Chapter 3: When Forgiveness Ran OutNo More Chances

When we rushed to the hospital, our son had already been wheeled into the operating room for emergency surgery.

Halfway through the procedure, the doctor came out, his expression grave. "His condition is extremely unstable. All I can do is try my best to keep his vital signs stable."

My knees gave out. I caught myself against the wall, barely managing to stay upright.

Evelyn said timidly, "This is all my fault…"

"Of course it is!" I could not take it anymore. I shoved her, nearly spent from everything that had happened. "If you two hadn't gotten together behind my back, my son wouldn't be lying in there!"

The next second, Cedric grabbed me and pulled me away, his expression darkening. "This is a hospital, not a place for you to cause a scene! And she's about to be evaluated for a promotion. Can you stop dragging up the past?"

When he saw my bloodshot eyes, he added, "At worst, we'll use another reconciliation card and put this behind us."

From the very first day of our marriage, Cedric had given me one hundred reconciliation coupons. He had also given me a promise I could never refuse. "No one in this world has the right to bully you. Not even me."

He had signed the divorce papers with complete confidence, and the agreement gave me the strongest financial protection possible.

At first, it had been things like showing up late for dates and forgetting our anniversaries. Then, it escalated to cheating and covering for the person responsible for the state our son was in.

What Cedric did not know was that all one hundred reconciliation cards had been used up. There was no future left for us.

Cedric thought I had agreed to let it go. He kept trying to persuade me for a while longer before finally taking a phone call.

"There are still some things we need to take care of at school. Call me if anything happens to our son."

I sat alone in the freezing hospital hallway until, at last, the light above the operating room went out. "Ms. Rosenthal, the surgery was successful, but he'll need to be monitored in the ICU for two days."

Through the thick glass, I could see him lying there quietly. Just as he had for the past three years.

He could not run or jump, but he was still fully conscious. That was the most painful part.

I sat outside the ICU, keeping watch with my eyes open until dawn.

…

It was not until the next day that Cedric finally sent his first message. "Is our son out of surgery? Is everything okay? There was a problem with Evelyn's promotion materials. I need to help her get everything sorted out."

I stared blankly at the screen before turning off my phone.

Suddenly, a piercing alarm shrieked from inside the ICU. Doctors and nurses rushed into the room.

A few minutes later, a young nurse came running out.

"He's having trouble breathing. He urgently needs special medication to keep his vital signs stable. It's very expensive—$500,000 a dose, and he needs three doses."

"Okay… Okay."

I immediately handed over our family savings card and followed the nurse in a daze to the payment counter.

But after checking the card, the clerk handed it back to me. "Could there have been a mistake? There's no balance on this account."

My mind went completely blank.

I immediately had someone pull the bank records. There were two major withdrawals—one for a suburban mansion, and another transferred directly to Evelyn.

With trembling hands, I called Cedric.

He sounded annoyed. "You checked my bank records?"

"Our son's condition got worse, and I didn't have enough money to pay his medical bills. What else was I supposed to do?"

My voice was hoarse.

Cedric instantly grew impatient. "Do you really have to lie over a little money? Evelyn hasn't had an easy time these past few years. I was her professor once, so I have to help her. I can't just stand by and watch her end up homeless.

"And she needed money to help secure her promotion, so I used it for that first. I'll transfer it back in a month. It won't delay our son's medical expenses."

He hung up.

When I called again, I could not get through.

I had no choice but to beg everyone I could for money, humiliating myself however I had to. Finally, I managed to come up with enough for all three doses.

But when I stumbled back to the hospital, a document immediately caught my eye on the table in my son's room.

It was a euthanasia consent form.