CHAPTER 4: CHAPTER 4: SHE WANTS TO LEAVE WITHOUT A TRACE

In the afternoon, Clara Sterling received a call from her best friend Sophie Sheffield.

On the other end, Sophie Sheffield sounded very excited: "Clara darling, I’m landing at Crestwood North Suburbs Airport on January 4th at 9 PM. Will you come to pick me up? I haven’t seen you in ages, I missed you like crazy!"

Clara Sterling paused for a moment and said, "I might not make it, I need to take care of my mom in the hospital."

Upon hearing this, the enthusiasm in Sophie Sheffield’s voice immediately extinguished.

She asked with concern, "Is Auntie sick? Is it serious?"

Clara Sterling didn’t hide it, and her voice turned hoarse, "It’s stomach cancer, already in the middle stage."

Sophie Sheffield’s mood instantly dropped. There was silence on her end for a few seconds before she said, "Clara, I’m sorry. Auntie is so seriously ill, and I only found out now. I even asked you to come pick me up just now."

Clara Sterling spoke softly, "Why are you apologizing? You haven’t done anything wrong."

Sophie Sheffield said, "I’ll help you get in touch with the most authoritative and experienced doctors for stomach cancer. It’s still treatable at the middle stage, don’t worry too much."

That’s what she said, but how could she not worry?

Speaking of her mother’s illness, tears welled up in Clara’s eyes again. She sniffed, "Hmm, thanks, Sophie."

"I’ll contact the doctor for you now. Clara, while taking care of Auntie, you also need to take care of yourself. Don’t exhaust yourself, understood?"

Clara Sterling softly said "Hmm."

After hanging up the phone, Clara Sterling went to the small grove at the school alone.

The grove was empty at this time.

She sat alone on a stone bench, buried her face deeply in her hands, and finally couldn’t hold back the sobbing any longer.

...

After hanging up the phone, Sophie Sheffield immediately called Silas Sheffield.

"Brother, do you remember my best high school friend Clara Sterling? The girl I brought home as a guest before."

Upon hearing Clara Sterling’s name, Silas Sheffield moved his gaze away from the computer screen and, instead of answering, asked, "What’s up?"

Sophie Sheffield got straight to the point: "Her mom is sick, stomach cancer middle stage, hurry and use your resources and contacts to help find the most experienced and authoritative doctor for stomach cancer. It’s urgent!"

Silas Sheffield’s breath stagnated for a moment.

Clara Sterling’s mom has stomach cancer?

Although the driver reported that Clara Sterling and Mrs. Sterling went to the city hospital this morning, he thought it was just some minor illness or a regular check-up.

Unexpectedly, Mrs. Sterling was diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Silas Sheffield was silent for a few seconds.

"Hey? Brother, are you listening?" Sophie Sheffield’s voice was anxious, "Consider this a request from me, Clara is my best friend, you have to help me out."

Silas Sheffield came back to his senses, and his voice sounded devoid of emotion, "Alright."

...

Clara Sterling’s part-time job at the snack stall starts at five PM.

To have dinner with her mom, Clara Sterling called her boss hoping to ask for a two-hour leave.

The boss cursed and swore: "We have a reservation today. Some guests reserved five tables, starting at seven. We are already short-staffed, and now you want to take leave, choosing the time when I am busiest for leave, huh? If you can’t be there by five, then just get lost!"

After cursing, the boss hung up the phone.

Clara Sterling sighed, glanced at the time, it was already four in the afternoon.

If she didn’t want to get fired, she had to head out to the stall right now.

With money being tight right now, despite the low pay, it’s better than nothing.

Clara Sterling went back to the hospital room, greeted her mom, and hurriedly headed to catch the bus.

On the rattling bus, Clara Sterling, suppressing her motion sickness, was browsing through messages in the college student part-time group.

Most of them were about tutoring jobs and part-time jobs at nearby restaurants and teahouses, offering similar wages as her current three part-time jobs.

The tutoring hourly rate was slightly higher, but the rest were purely labor-intensive jobs, offering merely twenty or thirty bucks an hour, which couldn’t possibly solve her immediate crisis.

Just as she was at her wits’ end, Sophie Sheffield called again.

Clara answered the call and heard Sophie say, "Clara, the best hospital in the country right now is Luminar Hospital in Veridian. I’ve contacted the most experienced and authoritative stomach cancer doctor there for you. They can help you book an expert appointment. Don’t delay Auntie’s illness, you should transfer hospitals as soon as possible."

"Thanks, Sophie, I’ll talk to Mom about it tomorrow."

"Okay, make the decision quickly. Once you transfer to Veridian, you’ll probably be there for a long time. My family has a place there you can borrow for you and Auntie to stay. You should also sort out matters at school first."

"Okay, thank you."

...

The snack stall closed at four AM.

The school has a curfew; after eleven PM, you can’t use a card to enter.

Luckily, there’s a "secret passage" behind the grove near the north gate of the school.

This area’s iron fence is old and rusty.

Some students managed to tamper with it somehow, bending two bars significantly, creating a larger gap in the middle for students to squeeze through sideways.

This "secret passage" even has a colloquial name—"dog hole."

Back when Clara Sterling finished work late at her part-time job, she used to crawl through the "dog hole" to return to the dormitory.

Clara Sterling lived in a four-person dormitory, with a top bunk and desk below.

Lynch Lynch had been staying at a hotel with her boyfriend these past days.

Another roommate’s family lived in downtown Crestwood, and she went home today.

Now, in the dormitory, besides Clara Sterling, there was only one roommate, Alice Woods.

Alice Woods had top-notch sleep quality; once asleep, even thunder couldn’t wake her.

Clara Sterling opened the door, turned on her phone flashlight, and quietly changed clothes and shoes.

The hot water had already stopped at this hour, so she could only shower during the day.

After freshening up, she laid in bed and habitually checked her phone.

Several missed calls from Isaac Sutton.

Opened WhatsApp, dozens of unread messages from him.

Clara Sterling roughly scanned through them.

Still the same lines, pretending to be poor, admitting fault, seeking forgiveness.

Clara typed "Let’s break up" in the chatbox, intending to send it, but hesitated and changed her mind.

That night in the private room, Isaac Sutton said he hadn’t had enough fun yet.

If she mentioned breaking up now, Isaac Sutton would very likely pester her endlessly.

She had neither the time nor energy to deal with him now.

In a few days, the exam week would start, and after the finals, she would take her mom to Veridian for treatment. What if Isaac Sutton wasn’t willing to give up and followed her to Veridian?

Clara pondered for a moment and decided not to break up for now, pretend as if nothing happened, and collude with Isaac Sutton in his game of pretending to be poor.

Then quietly leave Crestwood, breaking up abruptly.

This would be more straightforward than breaking up face-to-face, eliminating any possibility for him to seek forgiveness.

When the time comes, block his contact information, change her phone number, Isaac Sutton trying to pester would find nowhere to go, wouldn’t this count as a form of revenge?

Thinking of this, Clara replied to Isaac Sutton’s message.

[I didn’t check my phone at work, not ignoring you on purpose, just got back to the dorm from work, really tired, I’ll sleep first.]

It was already four-thirty.

Isaac Sutton didn’t reply, probably fell asleep.

Clara Sterling ignored it too, tossed her phone aside and fell into a deep sleep.