't have ended up with leukemia. Now, I just asked your son to donate some bone marrow. He should count himself lucky for even getting this chance."
Each word out of Lillian's mouth was like a punch to the gut, but honestly, it was just absurd.
She blamed Elliott for her kid's leukemia.
I remembered how, just before Elliott left this world, he held my hand, his voice so weak. "Mom, please don't be sad. I know Dad didn't mean to hurt you. You should forgive him.
"I gave Alex my bone marrow, and Dad will come back to us."
Even as he was dying, he was still worrying about all this.
Sorry, Elliott. Your dad and I would never get back together.
This was all my fault. I was so foolish, loving someone I never should have, and that was why I lost you.
Seven years ago, I fell head over heels for Leonel the moment I saw him at a Hudson family party; it was love at first sight.
Back then, Irene, his grandma, adored me and picked me as her future granddaughter-in-law on the spot. Later, she made Leonel marry me, whether he wanted to or not.
After we got married, Leonel never showed me any affection. For an entire month, we hadn't even slept together.
Irene was getting so anxious that she resorted to some tricks to finally get Leonel to spend the night with me.
That was how I ended up pregnant with Elliott.
After Elliott was born, Leonel kept us at arm's length, never warming up to either of us. Still, I always believed I could reach his heart someday.
Then, about six months ago, he suddenly started acting as if he cared. I thought he'd finally figured things out and that he wanted to build a real life with Elliott and me.
However, it was only because Lillian had come back into his life.
As soon as Lillian came back, the first thing he did was hit me with divorce papers.
I just couldn't let go back then. Elliott was still so little, and I couldn't stand the idea of him growing up without a dad.
However, I never imagined that, just to force me to sign the divorce papers, Leonel would openly parade his relationship with Lillian.
He even welcomed Lillian and her son into our home, letting them act like they were part of the family.
I remember one time, Lillian and Leonel came back from the amusement park with Alex, who was carrying this giant Spider-Man toy.
Elliott was totally envious; he couldn't take his eyes off it.
As soon as they got home, Lillian and Leonel went into their room.
Elliott just wanted to borrow the Spider-Man toy for a bit, but Alex wouldn't let him. Instead, he gave Elliott a shove.
Elliott fell to the floor, and Alex tumbled down, too, ending up with a scraped knee.
Leonel stormed out when he heard the commotion and, without a word, landed a slap right across Elliott's face.
"Why are you so mean? How could you push Alex?" he snapped.
Elliott sobbed, insisting he hadn't pushed Alex, but Leonel just wouldn't hear him out.
He even locked Elliott in that dark basement all night long.
When I begged him to let Elliott out, he threw me in there, too, right alongside my son.
Ever since then, both Elliott and I had been haunted by claustrophobia.