Chapter 0001

"Why is your hand becoming cold?" Ethan asked, gazing at his grandmother in the hospital sickbed as he stood beside her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked again.

"I know that my time has come, and I'm going to die soon," she replied, closing her eyes.

"No... You can't die now. You are not going to die like this. It's not possible, and it's not going to happen," Ethan replied, his eyes turning red.

Holding her hands tightly, he rubbed them on his face and kissed them. Then, he placed them on his chest.

He moved his hand closer to her face and gently kissed her on the forehead.

He checked her temperature by putting his hand on her forehead.

"You are not going to die, I promise," he said again, his voice shaking.

"Where is your wife, Tina? I would like to have a conversation with her before I pass on," she said, breathing heavily.

"I called her before coming, but she didn't pick up the call," Ethan said.

She opened her eyes, looked at Ethan, and smiled.

Then, she said, "Why not call her once more? Why isn't she here with you?"

Ethan smiled faintly.

Then, he asked, "My wife?"

His grandmother nodded and replied, "Yes, Tina. Why is she not here? I would like to meet her for the last time, Ethan. I don't have much time left."

"Alright, I'm going to call her again," Ethan said and left the ward.

After getting out, he took a deep breath and began moving front and back. He adjusted his polo shirt and shifted his belt. Then, he started sweating.

He took out his mobile phone and opened the call app. He gazed at Tina's number for a while before calling her.

The number rang, but Tina declined the call. Ethan called her number again, and she didn't pick up. He kept calling her.

After calling her more than ten times, he dialed her number again and called her.

Fortunately, she picked up.

Angrily, Tina shouted at Ethan on the phone, saying, "What's your problem, Ethan? Why can't you stop calling me, for God's sake? Don't you realize I'm in the middle of a business meeting, and your incessant calls are disruptive?"

Ethan didn't allow her to stop talking when he barked back at her.

"Is that a genuine reason for declining my calls and ignoring me, Tina? Grandmother urgently needs to see you at the hospital."

Tina, however, responded with an air of detachment, "I have no time for this, Ethan. Please let me be and stop disturbing me. I've made it clear I have nothing to do with you anymore."

Despite her words, Tina thought that Ethan might be pulling her legs to address the issue in their relationship.

She tied the knot with the world's best doctor, a top-tier mercenary, and the most accomplished businessman, yet she desired a divorce.

She responded with a frustrated hiss and abruptly ended the call.

"Did he truly believe I would accept his plea and return to the way things were before?" she mused, exhaling sharply before placing her phone inside the drawer.

Ethan was left utterly speechless, his eyes inflamed with a potent mix of anger and fury.

"My grandmother mustn't die now. This is not her time to leave me. She must live longer than this. She's been my pillar since the day my family was killed and slaughtered like animals. Everything I have now is because of her; she saved me. Otherwise, I would have died," Ethan said to himself, using his handkerchief to wipe his sweat.

He closed his eyes briefly, then, sensing his racing heart, he pressed his chest.

"She mustn't die now," he said.

Ethan was about to redial Tina's number when the sudden clamor of a nurse urgently calling the doctors' attention filled the air. Doctors rushed into the ward, using face masks, and covering their noses.

"My grandmother's ward?" Ethan said to himself as he rushed towards the door.

" You can't enter sir, it's an emergency" A security guard stopped Ethan from entering.

Ethan nodded in disagreement and shouted," No… You have to let me in. I must see what's happening to her. She mustn't die"

He pulled the security guard away and was about to open the door when a doctor came outside.

Removing his face mask, he said," We lost her. I'm sorry but we tried our best".

Everything seems like an illusion.

" You must be joking, " Ethan shouted at him with rage.

He started breathing heavily.

" No.. she can't die now" he kept repeating.

Suddenly, He stood up and stayed in front of the ward and examined his reflection in the glass.

Looking at himself from head to toe. He said, "What's the essence of being the best doctor if one can't starve off aging?"

Three days later, Ethan found himself in front of his grandmother's final resting place. It had been three days since he lost the woman who had stood by him when all seemed lost.

"Yes, she has been with me for many years, from the day I turned seven, and now, she's gone," he said to himself as he gazed at her grave.

Sitting beside the grave, he placed the flowers he bought on it, folded his hands, and stared at his shoes. His breathing grew heavier, his eyes reddened, and his legs began to shake.

"Grandmother... when will you return?" he lamented, biting his lips." Are you gone?"

Suddenly, his phone rang. He put his hand inside his pocket and brought out his phone. He saw it was Tina, the woman he had married in the city to fulfill his grandmother's wishes.

He answered the call, waiting for her to speak.

"Come to my place," Tina demanded, her voice raised.

"OK," Ethan replied.

After ending the call, he decided to put his phone in his front pocket when something pooped on his phone.

Checking it, he was surprised to see a photo of his wife and a stranger, looking intimate in a fancy restaurant. He realized the photo was just three days ago; the day he lost his grandmother.

He gazed at them for a few minutes before putting his phone inside his pocket. He chuckled and got up, then stopped a taxi and headed to her house.

What do you think he's going to do to his wife after knowing about her affair?