Chapter 5

Wynnie pulled Richard up to his feet immediately. Richard's hand was littered with tiny cuts thanks to the shards. He looked at me uneasily as he mumbled, "I'm sorry, Sebastian. I… I didn't know you don't like this particular fruit…" Wynnie frowned at me before exclaiming harshly, "Sebastian, can you reel in that temper of yours? Richard's not meant to serve you!" Honestly speaking, I had gotten chided by Wynnie far too many times. In fact, I was used to listening to her reprimanding me every day ever since she decided to not love me anymore. Chaotic thoughts flooded my mind, making it even more muddled. For a moment, I didn't know what to do in order to start clearing my mind. I lowered my head, noticing the small patch of coagulated blood on my finger. Dazed, I stared at it for a moment. Then, I raised my head in a fit of panic to look at Wynnie. "Eve is sick. She needs money." I never visited Wynnie's company other than to deliver things to her or ask for money from her. Wynnie took Richard's hand, her brows already tangled into a deep frown. Her heart ached for him at the sight of the cuts on his hand. Then, Wynnie turned to gaze at me haughtily, as though she was judging me. She replied frostily, "You want money, right? I can give you money, but before that, you'd better clean up the shards." Ryan bent down with the intention to help me clean up, but he was quickly stopped by Wynnie. The atmosphere fell silent. Everyone waited to see what I'd do with bated breaths. I closed my eyes before crouching down. Then, I began picking up the shards one by one. The sharp and jagged edges cut my hands multiple times, leaving them with tiny cuts. But Wynnie never bothered looking at my hands. Once I was done cleaning everything up, I followed Wynnie into her office. Richard entered the office with us as well. I repeated what I had said earlier to Wynnie. "Eve is sick. She needs money. About a million dollars will do." The surgery and chemotherapy costs as well as the costs of the series of treatments that would take place after the surgery had been included in the million dollar budget. In fact, this was the lowest budget I could come up with for Eve. Wynnie asked, "What makes you think I'll give you a million dollars just to save an orphaned kid?" "Wynnie, Eve is our adopted daughter!" I roared angrily with red-rimmed eyes. I was fine with Wynnie being heartless to me. But she couldn't treat Eve like that no matter what. My overly emotional state caused my stomach to churn heavily. A strong wave of pain flooded my system once again. Nowadays, it was a luxury for me to stand like a regular person without feeling any form of pain. Wynnie watched the way I squirmed from the pain. An odd emotion crossed her eyes at that moment. Was she pitying me? Could it be that her heart was aching for me? I couldn't differentiate it, nor did I care about what that emotion was. All I wanted was money to treat Eve's illness. However, Wynnie didn't hesitate to dash what little hope I held for her. She said, "Sebastian, you were the one who decided to adopt that kid. I never agreed to the adoption from the start. That's why I won't help you with this matter. It's tiring enough for me to take care of you. I don't want to take care of your kid as well." Did that mean I had been deluding myself this whole time? But Wynnie was equally elated back when Mdm. Foster agreed to let us adopt Eve. When we got married, Wynnie had made it clear that she would never get pregnant because of her career. I understood where she was coming from. If she were to become a mother, she'd need to devote a huge amount of time and energy to raising the kid. Not only that, but she'd also get forced out of the workforce permanently. Not many people could balance work and child-rearing duties, after all. Wynnie couldn't risk her career by getting pregnant. Similarly, Jakeman Group couldn't risk losing her as its leader. The thing was, both Wynnie and I adored kids. That was why we chose to adopt Eve under special circumstances. Legally speaking, we'd be Eve's parents. But Eve would still have to continue living in the orphanage. It wasn't as if we never thought about letting Eve live with us in the manor. But Wynnie wanted to spend more time with me at home. After that, she cheated on me. Her acts of infidelity made the manor an unsuitable place for Eve to live in. I got into a huge fight with Wynnie. However, she still refused to foot Eve's medical bills. Once I left the company, I asked for Eve's hospital's address from Mdm. Foster. After that, I rushed to the hospital in a befuddled state. The pain wracking my body had already receded a little, but it began flaring up soon enough. The strong smell of disinfectants made me nauseous uncontrollably. I slowly climbed up the stairs all the way to the third floor while enduring the strong pain. The ICU was located on the third floor of the children's hospital. I could see numerous tubes being hooked to Eve's skinny body through the window. How could a little girl like Eve endure the pain that not even adults could endure? She was so young… Mdm. Foster grabbed my arm while trying her best not to cry. "Sebastian, how did you become this skinny?" I forced out a smile as I patted Mdm. Foster on the hand. "I'm fine. It's just that I'm suffering from health issues at the moment. What about Eve? How's she doing?" "The doctor said if we can't find a suitable bone marrow donor for Eve, she might…" Mdm. Foster choked up once again. She couldn't finish her sentence at all. She looked at me before parting her mouth once again. I thought she was embarrassed about bringing up the money needed for Eve's treatment, so I quickly promised her, "Don't worry. I'll definitely get the money ready." Since Wynnie refused to give me money, I'd have to earn the money myself. Either that, or I could borrow from others. What if Eve's doctor managed to find her a suitable bone marrow but couldn't proceed with the surgery due to financial problems? No, I couldn't let that happen! But Mdm. Foster kept shaking her head. She could only gaze at me with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Sebastian, tell me the truth. What on earth happened to you? Normal health issues won't reduce you to all skin and bones." I was stunned, to say the least. When I caught sight of my reflection in the window of the ICU ward, I finally saw what I actually looked like. My complexion was deathly pale, my eyes empty and soulless. I had lost so much weight to the point my face was all protruding and bony, making me look like a demon. It was no wonder why the passersby kept shooting me weird looks when I was rushing to the hospital just now. I caressed my face, wanting to gloss over the matter with a self-deprecating joke. But when I met Mdm. Foster's saddened eyes, I found it difficult to do so. After helping Mdm. Foster onto a bench and sinking down to the spot next to her, I fell silent for a moment. In the end, I decided to tell her the truth. "I'm diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer. I don't think I'll be able to live to see next spring." Although I knew that I'd die soon, I still couldn't help but feel sad when I broke the news to the person who genuinely cared about me. I wasn't saddened because of my illness—I felt sad because of Mdm. Foster. Mdm. Foster was already an elderly woman who was supposed to retire and live a carefree life. To think that she'd have to live through the pain of watching someone younger than her die before her. A moment of stunned silence later, Mdm. Foster buried her face into my shoulder and began wailing sorrowfully. I couldn't do anything about my fate, so I could only pat her on the back slowly. Every pat would end with my hand stroking down her back. The way I patted her mirrored the way she had patted me comfortingly when I was still a kid. Finding a suitable bone marrow for Eve was no simple task. Mdm. Foster didn't want to see me wearing myself out for Eve's sake, so she forced me to go home and rest. As I rested in the guest room of the manor, all I could recall was the memory of Eve lying on the hospital bed. I managed to fall asleep after a while. But my dream refused to let me rest properly. I dreamed that Eve found a suitable bone marrow donor. However, she was forced to breathe her last on the bed because she didn't have money for her surgery. The dream was so depressing that I couldn't take it anymore. Hence, I woke up and sat on the bed till the break of dawn. There was no way I'd let my dream come to life.