Chapter 34

“So what if it was me?” Edison laughed freely, his eyes filled with provocation. “Joshua, you’re a patient now. If you hit me again, it’ll only confirm that you’re really taking your illness seriously.”

I lowered my gaze and sat back down. He was right. If I hit him now, there would be no explaining my actions. But I never intended to explain from the beginning.

At this moment, I fully understood—there was no return for Sophia and me. This was a fact. Divorce was just a matter of time.

Seeing that I didn’t hit him or say anything, he seemed bored, and after mocking me a few more times, he turned to chase after Sophia. I sat there, lost in thought.

I didn’t know how much time passed, but eventually, a voice broke through my thoughts. “Joshua.” It was Jayden.

I turned to see him drenched in sweat. “Why are you here?”

“I couldn’t leave you alone, so after handling things at the hospital, I came to check on you.” He stopped beside me, his expression worried. “Your face looks terrible. Did the doctor say something?”

“The doctor here said it’s just gastrointestinal bleeding, nothing serious.” I said this indifferently and turned to walk slowly toward the exit. Before I could get far, he grabbed my arm. “What do you mean? Isn’t the doctor here supposed to be an expert? How could they not figure out you have—”

He didn’t finish his sentence, suddenly realizing something was wrong. He turned and punched the wall of the hospital corridor. “What the hell is Sophia thinking? Does she really believe you’re faking your illness?”

“She does think we’re deceiving her,” I said with a bitter smile and continued walking toward the elevator. Sophia could believe whatever she wanted. This way, she wouldn’t feel guilty or try to make it up to me. And I wouldn’t have to keep fooling myself into thinking we could still have a happy life together.

“You’re this sick. How could she think you’re faking it?” Jayden frowned deeply, anger written across his face. “Sophia is really too much! You’ve been silently enduring all this, and instead of caring for you, she’s torturing you like this! Joshua, I’ll go talk to her.”

I pressed the elevator button. “No need. Let her misunderstand. This way, I can have some peace.” After all, I wouldn’t live much longer.

Jayden stopped in his tracks, his hand clenching into a fist by his side. He didn’t know what to say.

Later that day, I went back to the original hospital with him. For the next week, Sophia didn’t come to visit me again.

Jayden knew I would be bored alone in the hospital, so after discussing it with Phillip, he got permission for me to leave. I only needed to come back for treatment on schedule.

As soon as I was discharged, I drove straight to my design studio. The company had been running poorly lately, and much of the reason was Sophia’s actions. She believed I had faked my cancer diagnosis, so as a lesson, she offered more than 20% above the market rate to poach a third of our staff.