Forsaken in Her Final Hour

During dinner, my mother-in-law, Sophia Valdez, suddenly clutched her chest. Her face turned pale.I quickly put down my fork and went up to her. "Mom, is it your heart problem?"Sophia nodded.I picked up my phone to give my husband, Caleb Wright, a call. He was a cardiologist.Caleb did not join us for dinner since he said he would be working overtime tonight.I tried calling him several times, but Caleb did not pick up the phone. When the line finally got through, I could hear a soft female voice speaking on the other end."Esther, my cat, Bailey, is feeling a bit under the weather. Caleb is preparing some food for him. Can you stop calling? The noise is going to wake Bailey up."I stiffened for a moment.It was Lexie Simmons, Caleb's first love.The two of them dated back when they were still in high school. However, Lexie's parents did not like the fact that Caleb came from a poor family.They eventually forced the couple to break up and sent Lexie away to study abroad.

In the end, I had no choice but to rush back to the hospital. I even tripped and fell a couple of times because I was in a hurry.Morgan asked the instant he saw me, "Esther, where's Caleb?""He wouldn't follow me to the hospital. How's my mother-in-law doing?"Morgan turned his face away and avoided my gaze. "You should prepare yourself for the worst, Esther."My face went as white as a sheet. I rushed into the emergency room at once.I felt so bad as I took in Sophia's weakened state. "Mom, I'm so sorry. I couldn't find Caleb."I could not bring myself to tell Sophia that Caleb had refused to come with me to the hospital."You don't have to lie to me, Esther. Caleb is my son. I know him better than anyone else does. He must be with that woman again."He chose to forsake me, his mother, because of that woman. What an ungrateful child!"I knew you were a good person from the first time I met you, Esther. Caleb has been seeing that woman recently. You suffered a lot because of

If it were before, I would have been devastated to hear Caleb say that. Yet, I just felt like laughing now as I thought about how much of a fool he was.I did not waste time arguing with him. "I have the divorce papers ready. You just need to drop by and sign them."Without allowing him the time to respond, I hung up.The doorbell rang half an hour later. I opened the door thinking it was Caleb who had arrived.The person standing outside the door was not Caleb. Instead, it was Lexie, who was carrying her cat.She glanced at me and said mockingly, "How has it been? It feels awful losing your husband to someone else, right?"Lexie did not bother putting on an act since only the two of us were there. She raised her phone and showed me a photo."Esther, why did you think Caleb chose to marry you in the first place? It's because you look a lot like the younger me. Well, I'm back now. So, you should take the hint and quickly divorce Caleb."I took a glance at the phone screen.The

Caleb's phone slipped out of his hand and fell onto the floor.He was shaking all over. There was a look of guilt, pain, and regret on his face. Caleb had probably thought about what happened during the last few days.The night I went to Lexie's house and begged him to perform the surgery on Sophia only to hear his refusal. After that, Caleb stopped by home and shattered the urn carrying Sophia's ashes, saying that the ashes were just flour.Caleb was gripped by a sense of panic. His legs went limp, and he dropped to his knees."Mom, how could this be? Why did my mom end up dying? I was wrong, Mom! I'm sorry. I'm really sorry!"As he broke down in tears, Caleb started slapping himself nonstop.I looked at him expressionlessly. Even if Caleb managed to beat himself to death, it would not bring Sophia back to life.Lexie crouched down beside Caleb and consoled him, "Caleb, you're not at fault for what's happened. Stop blaming yourself. There's no way we can bring back the dead. So