Till the Flower Blooms

The only thing Lucas Cadell was concerned about was the well-being of his illegitimate child. It never occurred to him that Anya had been born premature and plagued with sickness while growing up.

How was a child like that supposed to survive with a kidney surgically removed?

To Cassiopeia, the glare of the red light in the operating room seemed like a sword tipped over her head.

Her voice trembled when she spoke, "Lucas, you only thought about that illegitimate child of yours. Have you forgotten that Anya is your own flesh and blood, too? Please call off the surgery, please!"

Toward the end of her pleas, large beads of her tears slid down her cheek.

Lucas was distraught and softly pecked the corner of her eyes to draw the tears away. Nevertheless, it did not seem like he was going to relent.

"Don't worry, Cassie. It’s just a kidney. I’m sure Anya will be fine."

Cassiopeia had completely lost faith in him. She struggled desperately and even bit down on Lucas to stop him.

Even when she could taste blood in her mouth, Lucas still would not relent. He locked her in place and did not budge.

After what seemed like ages, the red light in the operating room was switched off.

The doctor stepped out with a box and hurried upstairs.

Lucas was thrilled. He immediately let go of Cassiopeia and marched after the doctor.

Cassiopeia staggered into the operating room. She stepped inside to find her daughter lying on the operating table with the color drained from her face. She felt a wave of emotion rush over her and drown her in an instant.

"Anya, I'm sorry. I was late, I am so sorry."

Anya weakly drew her eyes open and shifted her hands to caress Cassiopeia’s cheeks.

"Mommy… Daddy said he would take me to the amusement park… Why am I in a hospital? Did I do something to make Daddy angry at me?"

Cassiopeia felt like her heart would break into pieces when she heard Anya’s confused tone. Her words were lodged in her throat.

Her daughter had not done anything wrong. How was she supposed to tell her that it was only because Lucas, her own father, had chosen an illegitimate daughter over his biological daughter and forsaken her?

How was a five-year-old child to bear such a devastating truth?

The disappointment continued to swell in Anya’s eyes as she began to cry. "Daddy said he loved us and that he would never do anything to upset us! He said that!"

Cassiopeia couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears.

There was a time when Lucas only loved her and Anya, but it was all in the past now.

Lucas had a reputation for being a devilish business mogul. Cassiopeia was his childhood sweetheart and used to be the only one whom Lucas would ever display tenderness toward.

He would willingly turn down business deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars just because she said she was feeling unwell. He would fly back home from abroad just so he could look after her from her bedside.

If she spotted some exquisite collection that caught her eye, all it took was two glances from her for him to exhaust every connection he had to identify the owner. Then, he would drop millions of dollars in a heartbeat to buy it for her.

When she got pregnant, Lucas spoiled her beyond what was thought possible.

People tend to say that wealthy couples were bound to go separate ways eventually because they would develop different values.

Cassiopeia firmly believed that she and Lucas would be an exception to this rule—that was until she was seven months pregnant when she found him sleeping with a female college student.

She was so upset that she nearly had a miscarriage. After being rushed to the hospital, she ended up giving birth to her daughter, Anya, prematurely.

The always prideful and proud Lucas knelt in front of her bed and slapped himself several times in the face to express how apologetic he was.

His face was beet red when he vowed, "Cassie, please believe me. Someone framed me. I'd have never even thought about betraying your trust."

When Cassiopeia looked at their newborn daughter, she caved in and forgave him.

After that, Lucas had given the student a significant sum to leave them alone. After that, he dedicated himself to becoming the best husband and father he could.

Around a month ago, Cassiopeia ran into Lucas with a woman. He was holding a boy that looked just like a splitting image of himself as a child!

The woman shielded the boy behind her and shot an adamant look at Cassiopeia.

"Mrs. Cadell, I promise that I will be Liam’s only parent. I will never try to take Cadell Corporation from you or your daughter."

An uncharacteristic tinge of panic flashed across Lucas’s face as he went up to embrace Cassiopeia and offer an explanation.

"Cassie, this is Freya Moore. I slept with her when I was drugged five years ago."

It was only then that Cassiopeia found out about what happened on that fateful night five years ago. Freya had gotten pregnant and decided to keep the child to raise by herself.

A little while ago, when she took the child with her to Cadell Corporation for an interview, Lucas ran into her.

Although he had long forgotten about her appearance, he immediately noticed how the boy she held in her arms looked just like him. Right away, he knew he was looking at his son.

After they got home, Lucas vowed to Cassiopeia again.

"Liam is my son. He has my blood flowing in his veins. Please give me some time to sort out arrangements for those two. I promise you that Anya will be my one and only successor regardless. That will never change."

Again, Cassiopeia compromised for the sake of their daughter who was deeply attached to her father.

Shortly after that, Liam was diagnosed with kidney failure.

Lucas had always felt guilty toward Freya and Liam over how things turned out. When he found out about what happened, he used every resource he had to find a suitable kidney donor.

As fate would have it, the only matching donor was his own daughter, Anya.

Cassiopeia foolishly assumed that Lucas adored Anya and would never do something as rash as making Anya donate her kidney.

Again, reality struck a heavy blow and exposed how naive she had been.

Not only did Lucas approve of the procedure, but he even kept the surgery a secret from her and ignored Cassiopeia's objections. He managed to trick Anya and get her onto the operating table.

When she saw the frail state Anya was in, she felt a deep pang of regret.

"Anya, why don’t I take you away somewhere else? We’re going to leave Daddy."

"Why are we leaving Daddy? Is he still angry with me?" Anya sounded like she was about to cry. "Mommy, I’ll apologize to Daddy. Just tell him not to be angry with me, please? I don't like hospitals…"

Anya’s voice grew fainter as she spoke. She felt her strength sapping away, and her arms fell to the ground as she gave away to exhaustion.

Cassiopeia could feel her heart beating like a drum. She held Anya’s hand frantically and chanted her name in fright.

"Anya, what's wrong? Open your eyes, please. You’re scaring me!"

Anya did not respond.

Panicked by this point, Cassiopeia called a doctor.

A nurse rushed into the ward. A single glance at Anya was all it took before she cried out urgently, "She's developed an infection after the surgery. She needs to be rushed to the emergency room!"

Cassiopeia cried out hysterically, "Hurry and find a doctor!"

The nurse became flustered. "Mr. Cadell had all the doctors booked. Nobody is available right now."

In terror, Cassiopeia reached for her phone with her hands shaking the entire time. "I’ll call him right now!"

She called him eighteen times and yet, there was no answer. Still, she refused to give up and called again.

On the nineteenth call, someone finally picked up.

"Lucas, Anya is…"

Beep…

The heart rate monitor issued a steady drone and displayed a horizontal line on the display.

Cassiopeia froze. She stared blankly at her lifeless daughter lying on the operating table. Meanwhile, she could hear Lucas’s ecstatic voice echoing on the phone.

"Cassie, they were operating on Liam just now. The surgery was a success. He’s going to be fine! Why were you calling me so many times? Was Anya looking for me? I’ll be right there."

Cassiopeia closed her eyes. Her voice came out in the form of a dry scratch. "Forget it."

Neither she nor Anya needed Lucas anymore.