“Hamish, you bastard, what have I done to you? I gave you my life, what more do you want? Do you want me to die again before you’re satisfied?” Elisa struggled and cursed in his arms. She wished she could bite the man who had tormented her for half her life.
A sharp pain shot through the back of his hand, and instinctively, Hamish released Elisa, stepping back, his eyes fixed in a daze on the two sharp bloodshot marks on his hand.
Time seemed to slow down as he stared for a moment, then lifted his head. First, he looked into Elisa’s crimson eyes, then slowly moved his gaze down to the cat she held in her arms. Both the woman and the cat glared at him with resentment, as if his embrace just now was an unforgivable offense.
Compared to the physical pain, sometimes words could be more hurtful. Hamish felt as if his heart was bleeding, tears streaming down his face, staining his pale cheeks.
It hurt, it really did.
Even when his lung cancer flared up and he was rushed to the emergency room, the pain was not a fraction of this. Elisa was truly heartless; she had no mercy for him at all.
In the past, she would be so concerned when he coughed from smoking, but now, as he cried in pain, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth, she didn’t even flinch.
He wanted to tell Elisa that he had lung cancer and that he was dying.
“Elisa, my chest hurts…” He clutched his chest, kneeling on the ground. “Elisa, don’t you want me anymore? Elisa… Elisa, Elisa, Elisa…”
He repeated these three words, his voice choked with sobs, his body convulsing in pain.
Elisa, holding the cat, looked down at him from above, and after a while, she said only, “I never wanted you. How could I not want you?”
This time Hamish couldn’t control it and vomited blood. He covered his mouth, trying to swallow the blood back, but it kept gushing out, wetting his palm and seeping through his fingers, making him feel uncomfortable.
Perhaps due to excessive stress, tears welled up in Hamish’s eyes, flowing more and more violently.
“Elisa… I’m sick…”
Elisa looked coldly at Hamish as he spat blood, and said coldly, “Sick? How could you be sick? You’ve always been healthy. I’ve never seen you sick. It’s just a little blood, take some medicine, and you’ll be fine, right? Hamish?”
As Hamish listened to those familiar words, his gaze faltered for a moment.
So this was retribution. The cruel words he had once said to Elisa had now rebounded upon him. He knew he didn’t deserve to be with Elisa anymore, but he was dying. His only wish was for Elisa to spend more time with him, to prove that they had truly loved each other. But Elisa wouldn’t even give him that chance.
He wanted to tell Elisa that he was dying, that he only had two years left, that there would never be another person named “Hamish” bothering her again.
“Elisa, give me one more year… save… save me…”
“If you want someone to save you, you should find a doctor, not me.” Elisa’s gaze turned away, and the scar from three years ago was torn open. She remembered the past, how she had struggled in despair, hoping for someone to save her. Hamish’s arrival shattered her last flicker of hope.
Elisa carefully considered the words Hamish had just said. He said he was sick, his chest hurt, and he asked her for one more year. One year… Elisa couldn’t understand why Hamish insisted on one year. In her view, Hamish was selfish and greedy, and if given the chance, he would trap her for a lifetime.
In the past, she had tried to escape from him several times, only to end up with both legs crippled, chained and locked in a cage by him.
One year wouldn’t satisfy Hamish at all. Perhaps he was feigning illness, trying to make her lower her guard. If she were foolish enough to pity him and agree to his request, something would definitely happen after that year.
The blood that Hamish spat out didn’t look fake. Elisa comforted Mimi and then took out her phone from her bag and called Tobias.
Tobias picked up almost immediately. Without beating around the bush, Elisa said, “Tobias, your boss is spitting blood. If you don’t take him to the hospital soon, he might die.”
Compared to how Hamish had coldly watchedher spitting blood in the past, one could say she had shown the utmost compassion.
Having made herself clear, without waiting for Tobias to respond, Elisa hung up.
At this moment, Hamish, who was kneeling on the ground, staggered to his feet. He grabbed his shirt at his chest, leaning forward slightly, his face as pale as a sheet, his lips turning red from the blood, making his already pale face look even more sickly.
After Elisa finished the call, Hamish, with an empty ache in his chest, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his face contorted with pain.
“Elisa, are you really this heartless?”
Heartless? Elisa laughed when she heard this word. This was considered heartless?
“Hamish, do you know what you were to me before?” Elisa asked calmly.
“What?”
“You were a star.”
Hamish felt a bitter pang in his heart. He had always believed that Elisa loved him. Even without Autumn, even without any misunderstandings, Elisa would still love him.
Elisa blinked her dry eyes and continued, “I used to think your star was very bright. Then I realized that one more or one less made no difference. It’s just that my horizons were too narrow, and I mistakenly thought you were my only one. Now, it seems really ridiculous.”
Time really could consume all of a person’s emotions. No one suddenly stops loving you; you just suddenly realize it.
After hearing Elisa’s words, Hamish hesitated for a moment, his once proud and domineering face now showing signs of fatigue.
The most painful thing wasn’t that she didn’t like him anymore; it was that she had given up on him because of the hurt he had caused.
Hamish didn’t know what to do with this relationship. What should he do? Who could tell him?
He was afraid to be distant, annoyed to be close, regretful to be apart, tormented to stay, and heartbroken to leave. Love was so difficult.
“I’m going home.”
For Elisa, the run-down apartment forty minutes away was her home. But for him… without Elisa, anywhere would be a place of wandering.
Carrying the cat, Elisa walked past Hamish at a distance, heading outside where the sunlight was bright. She walked into the light without stopping.
Hamish, with a desolate look, stared at Elisa’s indifferent figure.
He was certain that even if he collapsed and died right there, she wouldn’t turn back.
He couldn’t help but think back to Elisa six years ago. At that time, when she hadn’t been diagnosed with stomach cancer, she had always been devoted to him, always greeting his impatience with a smile. Despite being busy, she would prepare his three meals every day. She knew about his numerous quirks and obsessions, and she always washed his clothes by hand, never allowing a servant to touch them. Each time she finished, she would use incense to perfume them, hanging them neatly in the wardrobe.
Her health had always been poor, but he had never bothered to ask or think about it. He would force her to go to bed when she was in pain, and she would never refuse, enduring the pain and swallowing the blood.
She was not weak at all, but unfortunately, he realized it too late.
Her compliance with him in the past was not because she was weak; it was because she still loved him. But now that she didn’t love him, she wouldn’t be timid.
Elisa’s figure gradually blurred in his eyes, and he reached out, staggering forward.
He didn’t want to miss her… but fate had different plans.
“Elisa, Louis isn’t who you think he is. Autumn is already dead!”
Elisa’s pace faltered, then continued forward, but her calm heart was now in turmoil.
She had mentally prepared herself that Louis was not Autumn’s choice, but hearing the “truth” from Hamish’s mouth still stung. It turned out, at first sight in this lifetime, she had still mistaken the person.
Tobias had been upstairs watching until Elisa called him, then he came downstairs. He took some anti-cancer medication and poured a glass of water downstairs. Hamish had just been discharged from the hospital and his body was still weak, unable to tolerate even a hint of bitterness. Leaning against the door, his fingertips were already dried with blood, his body subtly trembling. Tobias walked over and handed him the medication. Hamish coughed twice, “I don’t want to take it.” “If you don’t take it, you’ll die.” Trembling, Hamish took the two pills from Tobias and tossed them into his mouth. Tobias offered him water, but he pushed it away, choosing to crush and swallow the pills directly. Just after vomiting blood, his throat felt uncomfortable, making it difficult to swallow for a while. The medication didn’t go directly to his stomach but got stuck in his throat, slowly releasing its bitterness. Hamish, struggling, furrowed his brow, his features contorted. The anti-cancer medication was so bitter. How did Elisa, who used to fear bitterness so much, manage to take it for three years? It was too bitter… As the medication slowly dissolved, the bitterness at the base of his tongue made him retch uncontrollably, almost spitting the pills out. He covered his mouth, and after the violent reaction, tears flowed uncontrollably from the corners of his eyes. He hadn’t done anything, just taken some medication, yet his entire body was covered in a cold sweat, feeling dizzy, and the world in front of him became increasingly blurry. It was so cold, beyond the physical cold, the coldest place was his heart. It felt as if his ribs had cracked open, letting in waves of cold air that froze his internal organs, making his whole body ache with cold. Tobias supported Hamish to sit on the sofa. Just as he touched the sofa, he collapsed onto it, his tall figure curling up, shivering all over. In pain and confusion, he remembered how he had once locked Elisa on the balcony with handcuffs, making her kneel on broken glass for an entire night. Was Elisa back then just as cold and in pain as he was now? Elisa was right. He had taken advantage of her love for him, bullying her without restraint, pushing her farther away. He had once owned all of Elisa, but now, even if he was on the verge of death, she would no longer look at him. Hamish didn’t know how much longer he could hold on. The doctor had said he might live for two to three more years in his condition, but now, even though his body hadn’t died, his heart had, and he didn’t know if he would die first or go mad.
From the Royal Garden back to the small apartment normally took 40 minutes, but if there was traffic, it would probably take an hour. Unfortunately, on the way back, Elisa encountered traffic. The driver seemed inexperienced, driving in fits and starts, churning her stomach. With some discomfort in her body, Elisa felt dizzy in the car, holding Mimi with one hand and resting her head against the window with the other. The driver glanced at the woman in the rearview mirror. Perhaps realizing his poor driving skills, he looked embarrassed and tried to engage in conversation to improve the situation so that he wouldn’t receive a bad review later. “Hey, where did you pick up this cat? It looks so scruffy.” “I didn’t pick it up.” “Did you adopt it from an animal shelter?” Elisa didn’t respond because she was feeling unwell, her eyebrows tightly furrowed and her eyes closed, making it difficult to see her complexion. Seeing her silent, the driver muttered to himself, “If you adopted this cat, you made the wrong choice. Look at all its old wounds. This cat looks like it’s been abused, has many illnesses, and won’t live long.” Elisa opened her eyes, “Can you please drive properly?” The driver, hearing her tone wasn’t great, quickly shut up, but still couldn’t help sneering at the cat, muttering, “Ugly as sin.”