Chapter 191 Seriously Ill
At Madam Lancaster's age, having experienced various setbacks in her early years, her health naturally had many issues. This time, she became overly excited upon seeing Sophia, which led to a surge in her blood pressure and triggered her old illness.
Although the emergency treatment this time was very successful, the recurrence of her old illness made Madam Lancaster look withered in an instant. A few months after Sophia "died" five years ago, Madam Lancaster had a major operation due to her illness. She had been taking good care of herself these years and was doing quite well until this sudden outbreak.
Tears slid from the corners of Madam Lancaster's eyes. She held Sophia's hand tightly with all her strength. After a long while, Madam Lancaster spoke again with a hoarse voice.
"Where have you been all these years? Have you been doing well? Have you suffered a lot?"
She asked three questions in a row, speaking so much as if she had used up all her strength.
Sophia sniffed.
"I'm sorry, Grandma. I shouldn't have kept this from you. I...I really had no other choice."
At that time, she wanted to start life anew, which required cutting off everything from her past. If she didn't do that, she didn't know if she could have moved on.
She had many reasons, but she felt that there was not much point in speaking them out.
Madam Lancaster looked at Sophia and sighed in her heart.
She could probably guess why Sophia had to do this, so she didn't blame her for hiding and deceiving her. She just felt sorry for her.
Madam Lancaster didn't say much. Overcome by fatigue, she slowly fell asleep again.
The medical team that Gabriel contacted arrived as quickly as possible. After looking at the CT scans and various test reports that the hospital had done for Madam Lancaster, the doctor frowned.
"Madam Lancaster's condition should have been recurring for some time. Has she recently shown symptoms of coughing up blood?"
Gabriel looked at Betty.
Betty said, "Madam Lancaster has been coughing a bit lately, but I haven't noticed any blood."
Gabriel frowned deeply. Grandma must have been hiding her condition. No wonder these past few days when he came home, Grandma always stayed in her room reading. He saw her twice at breakfast, and apart from her face looking a little pale, she seemed quite spirited.
When he asked her, she said it was due to not sleeping well the night before.
Gabriel's heart sank.
The doctor said, "Madam Lancaster is old, and the risk she faces during surgery is quite high, especially since this would be her second operation. The success rate is probably only 30%."
With a 30% success rate, most families would choose to give up.
After all, not having surgery might give her a longer life.
"Given Madam Lancaster’s current physical condition, the earliest we could schedule the surgery would be a week from now. Mr. Lancaster, you can take your time to decide."
As Sophia listened to this, her heart felt as if it had been hit by a large rock. She hadn't expected Grandma's condition to be so serious.
"What if she doesn't have the surgery?" Sophia asked, her heart in her throat.
"Without surgery, Madam Lancaster might only live for another six months at most."
Six months was already the best-case scenario.
Today, both Gabriel and Sophia stayed in the hospital all day, neither willing to leave. Alex brought important documents for Gabriel to sign. Tiffany heard about this and followed Alex to the hospital.
She brought a bouquet of flowers and several boxes of supplements.
"Gabriel, how is Grandma doing?" Tiffany came over with concern.
"She just woke up." Gabriel didn't want to say much. He was very confused right now, a bit unable to accept it. He felt suffocated, like his heart was stuffed with a lot of straw.
Grandma was, apart from Sam, the person he was closest to in this world, and the only elder he had left.
With Grandma around, he could still be a rebellious child.
He still had a home.
"Don't be too upset. I'll always be with you." Tiffany knew that Gabriel must be feeling very vulnerable right now, and the best thing she could do was to accompany him, to be his support and comfort.
Men often depend on women when they feel vulnerable. In no time, they would fall in love with the woman who had been with them through all of it.
In front of others, Gabriel was invincible; it was as if he had no weaknesses and was always an impeccable force of nature. But Tiffany knew that Gabriel's weaknesses were Grandma and Sam.
Now that his grandma was seriously ill, he must be in pain.
Tiffany was calculating in her heart that at this time, no amount of comforting words would be as good as staying with him.
Once the old lady died and the funeral was over, she could plan to move into the Lancaster family mansion.
Once she moved into the mansion, wouldn't she have no trouble becoming Mrs. Lancaster?
As for Sam, that little bastard, it would be as easy as crushing an ant.
As Tiffany lowered her head, a flash of ruthlessness passed in her eyes.
In the hospital room, Madam Lancaster regained a bit of vitality after waking up again, and she spoke with Sophia with more energy.
"Grandma, can I ask you for something?" Sophia briefly explained how she had faked her death, omitting the painful parts and only mentioning the lighter aspects.
Madam Lancaster listened, still feeling heartbroken.
"Speak, no matter what you ask, I will agree."
"Did you see Ethan and Emma?" Sophia wasn't sure, and she didn't dare to take chances. In addition to seeing her, Madam Lancaster might have also seen Ethan and Emma.
Gabriel still didn't know about the existence of the two children. She had to quickly plead with Madam Lancaster, hoping that she would take her side.
But Gabriel was her real grandson, and Ethan and Emma were of the Lancaster family bloodline, so Sophia was very unsure.
Madam Lancaster's eyes moved slightly, and she slowly let go of Sophia's hand.
This action made Sophia panic.
"Sophia." Madam Lancaster looked serious and countered, "Do you still like Gabriel?"
Sophia was stunned, and after a two-second pause, she quickly shook her head.
After experiencing so much, she had been hurt to the point of despair, and finally found the strength to start anew. She would definitely not continue to like Gabriel.
"So, you're saying there's no possibility of you two getting back together?" Madam Lancaster continued to ask, not giving up.
When she had arranged for Sophia and Gabriel to be together years ago, besides the marriage agreement between the two families, it was because she saw Sophia's love for Gabriel, which was as passionate as her love for her late husband. Moreover, Sophia's appearance and personality were a great match for her grandson. The two were definitely the most suitable life partners.
Even now, Madam Lancaster still believed this.
But Sophia said she didn't like him anymore.
Sophia didn't dare to give Madam Lancaster any hope. She knew that Madam Lancaster must still hope that she would become the granddaughter-in-law of the Lancaster family.
"I'm sorry, Grandma. He will never like me, and I don't want to persist anymore. We can't get back together."
"Silly child." Madam Lancaster poked her forehead, "Why are you apologizing to me? If you don't like him, then you don't. Gabriel hurt you so much back then. If it were me, I wouldn't forgive him either."
"By the way, you just mentioned Ethan and Emma... Does Gabriel still not know about these two children? Do you want me to help you keep it a secret?"
Grandma was still so smart; she guessed it right away.
Sophia asked, "Is that possible?"
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