In a world where everything must come to an end, I never expected that my end would be coming so soon. I tried so hard to concentrate on what the doctor was saying but the only thing that stuck was I only had a year to live. Well if I went through chemotherapy and other endless cancer treatment.
I can't believe this is how everything was going to end. I was going to die a very boring person, an overly protected daughter of rich lawyers. I was going to die a very boring person and not even my crazy rich Asian dad could save me. I didn't get the chance to live like a normal human, I closed my eyes and let the darkness consume me.
Earlier today I sat on my bed, preparing for my first physical day at my dad's law firm, I used to stay home and talk to potential clients but today I get to go to the firm like a normal lawyer, I am so excited but a little sad, I have spent 22 years on earth pleasing and walking in my parent's footstep and here I am doing it again.
"Mei Xing" my mom yelled. "Mom" I yelled back, I sighed at my reflection staring back at me and groaned. I held my chest tightly, there was an unusual pain traveling through me.
An overwhelming burning sensation; chills ran down my spine, what was going on? I tried to focus on my reflection but it was a lot harder to do, everything was getting blurry and I could barely focus on anything. I grabbed my make-up desk to stop myself from falling but that didn't work, my legs could barely carry my weight and the only thing I remember was a blurry vision of my panicking mom who was yelling at dad.
"Mei Xing," I heard a familiar voice calling but my eyelids were a little too heavy for me to open. I gave up and drifted into a void. I opened my eyes and I realized I was in an oddly bright room, I closed my eyes and opened them slowly to adapt to the lighting of the room. There was no one in the room except me, it was definitely not my bedroom. I raised my right hand and saw wires connected to it, I didn't feel any pain earlier but now staring at the things attached to my hand, I could feel it.
I was not in my room and my clothes had been changed from my normal boring black pencil knee-length skirt and white dress shirt to a 'is this a hospital gown?' my mind wandered, was I in a hospital? I looked around and observed my environment, I was in a hospital, and I started panicking. A nurse rushed into the room and I don't know what she did but I fell asleep.
A while later faint voices of people woke me up from my sleep. I could barely see them but I could recognize my parent's voices. Was I dying?
"Mom, am I dying?" I whispered to my mom. "Mei Xing," she called out, her voice croaking, was she crying? Was I going to die? My eyes shot open and I stared at mom and dad. Mom looked like she looked pale like she had seen a ghost, while dad just stood there with his worried face, he only had that look when he couldn't solve an issue.
I finally recognized where I was, I was in the hospital and they had managed to change my clothes into a hospital gown.
"You are awake," Mom commented smiling at me, she moved to the bed and sat down beside me. She stroked my face gently while trying to hold back her tears. "I think I deserve to know what is going on here," I said.
"There is no need to worry, I and your mom are handling the situation," dad said quickly, the creases forming on his head gave him off, he was lying. Mr. Lin, my dad never lied but here he stood lying.
"At a moment like this, I really should not be treated like a child, I can handle whatever," I said. My parents looked away and didn't answer the question. "For once let me be aware of the situations in my life," I yelled. My parents looked at me shocked, I covered my mouth but the damage had already been done, I never yelled. I took all the control over the years and just let it slide thinking I would get my freedom but today I just had enough.
"You have cancer. A tumor is growing close to your brain, it has gotten really big," dad said. 'And?' I thought but I guess that was all I was getting from my dad. I looked at mom, she was crying so much, we might actually be sharing the pain.
"MOM," I called out to my mom, she looked at me with her teary eyes. Tears slowly slid down my face as it hit me, I had cancer. "It can be treated right?" I asked mom hopefully. She looked away again. "You have stage three brain cancer, drugs and chemotherapy can help soothe the pain," mom replied to my hope.
Maybe I should have told my parents every time I had a headache, maybe I would have been treated earlier and would never have been in the situation. But I was so stubborn and wanted to be my own person, not an overprotected daughter of a billionaire but now maybes and regret flood my thoughts.
The tears flowed freely, and the realization that I was going to die soon after living a very boring life was more painful than the thought of merely dying. I hid behind my parent's protection and blamed dad for controlling my life, maybe I should have fought, it was a little too late but it was finally time to control my life.
"How many years do I have left?" I asked mom, "With the help of the drugs and chemotherapy, you can live for a very long time," she soothed. If it were as easy as she was saying, she wouldn't be crying and dad wouldn't have the out-of-control look.
Taking a deep breathe I made an announcement. "I…
"I do not want radiotherapy or chemotherapy, they will only make me go through pain when I can just die at nature's dictated time," I blurted. "No," dad argued. "I have made my decision and you are not changing it this time. I cannot be healed so why go through all the stress," I said."I want to go home," I said. "If you want me to at least listen to your plans, then I must go home," I guess death was the only thing strong enough to push me into making such demands. Dad was going to refuse but mom stopped him. I got discharged with a lot of drugs and endless appointments for when I was going to start chemotherapy."So you will follow the doctor's instructions," dad said immediately after we got into the house."You know I should be given a chance to decide my life, I have been protected and you have decided everything I did since I was a baby, let me do something for myself for the first time in my life. You guys have had 22 years of my life, let me have this one year," I pleaded. Mo
I am getting married," I yelled and closed my mouth immediately, how did I let that slip. He hasn't even called me. I don't even know if he has accepted the proposal or not but here I am blabbing and telling my parents about the so called marriage to a strange man, who could be a serial killer or a murderer, maybe one of my parent's enemies."Xiao Ming," my mom called and I snapped out of whatever was going on in my head. "Yes mom," I answered. "What did you just say?" Dad asked. I took three quick breathes and turned to him. "Yes dad," I whined. "I did not approve of any man…" I cut him off before he could finish, I didn't want him asking me question even I do not know the answer to. "Yes dad, you do not know him because I did this for myself and I picked a husband who loves me and not someone who is after my family business, I do not want a gold digging, back stabber. I am going to die soon so might as well as make decisions for myself in the next 365 days. It won't kill you no
Patience isn't easy when you need something done immediately, I stared at my phone patiently waiting for my phone to come on, it was taking forever. I stared at it waiting but nothing was happening. My patience was being stretched thin, I never wanted anything as much as I wanted my phone to come on, I realized my phone wasn't connected and all this while it wasn't charging. Life was making a deliberate mockery of me. I watched as my screen lit up slowly as it turned on. One minute felt like forever. I stared anxiously at my screen as it finally lit up displaying my wallpaper. I haven't appreciated the default wallpaper as much as I should have, I inputted my password and was about to call the number when mom walked into the room. I turned my phone off and turned to look at mom, everything had to pause until she left the room, my parents can't know that I was going to be getting married to a complete stranger. It sounded stupid to me too but it was the only way to achieve my dreams
I should get a new name, maybe bad luck because I don't understand why nothing was going well, first I get stage three cancer, isn't that good news. And now the one thing I need to complete my stupid plans won't even pick up the phone. It was a phone, all you had to do was swipe and listen to the crap I was saying. "There is lunch downstairs, you don't have to eat all your nails," my mom said and that scared me. How long has she standing by the door?“Hello," a strange voice murmured and I had to quickly end the call. "Lunch?" Mom asked and I nodded. I do not want to eat, I want to stay here and talk a stranger into marrying me. Standing up I watched my phone ring, I turned to look at mom and then my phone, I couldn't answer the phone and talk with with mom in the same room as me. I groaned and followed her downstairs. "Àmà" I whined as she dragged me downstairs. I could walk around erfectly there was no need for the rush. "Your dad is waiting and the food will get cold," she cauti
"Beep, beep, beep," I looked up at my reflection, I could see the sadness laced in my movements. "Hello," I heard a voice and I smiled happily. "Hello, this is Mei Xing," I said. "I was calling to book an appointment at the Lin firm but I changed my mind but you kept calling, I promise there is no issue," the person said hurriedly and ended the call. I stared at my blank cell phone, I just wasted my time, it wasn't even the stranger. He probably doesn't want to marry me. Why would he marry me? What am I, Cinderella? Fall in love, be a princess and live happily ever after? Defeated I went back to my room, this was not what I pictured, I pictured a perfect ending, one with me and the stranger. That was so stupid, I sounded right earlier but now the stupidity of my plan glared at me. I laid in my bed, staring at the ceiling, it was so white and so out of reach. I couldn't even leave a normal life and the one thing I wanted, I can't get it. Life just hated me, I never did anything. I
The gut feeling of being watched overwhelmed me, I looked up and saw two pairs of eyes staring at me, I got awkward and fled the building after paying for my meal. "Min Jun," I called out to the stranger. He looked at me and began to walk away again.I quickly stood up and chased after him. "Hey," I called out to him. He continued to ignore me and kept walking away. "Hey," I yelled and ran after him, I grabbed his hand and he turned to look at me. "What!" He yelled. His voice attracted people, they turned to look at us and I got shy. I hid my head avoiding their gazes, I didn't want anyone to recognize me. Min Jun dragged me into a flower store away from the questioning eyes. "What do you want?" He asked me. "You never called me, I just wanted to know if you wanted to be with me or not," I said. While I blurted out my thoughts, I stared at my hands and admired them to ignore his eyes."Be with you?" He asked, I nodded still staring at my hand. "Didn't know you were that desperate to
Rebelling was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Every time I looked at my driver, he seemed to want to drive me back home but I wasn't ready to leave, dad gave me an hour but I can be out here for as I want to be. "Miss your dad is worried," my driver informed me. "Don't worry about him, he'll get over it," I said alright I knew that wasn't true. Dad never gets over anything, he was always so serious. "I may lose my job miss," the driver said and I nodded. "We can leave now," I said and got into the car. I didn't want him to lose his job because of me and I didn't want to get another driver, he has been my driver for as long as I can remember and he understands me. I wouldn't want him to lose his job and make dad get me another driver who'll always report my affairs to dad. As I stood facing the front door, my heart kept beating fast, was I ready to face dad after ignoring his calls all day and coming home later than I was meant to? I raised my hands to pull the door open bu
He looked at me and I should have known what his answer was going to be. He was my dad, he was impossible and never changed his mind. Why was I sad that he said no? He does this all the time, he always wanted to be in control of my life, well not anymore because from now on I was going to determine how my life was going to go. I stared at my phone waiting for Min Jun to call me. Maybe I made a mistake, I never should have given him my business card, I should have gotten his number and reached out to him on my own. But that would be desperate and I didn't want to look desperate although I really am. I took a deep breath and kept waiting for my phone to ring, a new number to flash across the screen, something, anything. No one ever called me so I knew immediately it rang, it had to be Min Jun. But there was nothing, not a mistake dial. An error or a prank call nothing. Should I have offered more money, if he didn't take a hundred thousand, how was I sure he was willing to be trapped
It has been a year since Mei died and I was starting to get used to her not being around. Although today that I remembered that she would have been alive with the bay and I, it hurts. Our daughter is a year old and she looks so much like Mei. Her hair is really long, it already reached mid back. She’s shy and lives the rose bushes. It seems like she’s a reincarnation of her mother. She plays around at her house. She also loves the rose vase where Mei’s things are being held. They gave me the rings and the locket and buried her like that. I have my daughter the locket but the rings were stored in the rose. I would make sure to keep it somewhere safe and away from Mei. It’s too precious to get lost. “Mei,” I called out to her. She ran down the stairs, stood in front of me and smiled. She was still wobbly and I always warned her not run down the stairs. She started walking three months ago and now she thinks running down the stairs is such an easy task. “Mei, I keep telling you to
Maybe I should have told her to save her breath, I shouldn’t have let her tell me everything, but did I let her explain all her feelings? I know how she felt about me, she didn’t need to narrate our love story to me. She didn't need to tell me everything, but I sat down and listened for hours while she said everything. I felt like the worst person on earth as I watched her lay on the bed breathless and lifeless. She used to have so much life, so much joy, she was always so beautiful. I had the best thing ever but like everything else she was taken away from me. I tapped the call button immediately she closed her eyes but there was nothing they could do. I watched the doctors run around me and I just drifted from the space and went back into the time when it was just me and her. The first day I met her when she asked me to marry her. I was surprised by her confidence and it scared me. I loved how persistent she was and kept chasing me until I was signed to a contract that brought me
The next morning, I woke up with the same pain that was now familiar but it hurt more. it felt harder to talk, to come up to words, my head was banging and I wanted it all to end, the pain, me. it was too much to handle. My radiotherapy was set for four and my drugs weren't helping to make me feel better. My head still hurt after taking two dosages of the pills. I stopped not wanting to overdose, although I already did. I was up before Mom, Dad, and Min and I couldn't sleep back although it was four am. I got out of bed and tried to come down from the bed. I lost my balance and before I fell, Min caught me. I smiled at him and fainted. When I woke up it was already afternoon and my radiotherapy session had been moved to the next day. I groaned when I found out. Can I get over the whole process already? It was starting to annoy me."Are you alright?" Min asked and I nodded. "My head hurts a little, it must have caused me to lose my balance," I explained to Min and he nodded. He touch
I woke up and realized I was in the hospital. How did I end up here? The last thing I remembered, was hugging everyone goodbye, and Min and I were ready to go to bed. in smiled at me as I turned to look at him. He looked really stressed and tired. He looked like he hadn't slept in a long time. I touched the eye bags and frowned. He took my hand and kissed it. I looked and saw that I was connected to an IV drip. I never understood why we couldn't just drink all the contents but its name says it all; drip, there's only ever a drop every second, and it's so freaking slow. "What happened?" I asked Min. "you fainted and I rushed you here," he explained. I heard shuffling in the background and noticed my parents were also in the room. Everyone looked stressed like they hadn't slept all through the night. "I called your parents when I got here," Min informed me. "You didn't have to call them, I'll be fine," I tell him and try to clear my throat, the pain made it hard to talk but not as ha
We returned to the condo the next day and decided we would move on Wednesday. Min had to be at the restaurant every day but he could take a break from Wednesday to Friday. The weekends were expected to be packed because the first day was a huge success and the men returned at six P.m. He had called me at least ten times today and each time he spent at least ten minutes talking to me. I kept asking if he didn't need to focus, and he said he had to and he was focusing on me. He was so cute and romantic and knew all the right words to say. He had come earlier to have dinner with me and had left the meal in the hands of his trusted chefs and the waiters that started working today. "Hey," I said when he walked in. “Hey baby, I missed you. Are you sure you don't want to come to the restaurant with me?" he asked me."What do you want me to do at the restaurant? I am not very cooking and I can't be a waiter, my baby wouldn't let me move around with that much ease," I told him. "Mei junior
My parents left our apartment at ten p.m and I should have gone to bed but I wasn't sleepy and neither was Min. i decided it was best to open my gifts and decided to ask Min for help."Can you help me unbox my present?" Min shook his head refusing to help me. "But it's so stressful and I need your help," I whined and he looked at me. "Come on Min," I pleaded."Fine, but I won't unwrap the gifts with you, I'll just watch you and bring anything you need," he negotiated and I agreed to it. Min pulled the bean he had bought for me. We unwrapped all the gifts and they were so cute. They had bought me little baby things, most of the essentials I would be needing. There were napkins, blankets, a baby carrier and some few things.“See we don’t have to buy that many baby things,” I said to Min and he laughed.I picked up the last gifts which were my parents gift. It was paper and it was put in a brown envelope, there was no fancy design, just straight to the point. I opened the envelop and saw
It seemed like my presence changed the atmosphere in the room because everyone turned in my direction and they looked surprised to see me there. I definitely wasn't dressed like them and I was a very pregnant woman. "Good afternoon," I greeted with a very wide grin."Who are you?" Someone asked. "The restaurant doesn't open until four," Someone else said. "Who left the front door open?"Another one asked. "You did, you were the last person outside," another said. "Oh," the door person asked. "Miss would you like to wait till the restaurant opens or are you going to return by four?" the curious one asked. "Oh! I am here for Min," I said feeling shy. "The owner?" The curious asked. "Yeah, he's my husband," I announced. I barely got to ask for him. again when I saw MIn walking in with his chef outfit. He looked so cute. Sorry handsome and all those masculine features. He looked at me shocked to see me here. "Hey," I said shyly. "Babe? What are you doing here?" he asked me. "I
After my little announcement, everyone made a toast to Min and to the opening of his restaurant. He pulled me into him and drank from his glass. I smiled at him and he kissed my forehead. "You know Min steals all your brain cells with those forehead kisses right?" June asked and everybody laughed. "I actually feel smarter and more loved every time he kisses my forehead. are you sure he isn't just pouring his brain cells and love in my head?" I asked. "That's they get them all," June said. I loved June and how she made everywhere funnier when she had had a sip of her daily dose of coffee. She was standing in between my mom and dad and smiling at them. I could tell Dad was uncomfortable but he deserved the little torture for everything he has done to Min and I. Min might have let it slide by inviting Dad to my birthday but I'll need more than him coming here for me to forgive everything he's done. "Thank you all for the toasts and celebrating the restaurant but today's about m
I remember telling Min my birthday date on his birthday, he had purposely not told me about his birthday, but I wanted him to know mine for it to be fair. I also barely got the chance to prepare or buy him a gift but I wasn't letting him do that to me, also Min makes the best surprises and they always blow my mind. He needed time for it to be more effective. I am also glad, I listened to my thoughts and told him earlier. He has been so busy, I doubt he has the time to do anything special for my birthday. If I hadn’t gotten the information from Cheng, I probably wouldn’t know Min’s birthday and that is wrong. I was going to give him the chance to feel this way so I told him about my birthday. I woke up feeling pumped about my birthday. I also spent all night praying that my hormones acted right. The last dinner on the roof was amazing but I ended up balling my eyes out for absolutely no reason. I had the best time after crying, but I wished I didn't have to cry. We watched a movie, a