Chapter 3

It was hard to believe that the man asking her for a divorce so coldly now had once cried with joy when she said yes to his proposal.

It was a moment before Claire could feel her stiff fingers again. Then she typed a single word.

Claire: [Okay.]

She had already been bracing herself for this, so the message didn't hurt as much as it might have. Once she'd collected herself, she headed to her father's hospital room.

When she opened the door, Serena Chandler was helping Gordon Chandler out of bed.

Claire's eyes immediately filled with tears. Her mother's back was hunched, half her hair had turned gray, and her father looked gaunt and exhausted, his body much thinner than she remembered.

"Dad... Mom..." Her throat tightened painfully around the words.

The older couple turned around in surprise and delight.

"Claire, why didn't you tell us you were coming?" Serena hurried over and took her hand. "I would've gone downstairs to meet you."

Then she glanced behind Claire. "Where are Stella and Luke?"

Gordon had been missing his granddaughter too. "Oh yeah. Where are they?"

Claire lowered her eyes. She didn't dare tell them how close Luke and Stella had become to Bella. It would only upset them.

"Luke had something come up at the last minute. He'll bring Stella over later."

"Oh, I see. When are they coming?

"They'll probably be hungry by then. I'll go get them something to eat.

"Stella loves those sweet cakes they make here."

Claire could no longer keep up her smile.

"Don't worry about them. Look at the two of you. You've both lost so much weight. Haven't you been eating properly?" she said, her voice tinged with pain.

"Of course we have."

Serena brushed it off with a smile and gently touched Claire's cheek, but her own eyes soon turned red.

Claire said they had lost weight, but Serena could see that her daughter looked worn down too.

Luke had clearly been treating her coldly.

In the end, marriage had worn away the passion they once had.

Serena couldn't help wondering if things might have turned out differently if she hadn't agreed to let Claire move so far away to marry Luke.

Maybe she should have asked her to wait for the man she'd loved before him instead.

She sighed inwardly.

After spending some time talking with her parents, Claire found an excuse to leave the room and went to ask the doctor about Gordon's condition.

In his office, the doctor pulled up Gordon's test results and spoke gravely.

"Your father's condition is serious. His leukemia has progressed to the blast phase, which is the most dangerous stage of the disease.

"At this point, we can only try to control it with targeted therapy and chemotherapy, or find a suitable donor for a stem cell transplant. But even with a transplant, his chances of recovery aren't very good."

Claire's heart sank.

"Is there really nothing else we can do? He wasn't this bad last month..."

The doctor sighed. "Leukemia can worsen very suddenly. It happens. If you want another option, I'd suggest taking him to the capital and seeing a more experienced specialist."

He paused before adding, "But that will also mean much higher medical costs. You should think it through carefully."

Judging by the way she was dressed, he didn't think she came from a particularly wealthy family.

Claire understood what he meant. She thanked him quietly and left the office, her legs weak beneath her.

His concern wasn't unfounded. She really was short on money.

She might be Luke Holt's wife, but he had never given her free access to what he earned.

He gave her 50,000 a month for household expenses. Anything beyond that had to be approved through his secretary.

Claire found a quiet corner and stood there with her phone for a long moment before calling Luke's secretary, Jade Lane.

"Ms. Lane, I need two million. Please approve a check for me."

Jade had already finished work for the day and wasn't happy about being disturbed. She also knew Luke didn't care much about Claire, so she made no effort to hide her impatience.

"Two million? That's far beyond your regular monthly allowance of 50,000. I'm afraid that's going to be difficult."

Claire pressed her pale lips together.

Was two million really that much?

To Luke, it should've been nothing.

The money he had splurged on Bella must be far more than that.

Claire knew Jade could handle the request if she wanted to. She was only making things difficult because she had seen how Luke treated his wife.

Claire hung up without another word.

Her gaze fell to the ring on her right hand.

Under the lights, the pink diamond sparkled beautifully.

She hadn't taken it off once since the day Luke gave it to her.

After they got married, he rarely gave her gifts, so the ring meant even more to her.

Even when she noticed that Luke had stopped wearing his own, she still couldn't bring herself to take hers off. She kept holding on, no matter how hard it hurt.

She wasn't even sure what she had been holding on to.

A mocking little smile crossed her lips, and she slipped the ring from her finger. Then she removed the necklace around her neck and the bracelet on her wrist.

She called the owner of a luxury resale shop and sold everything on short notice.

In the end, she received a little over two million.

With the money finally in hand, Claire put away her phone and returned to the hospital room. She planned to talk to her parents about transferring Gordon to another hospital.

But when she opened the door, she stopped short.

Luke and Stella were there.

Had he come to tell her parents about the divorce?

Was he really that inconsiderate?

For a second, Claire's mind went blank.

"Claire, you're back."

"Mommy!"

Stella spotted her and immediately ran over with a smile.

Aunt Bella was feeling much better now, so Stella was in a much better mood too.

Claire came back to herself and bent down to hug her.

The moment Stella came close, Claire caught the faint scent of Bella’s perfume lingering on her, and she had to suppress the discomfort it stirred in her.

Stella tugged at her affectionately. "Mommy, I want an apple. Peel one for me."

Claire paused, then nodded.

"Okay."

Stella happily took her hand and led her farther into the room, stopping beside Luke.

The perfume was even stronger there.

Without meaning to, Claire pictured Luke and Bella together.

She couldn't stand it. She pulled her hand free from Stella's and moved away to peel the apple.

Stella didn't think anything of it. She simply tilted her head and leaned against Luke.

Luke glanced at Claire before turning back to Serena and Gordon.

"If you need anything later, just let me know."

It was only an empty promise. He hadn't actually done anything to help.

Claire's hand paused over the apple.

She couldn't help thinking about how differently he treated Bella's family.

He came to the hospital himself. He arranged doctors for them. He stayed by their side...

Serena and Gordon, however, were pleased by his words.

They didn't want to offend Luke. They were afraid that if they did, Claire might have an even harder time in the Holt family.

"That's very thoughtful of you, Luke."

Luke didn't respond.

Just then, his phone rang.

He answered, and whatever the person on the other end said made his voice noticeably warmer.

"I'll be right there."

Stella seemed to know exactly who it was. Her eyes lit up, and she almost blurted out "Aunt Bella" before remembering where she was and stopping herself.

Claire saw everything clearly. But she said nothing and finished peeling the apple numbly.

The only thing she couldn't understand was why Luke still hadn't brought up the divorce.

Serena and Gordon quickly picked up on the fact that he was leaving.

"You have work, don't you? That's okay. Go ahead."

Then Serena looked at Stella.

"Stella can stay here. Grandma bought you lots of presents. You can go through them later."

They had missed their granddaughter and didn't want her to leave.

Stella hesitated, curious about the presents.

But if she stayed, she wouldn't get to see Aunt Bella.

She made up her mind almost immediately.

"I want to go with Dad."

Grandma and Grandpa adored her anyway. Stella was sure they would have Claire bring the presents home to her later.

Claire could see exactly what her daughter was thinking, and a cold weight settled in her chest.

She set down the apple. When Serena tried once more to persuade Stella to stay, Claire said quietly, "Let her go. I'll stay here with you."

Serena had no choice but to give up and sighed.

Stella brightened at once. Afraid Claire might change her mind, she grabbed Luke's hand and started pulling him toward the door.

Luke stopped.

He looked at Claire.

"Come outside for a minute."

Claire paused.

She could already guess what he wanted to talk about.

The divorce.

She wiped her hands and followed him out.