Chapter 4 Divorce Hamish

Elisa staggered back, the ten-minute walk took her twenty minutes. The villa had no heating, the huge room was deathly cold.

Elisa kicked off her high heels, stumbling drunkenly into the bathroom. She turned on the hot water in the bathtub, halfway full, the resolute person a moment ago now lifeless like a corpse in the tub. The hot water spread, the person silent and motionless, the large red dress covered the entire bathtub, like a glaring blood water, making Elisa's face as white as rice paper.

She closed her eyes, her face sinking into the water. The water gradually overflowed over her head, sealing off all senses. The brief suffocation numbed her heart. After a while, she couldn't help but open her mouth, hot water entered her mouth, and a wave of nausea rushed up from her stomach.

Elisa opened her bloodshot eyes from the water and poked her head out. She lay on the bathtub, her body crawling and hanging. Her stomach felt like there was a hand tearing and scratching. Numbly she opened her mouth, her upper body convulsing uncontrollably. Not having eaten all day, what she threw up was yellow acidic water that burned her throat, even bringing tears to her eyes.

After throwing up to the end, Elisa rubbed her sore eyes and looked at the mucus on the ground mixed with blood water. The corner of her mouth ticked up slightly, a smile not reaching her eyes, the pupils filled with lifeless desolation.

She took off her red dress and used it to wipe the blood stains on the ground. She couldn't let Hamish see the blood.

Outside, the sky gradually darkened. Elisa walked barefoot back to the bedroom and dove into bed head first. She couldn't sleep, not knowing she could still fantasize about a hopeful future when she first got sick. Now, no matter how hard she tried, it was just a futile struggle.

Four years, she had given herself away in four years, from being full of affection to now boundless despair.

Today, it seemed she had used up all her tears for this lifetime. Elisa put her hand over her heart, bitterly mocking herself: Clearly it's your stomach that's bad, what are you hurting for?

The phone in her bag suddenly vibrated. Elisa reflexively propped herself up, taking the phone out of her bag at top speed. When she saw the caller ID on the screen, she seemed to have lost all her strength.

It wasn't him. Elisa, what are you still hoping for?

Elisa stared blankly at her phone for two seconds before stiffly swiping up to answer the call.

"Micah." Elisa's voice was very hoarse, like the edge of a blade scraping over a whetstone, somewhat grating.

Micah Baker was her childhood friend who grew up together, not family yet closer than family. For a long time when she was little she lived at the Baker residence. To Elisa, Micah was like her brother.

On the phone, Micah asked worriedly, "Elisa, why is your voice so hoarse? Are you sick?"

"A little cold, just woke up from a nap and my voice is hoarse,"

Before Elisa could finish, Micah interrupted her on the phone, "Elisa, are you trying to lie even to me? Have you forgotten I'm a doctor? I can still tell the difference between a just woken up voice and one that's been crying."

She choked up, like there was a sharp rock stuck in her throat, grinding it bloody and raw, couldn't spit it out nor swallow it down. She couldn't get out a single word of explanation, only letting out a bitter laugh in the end.

Micah asked, "Elisa, can you tell me why you were crying?"

Elisa held her phone, staring at the wooden floor. No one liked to reveal their weakest spots. She shook her head in refusal, "Can't."

Micah was taken aback. He knew what kind of personality Elisa had. To put it nicely she was strong-willed, to put it bluntly she was stubborn as an ox. If she didn't want to say it, even an iron clamp couldn't pry it out of her.

Micah could only change the subject, "Did you go get your physical exam results from the hospital today?"

Elisa pursed her chapped lips, "Pretty good."

Micah said, "If you don't want to say, fine. I'll go to the hospital myself and check your exam results. I still have the qualifications to look at them."

Micah was the head surgeon at that hospital. If he wanted to check, it was the simplest thing.

Mistake.

"You tell me yourself or let me check, you choose." He continued pushing her.

The phone went very quiet, so quiet she could hear the breathing on the other end. Elisa admitted defeat, "Cancer, late stage stomach cancer."

Micah: "......"

The other party seemed to be holding something back, ragged breathing constantly coming through the call to her ears.

"How could that be possible, you're still so young.", Micah murmured to himself, his voice gradually choking up.

Even over the phone Elisa could feel his grief. He was sad for her. Having someone care about her before she died, she was already very content.

"Come to the hospital and let me examine you again."

Elisa refused, "No matter how many times it's examined, it'll be the same result. Micah, I know my own body. Perhaps this is retribution."

"Nonsense! Elisa, listen to me, get admitted and treat it properly, you'll definitely get better." Micah's voice was filled with grief. As a doctor specializing in this field, he was clear how serious this disease was, and how agonizing the pain could be.

How could Elisa let her body get to this state?

Micah didn't know how to persuade Elisa. Sometimes it wasn't whether she wanted to live or not, but whether God would give her life. Her time had already been limited. The hospital's advice was either get admitted and suffer a few more years, or give up treatment and let God decide. In short, she was going to die soon either way.

"Elisa, divorce Hamish. Look what state he's tortured you into these four years."

Divorce. Elisa had never thought about divorcing Hamish. To her, he was her everything, the light she wanted to grasp for her whole life. But how could you grasp light?

Elisa tightly gripped her phone, knuckles white from force. Using a lot of effort she said, "I'll consider it."

Divorcing Hamish was like forcibly carving out a piece of flesh from her chest. How could it be easy?

Micah told her to go to the hospital again tomorrow. Elisa agreed with her mouth but didn't truly take it to heart.

Aside from being Hamish's wife, she was also the CEO presiding over Powell Group, always busy with things.

A person's endurance was like a camel, able to bear burdens and move forward under high pressure, but often a camel would die from just one extra straw loaded on its back.

After the call ended, Elisa casually threw her phone on the bedside table. Her stomach kept hurting, looks like it would be hard to sleep tonight. She opened the drawer and took out two bottles of medication, one for pain and one to help sleep. She took two pills from each then fell back on the bed.

Perhaps the medication took effect, her mind started feeling muddled. Frequently having nightmares, like a ghost pressing down on her, her chest heavily weighed down and unable to breathe. She shook her head mumbling, after struggling awake she suddenly realized the thing weighing her down wasn't some evil spirit, it was clearly Hamish.