The sedative put Adeline to sleep.
“If that’s her last wish, I can authorize the documents for her discharge tomorrow. I will give Betty her AML medication for pain. It will help her condition a little during the trip.” Dr. Sally explained.
Johnny went out of the room. While leaning on the door, he was thinking about Maxim. Knowing he couldn't hide it any longer. He knew it was not his place to tell him, but now, Maxim was the most important person Adeline would want beside her.
He took out his phone and pressed Call Maxim.
[Moscow - Ivanov’s Family Residence]
Maxim spent sleepless nights after not hearing from Adeline and even Johnny. It made him anxious and worried; so much so that he had begun drinking a lot for the past weeks.
His father still doesn’t care about his feelings, but his mother is concerned. And so she keeps an eye on him.
He looks haggard when his phone rings. His eyes widened when he saw Johnny’s calling.
“Johnny!” he strolled restlessly into his room. “I’ve been trying to call you several times. Adeline doesn’t pick up my calls or reply to my text. What’s going on? Hello? Johnny? Why are you not talking?”
Johnny sighed deeply, “It’s about Adeline-”
“What about Adeline? Is she alright?” Maxim felt more anxious.
“I’m sorry it took me a while to call you.”
“It’s alright, but is Adeline okay?” Maxim anxiously held his forehead.
“Adeline is sick.”
“But she’s okay, right?”
“No.” Johnny’s voice trembled, but he needed to be strong.
“What do you mean no?!”
Johnny grasped his courage, "Adeline has stage 4 Acute Myeloid Leukemia, and she's dying. I'm so sorry, Maxim. I'm so sorry." He felt the guilt in his heart.
Maxim’s eyes widened in agitation while holding the phone, trembling.
“What d-did you just say?” his upset trembling tone.
“She’s dying, Maxim. We are flying to Switzerland tomorrow. Please, she needs you more than anyone else. Please come and see her before it’s too late.” Johnny hung up the call.
Maxim’s heart trembles in fear as tears drip from his tired eyes. His clouded mind starts to overpower him with distressed emotions in his very soul.
Alexie came into his room and was surprised to see his expression of anger while in tears.
“Maxim-” Alexie's nervous tone.
Bewildered by the shocking news, all he thinks of is Adeline. The only woman who gave him a second chance to find his worth is dying without him knowing. He doesn’t want that to happen without him by her side. And right now, he wants her more than anything else.
He hastily wore a coat without changing his clothes and just wore his jandals. He opened his drawer and took his passport and a gun in his right hand.
“Maxim, what are you doing?” Alexie anxiously asked.
He looked at Alexie with an angry face.
“Where’s my father?”
“Ahm, he’s in the office downstairs meeting with his business partners. But why are you carrying a gun?”
Maxim did not answer and rushed out of his room.
“Maxim!” Alexie hastily rushed behind him.
Maxim’s mother saw him speeding down the stairs, holding the gun in his right hand, heading toward his father’s office. To her shock, she followed.
While Mr. Ivanov explained the strategy for growing their investment in Asia, Maxim angrily opened the door, surprising everyone. His father furrowed and looked relaxed when he saw him carrying a gun.
“What are you doing here? Can’t you see I’m busy?” His father's cold tone. His business partners were in fear of the presence of a gun.
“Why did you not let me go and see her? Is that why you went to Australia and locked me up here?” Maxim's angry tone. He was clutching the gun.
“Stop being a--”
Maxim shot the window beside his father’s desk, and everyone was shocked— his father was perturbed.
"Answer me! You knew she was sick and didn't even dare to tell me! Why!!!" Maxim exclaimed in anger, dripping tears.
“Stop this stupid madness! What’s the point of telling you if she’s dying?! She’s far too old for you. So wake up!” Mr. Ivanov yelled.
Maxim became berserk and pointed the gun at his right temple. Her mother looked scared and trembling, watching his son full of pain and misery.
“Why- Why do you keep tormenting me?!” his hysteria overtook him, making his father's conscience tremble. Pointing the gun at himself made no fear of death while everyone listened to the trauma he had suppressed all his life.
"All this time, all you ever did- was blame me for Ivan's death. You never looked at me even once when- I was at my worst. You cast me out that- I was never part of this family. You controlled everything on how I should be. And now, the only person who gave my life back together, the person I love so much, is dying. And I am not even by her side! W-why– Why are you so cruel?!!" Maxim cried out, clutching the gun.
Mr. Ivanov and everyone was speechless. Then, he let go of the gun and confronted his father with a firm look.
“From this moment onwards, I am no longer your son.”
He turned around and walked away, leaving them behind. His father could not do anything but feel shame and guilt for what he did was wrong, for what is left of him as a father is a pang of regret.
“Maxim-” his mother softly called for him. He looked sideways and said,
"You will always be a good mother to me. Thank you for standing up for me when Father never did. Goodbye, Mother."
Maxim left the residence without bringing anything with him. He took a taxi and went straight to the airport without looking back, for he was now free from his father’s misdeeds.
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