A Regret too Late

Eleanor held her chest, her frail body looking like it might collapse at any second.

Richard immediately held her up, his face darkening as he saw her lips drain of color. "Graham, have the driver get the car ready!"

"No, I don't need the hospital." Eleanor's voice shook with pain, her gaze lifting toward the second floor. From the corner upstairs, she could see a sliver of fabric peeking out. She curled her lips into the faintest smile. "You'd better go check on Maria."

Richard frowned, hesitating.

Jonathan jumped in quickly. "Mom's fine. She just throws up a lot lately. She's like that since forever. Eleanor, Dad and I will take you to the hospital!"

Remembering that Maria's doctor had said it was only minor, Richard nodded. "I'll take you first."

The words of father and son drifted clearly upstairs. The nausea in Maria's stomach surged harder. This time, she didn't head back into the bathroom and vomited. Watching the car roll away, the ache in her chest outweighed the physical pain.

A maid nearby, seeing her pale face, tried to comfort her out of pity. "Madam, don't worry. Master Richard is yours. No one can take him away."

Maria gave a faint smile, turning to her. "So, you can see it too? That soon, he won't be mine at all?"

While Richard fretted over his true love, he probably never imagined that Maria didn't have much time left to live.

True, a dying woman should stop being such an eyesore. Maria might as well hand over the role of Mrs. Shaw and that of Jonathan's mother to Eleanor. After all, Jonathan's heart was already with her.

Dragging her powerless steps downstairs, she met Mr. Graham coming back after closing the gate. When he saw Maria trying to leave, he said, "Madam, Master Richard just said you should wait here for him. He has something to tell you."

"Then tell me on the phone," Maria replied, leaving without looking back.

At the hospital, Eleanor lay in bed after her checkup. The doctor assured them it was nothing serious, and only then did Richard relax.

He glanced at his watch. "Get some rest here. I'll…"

"Sorry for troubling you. It seems I also caused some conflict between you and Maria today, didn't I?" Eleanor cut in with a strained smile, as if she couldn't tell of his impatience.

Richard looked at Jonathan, who had dozed off beside her, and lowered his voice. "No. Rest well. I'll explain things to Maria myself."

"There's no need. As long as I leave again, you two won't have any problems. It's only because of me that you two never got your marriage certificate." Eleanor lowered her head, her eyes red.

Richard paused, listening to her words made him think back to seven years ago.

His grandmother's pressure and Eleanor's sudden disappearance, leaving him unable to file the divorce papers no matter how much he tried…

"It's all in the past. Don't blame yourself," he said calmly. "When you left without a word, I never held it against you."

"But I blame myself!" Eleanor's voice rose in sudden tension. "I know how your grandmother forced you to marry me. After I saved her life, she thought I was kind and dependable, that you'd be safe with me."

Eleanor sighed and couldn't help but sob. "It's my fault. Saving her terrified me so much that I ended up with this heart condition. After we got the certificate, I didn't want to drag you down. I was afraid you wouldn't want me, so I left for treatment abroad…"

Hearing her mention his grandmother, Richard's face softened further. "I truly don't blame you. Don't carry this burden. What matters is that your health is stable now. After all, you helped our family."

Eleanor lifted her gaze, her eyes filled with hope. "I didn't just help your family. I'm also your…"

"We should take time to finalize the divorce papers," Richard interrupted, his tone cool. "I couldn't find you all these years, but now that you're back, I should tell Maria the truth and get our marriage certificate reissued."

The obvious distance in Richard's voice left Eleanor speechless. Under the covers, her hands clenched tight.

Forcing a brittle smile, she whispered, "Of…of course. You've found the one you truly love and built a home with her. It's only right that I step aside."

"That's right." Richard stood up. "Rest well. I'll take Jonny home now."

"Alright," Eleanor murmured, biting her lip.

As soon as he carried the boy out, her expression turned extremely cold. Rubbing her temples, her frailty vanished. She pulled out her phone and made a call.

"Hello, I need a medical record forged."

-

Back at the hotel, Maria turned off her phone the moment she arrived. The next morning, as she came downstairs, the front desk called her.

"Mrs. Shaw, a Mr. Shaw came by around midnight. As you instructed, I told him you've already checked out."

Maria gave a grateful smile. "Thank you for covering for me. Sorry to trouble you."

The receptionist smiled easily. "Not at all. But… That was your husband, wasn't it? He seemed really anxious when he was here yesterday."

Maria's smile faded, and she only nodded vaguely before leaving.

Anxious?

Whatever his reason, even if he had been worried, Maria didn't need it anymore.

In Richard's world, she had never been first.

He was worried about her, but he had to send Eleanor off first.

He would worry about her absence, yet still spent the night at the hospital with Eleanor.

The feeling of being forever placed last… It was meaningless.

Maria got into a car and went straight to the mall.

Last night, she received her full treatment plan from her doctor. It included what medications to take, when to take them, and other precautions. All of them were typed out by the doctor personally.

He had also warned her that the headaches, vomiting, and blurred vision were nothing compared to what was to come. In two months, even surgery wouldn't help her. Once her motor or speech nerves were compressed, she would lose the ability to talk or even to live independently.

Maria still chose no surgery. She wouldn't gamble on a fifty-fifty chance. Instead, she wanted to spend her remaining time abroad with family.

She was grateful, too, for having such a compassionate doctor. He had spent hours persuading her last night, probably losing sleep himself.

Wanting to show her thanks, she headed to the mall to buy him a gift to show her sincerity. However, she hadn't expected to run straight into someone she didn't want to see.

In the distance stood a woman in a red coat, nearly forty. Maria froze, then turned to leave.

But the woman's sharp eyes caught her, and she strode quickly over.

"Stop!"

Maria halted. Forced to turn back, she greeted the woman softly.

"Catelyn."