Chapter 46 - Final Wishes & Regrets

Isabel’s POV

Julia’s words offered me a glimmer of hope. But I didn’t know if I would ever find out the truth about my father. My time was running out. I could feel the cancer spreading, sapping my strength day by day.

My new apartment, a relic from my divorce, became my sanctuary. It was the only luxury I had left. A reminder of a life that seemed like a distant dream. I found a low intensity online job to pay for my medical bills. The work kept my mind occupied, but my health declined rapidly over the next three months.

Chemotherapy took its toll. I lost all my hair. I invested in a wig that looked just like the golden hair I once had. But every time I looked in the mirror, I saw a stranger staring back at me. The wig was a small comfort, a way to hold on to a piece of myself.

I bought some new clothes for myself. They weren’t nearly as nice as the ones Emerson had once bought for me, but I had lost everything in the fire. The new outfits felt like trying to paint over cracks in a