Chapter 3

03.

That afternoon, I went to the hospital to pick up a new prescription.

I didn't expect to run into Sylvia and Hudson there.

She was practically carrying him. The man was over six feet tall, and Sylvia was buckling under his weight.

But all she cared about was his foot.

"It's fine, Syl. I just twisted my ankle. I'm not paralyzed. You didn't have to bring me breakfast and wait on me here."

Hudson paused on purpose, his eyes gleaming with something dark.

"Besides... I heard Caden hasn't been feeling well. You should be taking care of him."

"What's there to take care of? He's just bored at home," Sylvia said with a sneer.

Hudson pressed further. "Really? I heard he gave part of his stomach to your grandpa. His health must be precarious..."

Sylvia's annoyance grew deeper.

"Don't even bring that up. I regret letting him do it. My grandpa died shortly after anyway. I bet Caden's stomach was defective from the start."

"Now he uses it as an excuse for everything. He's always at the hospital. He's pathetic."

It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck me. I stood frozen.

Sylvia helped Hudson walk right toward me. When she realized I was blocking the path, she snapped, "Move it."

When I didn't budge, she looked up. The moment she saw my face, her eyes flashed with shock, then immediate fury.

"Caden! Are you serious? You're stalking me again?"

"Where did you put the GPS tracker this time? Tell me!"

A month ago, Hudson had landed back in the States. Sylvia had rushed to the airport at midnight and stayed out all night.

I had called her dozens of times, but she never picked up.

In a panic, I used a couple's app we'd registered years ago that showed real-time locations.

I found them in a tent on the beach, watching the stars. Sylvia accused me of stalking her then, too.

She had smashed my phone into pieces right in front of him.

I had to walk all the way home that night.

Now, facing her rage, I spoke calmly. "I'm here to pick up my test results."

Sylvia didn't buy it for a second.

"Results, results. How many damn results do you need?"

"Keep faking it. Maybe one day you'll actually drop dead!"

My blood ran cold. Sylvia didn't know the truth. I was already dying.

Stage four stomach cancer.