Inside of his office, Tian Yuo stared intensely at the sealed yellow envelope in front of him. While his secretary reported his schedule for the day, it was obvious that his attention was elsewhere. With his hands interlocked and chin resting on it, he looked troubled.
In fact, his mind was concentrated on something that he had never imagined he would one day think about. This morning, after breakfast, he turned his room into a mess that looked even worse than a hurricane's disastrous visit.
After not seeing any notes or letters of farewell from her, he even missed a step to the edge of his bed and landed on his butt instead of the mattress. He stayed on the floor for half an hour before getting ready for work.
The sealed envelope on his desk held the divorce papers that Susu had signed and adjusted. With the red marks and alimony sections all crossed out from his memory, he sighed deeply and closed his eyes.
Hearing his awkward sigh, the secretary stopped speaking instantly. The man looked tired and confused at the moment. Over the years of accompanying Tian Yuo, she had never seen him show any emotions during work.
After a few minutes of silence, she asked, "Mister Tian, would you like to have a cup of coffee? Or maybe I should come back later when you are in a better condition to discuss about work?" She couldn't help but feel nervous while standing in front of his solemn, bankrupt looking expression.
"You can come back in an hour. No need for coffee. I've already drank five cups of it this morning." He answered in an indifferent tone.
The secretary bowed and quickly exited his office as if she finally found the exit to a difficult maze.
After she had left, Tian Yuo's phone screen flashed brightly, making him squint. It was Karen, who texted him.
He sighed once again as if he had the power to read minds, "She is probably asking me if I sent the divorce papers to the lawyer yet." Normally, he would be happy to get a text from her that he would stop everything just to reply back. For some reason, a chill was creeping through his chest and a taste of slight sourness lingered in his throat.
There was no one word that could describe how he was feeling and why he felt this way. Didn't he always love Karen? Wasn't Susu the obstacle all along? So why was it that he felt odd after seeing her sign the divorce papers without the tiniest bit of hesitation?
Bzzt Bzzt
His phone vibrated loudly against the solid surface of his desk, giving him a headache. Sighing, he picked up the call.
"Karen?" He answered without his regular cheerful greetings. Sensing that his tone had changed, she started feeling uneasy. 'Could it be that the divorce had some kind of impact on him?' She thought to herself and decided to lay out her chess pieces for her future checkmate move.
"Brother Yuo...I feel very ill. My chest feels tight. My body is heated up, and nobody is at home right now." She whimpered like an abandoned kitten; so weak and needed protection.
His tone became gentler, "how could nobody be home to take care of you? What happened to the maids?"
Tian Yuo was distracted by her mother's lecture and his embarrassing moment at the hospital that day that he did not hear a word that Yin Zin Leung had said to Susu. He also didn't hear Susu's cries. This gave Karen a chance to come between them again.
She made her voice sound extremely pitiful and wronged, "D..daddy told them to go away because... he didn't believe in me. Sis said something to him, and he believed her. Brother Yuo, what should I do? I'm losing dad... and I only have you left. My mother is on vacation. I feel like I'm going to die."
Hearing her words made his heart pound rapidly, "I'm coming for you. Don't worry, everything will be alright."
She cried over the call, "Why is life so hard? I already decided to let you go, but sis wouldn't let me off. Now, daddy doesn't trust me and... and it would take a while before your divorce finalizes. I'm losing everything, and I just came back from Paris. Maybe I shouldn't have come back after all."
"Stop spouting nonsense. I've always only had you in my heart. Didn't I ask for a divorce already? Now, we are just a few steps away from our goals. We can have our own family and settle down wherever you want." After saying what he had said, he facepalmed his forehead because he just randomly spat out words that he couldn't guarantee.
Her trembling voice from earlier sounded more settled now, "With your promise, I won't lose hope. I knew you wouldn't fail me. By the way, did you send the documents to the lawyer yet? The faster you send it, the earlier you guys could get your divorce completed. You know... my mom has been pressuring me even back then to quickly get married and give her some grandchildren to play with."
She sounded shy, but she was actually thinking of how she should flaunt his wealth to Susu's face and use his business connections to form a strong build for her future clothing store. Tian Yuo avoided touching this topic, "I'll come get you to go to the hospital for a checkup. Get dressed and be good. I'll be there in like twenty minutes." He took another glance at the envelope and decided to stuff it in his drawer for now.
"Mm.." After hanging up, she slapped on some makeup to cover up the healthy glow she had on her face. Tian Yuo arrived like he had estimated and they went to the hospital together. While she had her body examined, he was checking his emails on his laptop in the waiting area.
After her blood was drawn, the nurse took her results to the lab to get an overall result of her health. Another nurse noticed the rare last name, Yin, and remembered that a patient was recently admitted after a drowning incident. "Right! Yin Susu. She left in a hurry that she didn't get a chance to hear her report. Good, I was about to call her too. No need now."
The surname, Yin, was quite rare and so far, only Susu and Karen's name were on the records. After double checking the reports, the nurse found out that the patient came today for another body examination report, so she assumed that it was Susu since Karen already took her report last time.
After taking a look at her watch, she realized that she only had two minutes to give this report to Yin Susu because it was almost her turn to swap shifts with another staff, so she hurriedly double checked the door that said, "Yin" on it before entering. "Good afternoon, Miss Yin, I was about to contact you about your report. According to our records, you have symptoms of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. We understand that this may be a difficult time for you to process the results, but please let us know as soon as you wish to be admitted and receive treatment. Have a good day."
Karen's face froze for a second when she heard that she was diagnosed with a possibly fatal illness, but the moment she saw Susu's name on the report, an evil grin appeared on her face.
Meanwhile, Susu and Chen Mu were shopping and enjoying their time looking for hats to put on each other. She found a bunny ears hat with a few holes that was perfectly aligned with his pig tails and pulled it down on his head, covering his eyes, "Hahahaha, so cute!"
She flicked his pig tails a few times and watched it bounce up and down.
"Hey! Here, wear this! Aha!" After pulling the hat slightly above his eyes, he placed the unicorn hat with a crazy monkey with drums that he found, onto her head. She spun around slowly with different poses every time she faced him, "Bruhhh, this queen looks superb! Fabulous right?"
She raised her eyebrows continuously making him laugh while she hugged her own stomach and laughed.