Chapter 3

Pity leaked all over the male doctor's face.

After a long while, he spoke again, "Miss, you need to call your family over. I need to communicate with them first."

It seemed that I had at most three to five months left.

I wouldn't live long, so the doctor couldn't tell me directly.

If I couldn't accept it and tried to commit suicide, the hospital wouldn't be able to handle it.

I wanted to say that I didn't have any family, but then I remembered that I had a father.

Although we had been estranged for years, maybe he would care since his daughter was about to die, right?

I left the hospital.

I recalled yesterday the girl surrounded by relatives and friends again.

I was dying. Would my family be sad either?

I took a taxi and went home.

After my mother passed away, my father married again.

But he told me that this house would always belong to the three of us and that no fourth person would ever set foot in it.

He said, "Ella, I need a new life."

"But you and your mom will always be the most important people in my heart," he added.

So, he should care about me.

As I pushed the door open, I took out my phone, ready to call my dad and ask him to come back.

As the door opened, the lively laughter inside suddenly came through.

I looked over, and the living room lights were too bright, a little dazzling.

Yvonne Stanton was sitting at the dining table.

Sitting on either side of her were my dad and my stepmother.

In the middle of the dining table, there was a large pink cake.

Yvonne was wearing a birthday hat and stood up, ready to blow out the candles.

Hearing the noise, she looked over and met my gaze.

My dad was taking pictures with his phone, and the corners of his eyes crinkled with laughter on his aging face.

My timing couldn't have been worse.

When he saw me, the smile on his face suddenly froze.

The phone fell to the ground, and he stood up in a panic, incoherently saying. "Well, Ella, Yvonne said she was coming—"

I turned to leave.

Yvonne's angry voice still reached my ears. "Holy shit. This is Dad's house, and I own half of it. Why can't Mom and I come?"

My dad chased after me, calling out anxiously, "Ella, I was wrong."

"I will have Grace and Yvonne go back now. We need to talk this through," he added.

Yvonne screamed, "Why? Ella, who are you venting at? Don't think I don't know. Nora is back, and Jonah asked you for a divorce.

"Your husband doesn't even want you anymore, and you only dare to bully our family of three."

A family of three?

I swayed a bit, and my vision went dark for some reason.

Then I heard my dad's urgent voice. "Yvonne, don't talk nonsense."

In the past, I might have argued with Yvonne.

But today, I really didn't have any strength left.

I quickened my pace until I could no longer hear the chaotic noises behind me.

I took a taxi and left.

In the rearview mirror, there was nothing on the long road.

He said it so nicely, but my dad still didn't come after me.

I didn't have anywhere else to go for the moment, so I gave the address of my marital home to Jonah.

When Jonah and I divorced and divided our property, I only wanted that one house.

I had only lived there for seven years, but I was used to it and didn't want to adapt to a new place.

I had already changed the fingerprint lock password there, and this time, no one else could get in except for me.

Leaning against the back seat of the taxi, I tried to calm myself down and stop thinking about those things.

The doctor explained that the most important thing to avoid in the late stage of heart failure was large emotional fluctuations.

Otherwise, sudden death was possible at any time.

I was not planning to die that soon.

The phone rang halfway through the drive.

I thought it was my dad.

I glanced at the caller ID, but it was Jonah.

It was really the first time he had ever taken the initiative to call me.

I was so tired. I really didn't want to listen to his hypocritical voice.

I hung up.

But he seemed to be possessed, and kept calling back, again and again, endlessly.

I answered it.

He was as amiable and hypocritical as ever, beating around the bush for a long time, saying nothing of importance.

He asked if I was feeling well, and then asked me what the doctor had said this morning.

As if he really cared.

I was really tired of him, so I couldn't help but interrupt him and say, "Just tell me what's the matter."

Only then did Jonah finally get down to business.

He said, "Can you give me the house in the south? Nora likes the scenery there.

"You can pick any of my other properties. You can even pick an extra one."

The house in the south was our marital home.