Chapter 3

James still hadn't returned the next morning when I was sending Laura to the nursery.

I thought he wouldn't come home for a while like before after what happened last night.

However, I was wrong again.

When I got home, James was calling his mother and asking her how to make oat porridge.

He said that Brenda wanted to have oat porridge.

Looking at the man who had never cooked before, being busy in the kitchen with a pink apron on, my heart couldn't help but ache again.

It was a good thing that Laura wasn't home.

If she was, she would probably be crying again.

Seeing me return, Brenda stood up from the sofa and rushed into the kitchen to wrap her arms around James's leg.

"Dad, that evil woman is back. I'm scared."

James bent down and picked Brenda up with one hand as he continued cooking with the other.

"Don't be scared, Brenda. Your Dad's Superman. I'll protect you."

Such a warm scene made my eyes feel like they were burning and tears quickly welled up in them.

I walked to the door of the kitchen and leaned against it as I said sarcastically, "James, who will be burying you and praying for you after you die?"

'Probably not me or Laura,' I added inwardly. 'He hasn't treated Laura like his daughter at all. Why should she be by his side when he dies?'

James put down the spoon in his hand and glared at me angrily. "You're just wicked, Catherine."

"Well, I've always been like this. You should have gotten used to it already." I sneered.

James ignored me and went back to his room.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, I went to the hospital to get my report.

The doctor looked at me with a serious face. "Ms. Somerfield, you have breast cancer and it's at the terminal stage as well..."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I forced a smile on my pale face and said, "There must be some kind of mistake, doctor. I'm only having chest pains."

The doctor shook his head. "There's no mistake. You must have been suppressing your feelings for too long for you to get this illness. My suggestion is that you come and be hospitalized to start your treatment straight away."

The doctor said something else as well, but I couldn't make out what it was. All I could think about was Laura.

'If I fall ill, what about Laura? Her father doesn't love her, her grandmother doesn't like her, and my parents...'

I leaned against the wall and walked out of the doctor's office lifelessly. I then sat myself on a bench in the corridor.

I only came back to my senses when I heard my phone ring.

Looking at the screen of the phone, I saw that it was Laura's tutor calling.

I answered the call. "Hello, Miss Hudson."

"Catherine, I think you should come to the nursery as soon as possible. Laura is burning up with a fever."

After hanging up the phone, I rushed out of the hospital and took a taxi to the nursery that Laura went to.

Laura was lying on a small bed with a red face. When she saw me, she whispered, "Mom, I'm okay. Don't worry."

"Let's go to the hospital." I picked Laura up in my arms but my chest began to hurt again.

Laura had always been well-behaved since she was born. It was probably because she knew not a lot of her family liked her.

She was just like me. She didn't know how to please others.

She would definitely suffer in the future with such a personality, but I didn't know what to teach her.

I didn't know how to teach her to be like Brenda, who knew how to pretend to be sick.

After coming home from the hospital, James held Brenda in his arms and was reading "Cinderella" to her.

I held Laura in one hand and a bag of medicine in the other, but James just ignored me completely. He treated us like we were thin air.

My heart ached so much that I began to find it difficult to breathe.

At that moment, I began to regret marrying James.

I even began to regret the decision to give birth to Laura.

I gave birth to Laura, but couldn't bring her any happiness. This was my failure as a mother.

However, I couldn't really go back in time now.

All I could do was treat Laura the best I could whilst I was still alive.

After placing Laura on the bed, I tucked her in and went to make some food for her.

Laura's favorite food was the chicken and mushroom soup that I made for her. There wasn't any fresh chicken in the fridge, so I said to James, who was on the sofa, "Laura's ill. Keep an eye on her for me. I'm going out for some groceries and will be back soon."

James still remained silent as always.

I was used to it and left the house.

When I came back home, I saw Brenda drawing things on Laura's face with my lipstick.

I was infuriated and shouted, "Brenda Collins, what are you doing?"

Brenda jumped when she heard my voice and began crying.

James heard the noise and walked out of the bedroom. He picked Brenda up to comfort her. "It's alright, baby. What's wrong?"

I pointed at Laura's face and shouted, "What's wrong? What do you think?"

"Brenda is only messing around. There's no need to lose your temper." James furrowed his brows and his eyes were full of anger.

"Messing around?" I glared at James and the pain in my chest was causing me to have difficulties breathing. "How about I draw something on your face and see how you feel about it? I'm only messing around anyway."

"Fucking psycho!" cursed James as he left with Brenda in his arms.

I was like a maniac and wouldn't leave him alone.

"Yes, I'm a psycho. I'm about to die! You happy now, James? I can finally go live with your true love happily ever after. Are you happy now?"

James ignored me and continued to look at Brenda with a gentle gaze. "Don't cry, baby. How about we go out shopping?"