Chapter 113 You Are Not My Biological Child

"She's not really a bad person," Isabella said.

"If you think so, then fine," Elodie replied.

They shared a knowing smile.

Isabella didn't stick around with Elodie for long. She wanted to check in with Daniel about Brenda's condition, so she took off.

When Daniel saw Isabella, he was caught off guard. He'd been swamped with surgeries and meetings and hadn't touched his phone in a month.

"When did you get back?" he asked.

"What, not happy to see me?" Isabella teased.

"No, it's just that I've been so out of the loop. Seeing you is a bit of a shock." Daniel motioned for her to sit.

Isabella gave him a look. "So you haven't seen George either?"

"George? What are you talking about?" Daniel looked puzzled.

Isabella laughed. "Are you serious? Aren't you guys tight? He hasn't contacted you?"

"What?" Daniel was even more confused. "He contacted me? He's not dead?"

"Yeah, he's alive," she said.

Daniel slammed the medical record he was holding onto the table. "That guy, he's alive and didn't tell me. And I still..."

'I still cry my heart out, missing him terribly from time to time,' Daniel thought.

"Don't blame him. He only recently got his memory back. There was an earthquake in Rexonia, so we rushed back. After we got back, he got busy and probably hasn't had time to meet you," Isabella explained.

Daniel wasn't buying it and snorted. "He's just heartless."

"Actually, I think so too," Isabella said, covering her mouth with a smile.

"So you didn't come just to tell me this, did you?" he asked.

Isabella shook her head, her brows furrowing. "I'm here to see Elodie's mom. What's her condition?"

Daniel sighed, then pulled out her medical record and flipped through it for a bit before saying, "The surgery went well, but she's been in a coma since. We can't figure out why. Look, I've worn out this book."

He pointed to the professional book on the table.

"Will it get worse?" she asked.

"Hard to say. Based on recent observations, it's not looking good," he said.

Isabella felt a tug at her heart. "Will she die?"

"The worst-case scenario is that she might. But I'll do my best to prevent that."

Isabella stayed quiet for a moment, sadness washing over her.

After a while, she seemed to remember something and asked Daniel, "What's wrong with Lucas?"

"You've seen him?"

Isabella shook her head. "No, I just overheard Donna and Clara talking about it."

"His condition is very serious," he said.

'Very serious?' Isabella looked at Daniel, puzzled. "What do you mean? Is he going to die?"

"Late-stage kidney cancer. Chemotherapy isn't working anymore. He could die at any moment," Daniel said.

Even though Isabella had almost no feelings left for Lucas, he was still her biological father. This news hit her hard.

Seeing Isabella standing there in a daze, Daniel said, "You should go see him. When someone is about to die, past grievances don't seem that important."

Isabella bitterly tugged at her lips. "How did he end up like this?"

"Maybe it's karma for all the bad things he's done."

'Yeah, karma for all the bad things. A man who doesn't love his family, his wife, or his kids ending up like this is no surprise. But it is a surprise,' she thought.

Passing by Lucas's ward, Isabella paused and peeked inside. Donna and Clara were nowhere to be seen. Lucas lay on the bed, hooked up to an oxygen machine, his face dark and sullen.

Isabella gently pushed open the door. Hearing the noise, Lucas struggled to open his eyes. Seeing Isabella, he looked visibly surprised.

She walked over to his bedside. "How did you get so sick?"

Lucas managed a bitter smile. "I'm sick. You must be very happy, right?"

"Yeah, over the moon," she said, deliberately trying to provoke him.

Lucas didn't get angry and kept smiling. "As long as you're happy. I remember when you were little, you loved to laugh. But after Hazel died, you rarely smiled."

"Why bring up Hazel?"

"I wronged Hazel, but..." Lucas coughed weakly, "but she wronged me first."

Isabella was shocked and then angry. "She wronged you? Lucas, even now, you can't stop slandering her."

Lucas smiled bitterly. He could have kept these things to himself, but facing death, he felt a need to let go of some things. Telling Isabella this secret was his way of apologizing. "Isabella, you're actually not my biological child."

Isabella stood there, thinking she had misheard. 'What is Lucas saying? I am not his child?'

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Isabella said, not believing it at all. She thought Lucas loved to make up lies and even on his deathbed, he couldn't stop his habit of lying.

"I'm not lying. You're not my biological child. You're the child of Hazel and another man called Richard Mellon. He..."

Isabella covered her ears, not wanting to hear such baseless things. "Shut up. Hazel would never be with another man. Stop smearing her."

"Isabella, it's true. She betrayed me, but I chose to forgive her. However, I also chose another way to get back at her, which was to sleep with one woman after another. I know it's despicable, but I did it. My hatred consumed all my reason. So after your mom died, I sent you to the countryside to fend for yourself." As Lucas spoke, he began to sob, feeling that he had wronged his deceased wife, Hazel, and even more so Isabella, who knew nothing about this and had to live alone in the countryside for ten years.

Isabella looked blankly at the dying Lucas on the bed. Suddenly, she couldn't bring herself to hate him, thinking, 'If what Lucas said is true, do I have any right to hate him? My identity has become so shameful. What right do I have to blame others?'

"Why did she cheat?" This was the first question that came to Isabella's mind.

Lucas's lifeless eyes stared at the empty ceiling. After a long time, he finally said, "Maybe she hated Lester for breaking up her and Richard."

"So, she took it out on you?" she asked.

"Maybe."

Isabella laughed, filled with mixed emotions. "From as far back as I can remember, I never saw Hazel go out alone with any man, let alone act inappropriately. If what you said is true, she would have kept in touch with that man. Why didn't she?"