James still hadn't returned the next morning when I was sending Laura to the nursery.

I thought he wouldn't come home for a while like before after what happened last night.

However, I was wrong again.

When I got home, James was calling his mother and asking her how to make oat porridge.

He said that Brenda wanted to have oat porridge.

Looking at the man who had never cooked before, being busy in the kitchen with a pink apron on, my heart couldn't help but ache again.

It was a good thing that Laura wasn't home.

If she was, she would probably be crying again.

Seeing me return, Brenda stood up from the sofa and rushed into the kitchen to wrap her arms around James's leg.

"Dad, that evil woman is back. I'm scared."

James bent down and picked Brenda up with one hand as he continued cooking with the other.

"Don't be scared, Brenda. Your Dad's Superman. I'll protect you."

Such a warm scene made my eyes feel like they were burning and tears quickly welled up in them.

I walked to the door of the kitchen and leaned against it as I said sarcastically, "James, who will be burying you and praying for you after you die?"

'Probably not me or Laura,' I added inwardly. 'He hasn't treated Laura like his daughter at all. Why should she be by his side when he dies?'

James put down the spoon in his hand and glared at me angrily. "You're just wicked, Catherine."

"Well, I've always been like this. You should have gotten used to it already." I sneered.

James ignored me and went back to his room.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, I went to the hospital to get my report.

The doctor looked at me with a serious face. "Ms. Somerfield, you have breast cancer and it's at the terminal stage as well..."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I forced a smile on my pale face and said, "There must be some kind of mistake, doctor. I'm only having chest pains."

The doctor shook his head. "There's no mistake. You must have been suppressing your feelings for too long for you to get this illness. My suggestion is that you come and be hospitalized to start your treatment straight away."

The doctor said something else as well, but I couldn't make out what it was. All I could think about was Laura.

'If I fall ill, what about Laura? Her father doesn't love her, her grandmother doesn't like her, and my parents...'

I leaned against the wall and walked out of the doctor's office lifelessly. I then sat myself on a bench in the corridor.

I only came back to my senses when I heard my phone ring.

Looking at the screen of the phone, I saw that it was Laura's tutor calling.

I answered the call. "Hello, Miss Hudson."

"Catherine, I think you should come to the nursery as soon as possible. Laura is burning up with a fever."

After hanging up the phone, I rushed out of the hospital and took a taxi to the nursery that Laura went to.

Laura was lying on a small bed with a red face. When she saw me, she whispered, "Mom, I'm okay. Don't worry."

"Let's go to the hospital." I picked Laura up in my arms but my chest began to hurt again.

Laura had always been well-behaved since she was born. It was probably because she knew not a lot of her family liked her.

She was just like me. She didn't know how to please others.

She would definitely suffer in the future with such a personality, but I didn't know what to teach her.

I didn't know how to teach her to be like Brenda, who knew how to pretend to be sick.

After coming home from the hospital, James held Brenda in his arms and was reading "Cinderella" to her.

I held Laura in one hand and a bag of medicine in the other, but James just ignored me completely. He treated us like we were thin air.

My heart ached so much that I began to find it difficult to breathe.

At that moment, I began to regret marrying James.

I even began to regret the decision to give birth to Laura.

I gave birth to Laura, but couldn't bring her any happiness. This was my failure as a mother.

However, I couldn't really go back in time now.

All I could do was treat Laura the best I could whilst I was still alive.

After placing Laura on the bed, I tucked her in and went to make some food for her.

Laura's favorite food was the chicken and mushroom soup that I made for her. There wasn't any fresh chicken in the fridge, so I said to James, who was on the sofa, "Laura's ill. Keep an eye on her for me. I'm going out for some groceries and will be back soon."

James still remained silent as always.

I was used to it and left the house.

When I came back home, I saw Brenda drawing things on Laura's face with my lipstick.

I was infuriated and shouted, "Brenda Collins, what are you doing?"

Brenda jumped when she heard my voice and began crying.

James heard the noise and walked out of the bedroom. He picked Brenda up to comfort her. "It's alright, baby. What's wrong?"

I pointed at Laura's face and shouted, "What's wrong? What do you think?"

"Brenda is only messing around. There's no need to lose your temper." James furrowed his brows and his eyes were full of anger.

"Messing around?" I glared at James and the pain in my chest was causing me to have difficulties breathing. "How about I draw something on your face and see how you feel about it? I'm only messing around anyway."

"Fucking psycho!" cursed James as he left with Brenda in his arms.

I was like a maniac and wouldn't leave him alone.

"Yes, I'm a psycho. I'm about to die! You happy now, James? I can finally go live with your true love happily ever after. Are you happy now?"

James ignored me and continued to look at Brenda with a gentle gaze. "Don't cry, baby. How about we go out shopping?"

I felt that James would be overjoyed. After all, he loved Nova Collins so much.

Even though she abandoned him for a rich guy seven years ago, he still loved her.

He loved her to the core.

As for me, the wife that stood by his side as he started his own company, was just an object that could satisfy his needs.

He would wave at me when he needed me and would give me the silent treatment when he didn't.

However, he was the one who begged me to marry him all those years back.

Why did he treat me like this after I agreed to marry him?

I felt that I had been a fool as well.

He probably begged me to marry him because of the money that I had.

He would no longer need me after he got the money. Therefore, he had lost his patience with me as well.

"Mom..." Laura suddenly woke up.

I felt that she was very uncomfortable because her voice was like a whisper.

I got rid of all the thoughts in my head and went to the side of the bed to comfort her.

"How do you feel, sweetheart? Do you still feel sick?"

"Not anymore." Laura shook her head. "Where's Dad?"

I caressed her soft hair and lied, "He's gone to work."

Coincidentally, as soon as I finished speaking, James came home with Brenda in his arms.

Brenda held a doll in her hand and rushed to the door of my room as she said proudly, "My dad bought this for me."

Seeing the disappointed look in Laura's eyes, I clenched my fists and tried my best to stay calm.

"Laura, your dad has prepared a birthday present for you as well. I'll go get it for you."

Laura's eyes lit up immediately and nodded her head joyfully. "Thank you, Mom."

I stood up, walked to the cupboard, took out the birthday present that I bought for Laura and placed it in her hand.

"See if you like it, baby."

Laura tilted her head and a bright smile appeared on her face. "Did Dad really get this for me?"

"Of course!" I smiled.

Brenda rushed over, took the present in Laura's hand, threw it on the floor, and stomped on it.

"Humph! He's my dad, not yours! My dad will never buy you presents!"

Laura immediately began crying.

I stood up, picked Brenda up by the collar, and threw her out of my bedroom.

How dare she bully my daughter in front of me?

"Let go of me you evil woman! I'll get my dad to beat you up!" Brenda was crying even louder than Laura.

James just happened to see what was going on when he came out of the toilet. He didn't hesitate to slap me in the face.

"Catherine, what the hell do you want?"

I covered my burning face and shouted, "I want her out of here!"

One could bully me, but not my daughter, no matter who it was.

"You're the one who should get lost. Don't forget, this is my house. My name is on the property ownership certificate!"

James looked like he had fire in his eyes, but his words were cold.

Something seemed to be stuck in my throat and caused me to not be able to speak at all.

Laura got out of bed and wrapped her arms around my leg.

"I don't want the present anymore. I don't want dad either. I'll give her everything. I don't want you to be mad, Mom."

I rubbed Laura's head and tears silently trickled down my face.

'Silly child. How can I not be mad? I'm your mom, how can you do nothing and just watch you being bullied by someone else?' I thought to myself.

The result of losing my temper was that my chest began to hurt again.

The pain caused me to break into a cold sweat.

It took a while for the pain to subside.

After the pain subsided, I packed my luggage and was about to leave with Lara.

James was feeding Brenda, but Brenda began being picky.

"Dad, I don't want to have any vegetables. I want to have meat."

"Be good, Brenda. You need vegetables to grow."

James's voice was softer than ever, but he wasn't talking to me or Laura in that soft voice.

I still had hopes for him when I opened the door. I would still choose to stay if he said something nice.

I didn't care who he was nice to.

I was about to die, all I wanted was for Laura to have somewhere to settle before I die.

However, James didn't even look at me when I walked out of the room, let alone ask me to stay.

When I closed the door, my heart felt like it had shattered.

Laura was crying with red eyes, but didn't dare say anything.

She held her suitcase in one hand and my hand in the other as she followed me in the darkness of the night.

I found a nearby hotel and checked us in.

As soon as I walked into the hotel, my mom actually called me and told me to head home the next day.

I looked at the screen of my phone in a daze after the call was hung up.

Ever since what happened eight years ago, this was the first time that my mom had called me.

I thought they had disowned me a long time ago.

I finally felt some comfort after a long day.

I held Laura in my arms and said with a smile, "Baby, I'll take you to your grandparents' house tomorrow. By the way, you have two uncles as well. You need to behave yourself tomorrow, okay?"

Laura nodded. "I will, Mom."

I had a dream that night.

I dreamt of going back home and seeing my parents and my two brothers. They all had smiles on their faces.

They all wanted to hug Laura as well.

Laura was wearing a nice dress with a load of presents in her arms and was smiling happily.

However, it was just a dream.

When I arrived back at the Somerfield family, that was when I realized that it was a banquet that doomed me.

It accelerated my death.