Chapter 5
Our parents gave him a good beating for it; his face was all bruised and swollen, but he still turned to me with a crooked grin.
His eyes were full of pride, as if to say, “See? Your big brother’s awesome, right?”
Then the plane crash happened, and our parents were gone.
Elbert dropped out of college and threw himself into the family business.
From then on, he stopped smiling at me and never cooked for me again.
Later, Marshall–the man I’d been pledged to–asked me along to his birthday party.‘
When I got home, I found a bank card from his father slipped into my bag.
The PIN was my birthday, and the balance showed a staggering 20 million dollars.
The very next day, the major business deal Elbert had spent nearly half a year pursuing landed with the Long family.
I tried to explain.
But Elbert wouldn’t listen.
He slapped me hard across the face, his voice shaking with rage as he roared, “Selfish and stupid! After all these years, what have you grown besides your damn romantic fantasies?!”
I lay in the hospital bed and slept for what felt like ages.
When I woke again, it was already getting dark outside.
My face was damp, so I reached up to wipe it.
There was no red on my hand.
I let out a small sigh of relief. Thank goodness–it was not blood.
My phone buzzed with a WhatsApp on–a reply from Elbert sent half an hour ago. [Make it yourself.]
It was anticipated. I wasn’t that upset.
Actually, maybe it was better if he resented
The more he disliked me now, the less he’d have
I put down my phone, got out of bed, and
The mirror reflected a pale face, growing gaunt
to
Suddenly, I remembered running into Marshall in
grieve
when I was gone.
the bathroom.
weight loss.
elevator today–he said I’d lost too much weight.
He told me to stop restricting my diet and to eat whatever I could manage.
I looked at my reflection again.
The weight loss was, in fact, painfully obvious.
Elbert used to have such sharp eyes.
But now, he couldn’t seem to see it at all.
Something dripped onto the sink.
I glanced at the crimson drop, wiped away the nosebleed like routine, then stuffed a medical cotton ball up my
No surprise, the bleeding wouldn’t stop; the cotton was soaked through in no time.
I called the nurse for another clotting factor injection.
Figuring I couldn’t stay in the hospital forever, I asked the doctor how to inject the clotting factor myself.
When I was discharged, the doctor prescribed me a full set of medications and gave me disposable syringes.
1/2
nostril.
W
8:14 PM
Chapter 5
He
reminded me,
“If the bleeding still doesn’t stop after
attention.”
injection,
+13.
or if you experience any other discomfort, you need to seek
immediate medical
Then
he
added, “By
the
way, you have a family caregiver
with you,
right?
In your condition, you really shouldn’t be alone.”
I was
about to tell
the truth, but seeing the worried
look on the doctor’s face, I nodded instead and said, “Yes, I have
my
brother with me.”
As I
stepped out of the hospital, it suddenly dawned on me-
e–I had nowhere
to go.
Thinking
of what Marshall had said-“At this point, you
don’t need
to
follow dietary
restrictions
anymore“-I
decided to just let myself
go for once.
So I grabbed a cab and headed to the mall
to get something
W
to eat.
W
I used to worry about gaining weight, so there were so many things I
never dared to eat
much of.
But
today, I decided
to
indulge myself.
I
I went into the mall and,
in one go, bought two cups of milkshake.
Then I headed to the supermarket and
grabbed a big bag of chips,
pies,
and other
With Christmas approaching, the supermarket was packed.
.
junk food.
”
”
Ja
W
I waited
in line for ages to check out.
By
the
time I finished and
was
carrying my heavy bags out, I was
already short of breath.
There were some benches outside the supermarket, so I sat down, trying
to catch my
breath.
W
7.%
W
W
P
A
4
W
7
hr
”
I looked
down to see a pair
of black leather shoes.
+
Looking
up,
I saw Elbert
standing there, his
expression icy.
W
He gave
me an indifferent glance, then
swept his eyes over the
two cups
of
milkshake and the impressive
pile
of snacks beside me.
Given my appetite, there
was
no way I could finish all this on my own,
and two
cups of milkshake were
just overkill.
He
sneered.
Seems you’re living
it up.
୦
A
