Chapter 9

• Evy
• After signing the contract with Mr. D'Angelo, everything in my life began to happen as if by magic. A call from the bank informed me that the mortgage on the house where I was born and raised had been paid off, the creditors who had simply vanished from my doorstep, and my mother who had been transferred to a specialized private oncology clinic. Finally, I could breathe a sigh of relief! The next steps would be timed. D'Angelo and I would have a photo session narrating our "love story," and his assistant would handle the rumors surrounding the coveted "Lion of Business" wedding. In the end, he looked into my eyes and said, "Get ready for the best part!" I wondered if there was anything better than laying my head on the pillow and sleeping without tears, without regrets, and without thinking about the next day. Surely, there wouldn't be.
• "Ready, your mother is settled in now. Can we talk?" Dr. Monique Toledo approached, pulling me from my reverie. I glanced at the door she had just come through, catching a glimpse of my mother lying in a narrow hospital bed, attended to by a medical team. I nodded, following her to her office. As we entered the room, Monique gestured to a chair, and I settled in, waiting for her to speak. "We managed to retrieve your mother's file from the Mayo Clinic. Her last consultation was with Dr. Jordan Pilates about four months ago. It was regarding a small tumor at the time, and had she continued with the treatment, we might have overcome it."