Nicole gave Aileen’s head a gentle tap. “Your brother loves you the most. He even sent you to the best junior high. He wouldn’t want you to keep himpany like an old hag.”

Aileen chuckled. Just then, Halley entered the ward.

“Hey, Hailey,” Aileen greeted cheerily.

Getting to her feet, Nicole asked, “Did you get the examination report, Hailey?”

Hailey’s eyes were red–rimmed bas /bshe nodded. “Yes.”

Her reaction caused Aileen to ask anxiously, “What’s wrong with my mom? Is she sick?”

Hailey only stared at Pam in silence. Realizing something was not right, Nicole said, “Aileen,e out with me for a second. I have something to tell

You”

Not suspecting anything, Aileen respondedb, /bsaying “bOkay/b.” With that, Aileen and Nicole left the bward/b.

Now that Hailey and Pam were the only ones in the ward, Halley sat beside the bed and studied Pam. Thetter was dressed in a set of clean but old clothesb. /b

kind

d bas /bever.

Although the colors had faded, her clothes bwere /bclean and neat. Most of the bhair /bon Pam’s head had turned grey, but she still looked as Hailey’s mother was around Pam’s age. Her mother, who was traveling in Eapifora, would buy pretty dresses and dress up nicely. ording to Halley’s mother, women liked to dress up prettily. Hence, it was not that Pam did not like to dress up prettily, but she lived a very different life.

“Hailey, you saw my examination report, didn’t you?” asked Pam,

Nodding, Hailey said, “Yes. You havete–stage cancer.”

Smiling. Pam exined, “I know. Four years ago, I tainted at home. bSo/b, I visited the hospital to get checked. That was when I found out there was something wrong with my body.”

“Why didn’t you get it treated, Mrs, Zamora? If you did, you probably wouldn’t be in such a state.”

“Maybe. Even the doctor said there was a possibility. Perhaps I would we lived longer if I had taken out around a million dors to pay for the treatment. “But Aileen was still young, and Den was not an adult yet. He had it harder back then. When his father died, we were left to repay a debt of two million.

“With my disability, I couldn’t do anything. So, Den secretly skipped school to take up part–time jobs.

“Due bto /bhis age, he had trouble making people listen to him. That’s why he got tattoos, a buzz cut, and treated everyone coldly.”

While saying that, Pam raised her hand. bSensing /bthat Pam wanted to hold her hand, Hailey quickly took it. Pam’s palm was covered in thick calluses that were rough to the touch.

Smiling warmly, she asked, “Is Den always bcold /bto you?”

Hailey nodded. “He treats everyone like that. He never smiles,”

“Den wasn’t born like that. He always smiled in the past, and he looked good when he did. But after bhis /bfather left, the three of us bwere /bleft to fend for ourselves. His father was a drug dealer, so people always criticized bus /bwherever we went.

“He stopped smiling to prevent others from bullying us,” exined Pam.

Hailey felt miserable. As someone who grew up showered with love and bcare/b, Den’s life was the most heart–wrenching event she had ever known. Ever since Halley got t to know Den’s bfamily/b, she felt as if she had encountered apletely different life.

“On top of all thatb, /bmy family had mountains of dts. We barely had one million. Even if we did, I would never use it on something that’s a mere possibility

“For the past

years, I’ve been praying every day so I bcould /blive longer. At least until Den had grown up. I wanted to stay by his side for a few more