Chapter 211 Stay Strong For Us (CALIA)

Chapter 211 Stay Strong For Us (CALIA)
I sped toward Elion's mansion, completely blinded by anger. The demons in my head were running wild, poisoning my thoughts with every negative thing about Elion. If I found him in bed with that woman, I’d castrate him with a scalpel. I would cut off all his access to Lea. He would never have the chance to be her father again.
Tiiinnn...
I honked my horn in front of the mansion's massive gate. Two guards stepped out of their booth.
"Open the gate!"
"Ma'am, you're disturbing our boss's peace."
"I don't care. I want to see Elion. Open the gate. I'm the mother of his daughter."
The guards exchanged glances. There was no way they didn't know who I was. I had stayed at their boss's house just last week.
"Do I need to call Jack? Open the gate."
They opened the gate using the remote. I hit the gas, drove around the roundabout, and stopped right in the driveway. Elion’s car was there.
So, he really had been home the whole time.
I got out of the car, marched up the steps to the entrance, and barged inside. Jack was in the hall, surprised to see me striding toward him.
"Calia, what are you doing here?"
"Where's Elion?"
"He... He's not available right now."
"Don't try to lie to me. I know he's back from Barcelona."
"Yeah, he's back from Barcelona, ​​but he's busy right now."
"I don't believe your bullshit. Move."
I pushed his chest and walked toward the elevator. Jack chased after me, but I ignored him.
"Calia, listen to me."
"Shut up, Jack. I don't want to hear any more nonsense from you."
I closed the elevator and pressed three. My back leaned against the cold wall, my breath coming in short gasps. I kept asking myself if I was foolish enough to let Elion deceive me twice, yet my love for him hadn't diminished in the slightest. How stupid I was. I took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator. My heart pounded as I got closer to Elion's door. I gripped the doorknob tightly, and on the count of three, I opened it.
"Elion..."
The room was empty. Cold air greeted me as soon as I entered his spacious bedroom. I went to the bathroom to check, but it was also empty. Even the floor was perfectly dry, as if it hadn't been used in a long time. As I was about to leave, the corner of my eye caught a wad of tissue under the sink. I crouched down and picked it up. The tissue had a brownish stain that looked like blood.
"He's not here."
I turned around. Jack was standing in the doorway, his expression somber.
"So, where is he now?"
"Follow me."
I had a bad feeling, but I followed Jack downstairs to the first floor. He turned into the room I had once used to operate on Elion after he’d been shot.
"He's in there."
"What happened? Is he hurt?"
Jack opened the door, and everything became clear. Elion was lying on a gurney with an oxygen mask over his face. The heart monitor beside the bed beeped noisily, showing a steady heartbeat.
My legs turned to jelly. I stood frozen in the doorway. Tears stung my eyes.
"What happened to him? Wasn't he with his fling? I called him earlier, and a woman answered the phone."
"Sorry, I asked Doctor Aldric's assistant to take your call. Elion forbade me from telling you about his illness."
"What? What has he been hiding from me all this time?"
Tears streamed down my cheeks. I remembered the blood-stained tissue in his bathroom and the medication I’d found on his nightstand. He’d been sick all along, and I never knew.
"About eight months ago, doctors diagnosed him with stomach cancer."
My hand flew to my mouth. I didn't want to believe what I was hearing. I wished Jack were lying, but his grim expression showed he wasn't playing some kind of prank on me.
"His condition has worsened over the last two months."
"So he never actually went to Barcelona?"
"He did go to Barcelona and returned on Saturday morning. That night, he had a meeting with the Black brothers and some mobsters at the club. He planned to go to your apartment afterward, but he collapsed on the way there."
"I thought he was just having fun with his fling all this time. Why did he hide such a serious illness from me? And when he donated blood for Lea?"
"He nearly collapsed in the hospital hallway. I rushed to pick him up and brought him home. He had to go on strict bed rest for four days. For the first two days, he couldn't get out of bed at all. He was in pain."
My heart ached terribly. I had been so cruel to him all this time. While he was battling cancer, I had accused him of having fun with his flings. I was even angry when he disappeared after donating blood to Lea.
"How did this happen? He was so healthy before we divorced."
"His life fell apart after you left, Calia. He drank constantly, smoked, skipped meals almost every day, and rarely got proper rest. He should have stopped all those bad habits the moment the doctor diagnosed him, but he didn't. He kept smoking and drinking every day."
"And why did his condition worsen?"
"Because he refused chemotherapy. He only took painkillers when the pain flared up, but he never actually treated the disease. Maybe you can force him to undergo chemo. You’re my only hope, Calia."
"Okay. I’ll be his personal doctor from now on. I won't let him just die."
Jack then left me alone in Elion’s treatment room. I squeezed his hand, it was ice-cold. Tears fell onto the back of his hand. I was used to seeing him in bespoke suits, exuding an infuriating arrogance. I hated seeing him so thin and pale, lying weakly on the gurney.
"Hey."
"Elion..."
He removed the oxygen mask covering half his face and looked at me with a gloomy expression.
"Don't cry."
"Why did you hide this from me all this time?"
"Because I didn't want to see you cry. I’ve hurt you enough already."
"But you made me cry with your dishonesty."
"I'm sorry."
"You have to stay alive, Elion. You have to hold on. I don't want to lose you again."
"I don't know. It hurts so much, Calia. It's beyond what I can bear."
"Please, stay strong. For Lea and me. I’ll be your personal doctor from now on. I’ll assist you with every step of your treatment."
I knew the illness was draining all of Elion’s energy and that he was exhausted, but I wasn't going to let him give up without a fight.
"You’ll get better. I promise. We’ll fight this together," I said, tightening my grip on his hand.
"Do we have a deal?"
He nodded weakly.
"Okay. I’ll do it for you and Lea."
"Thank you for fighting for us all this time."
His eyelids fluttered shut slowly. He drifted back to sleep. His chest rose and fell steadily, his breathing was even. I placed the oxygen mask back over his face, hoping for the best regarding his recovery.