The Final Gift Novel by WriterLola _ Novel





The Final Gift Chapter 01

Elianna Benton's five-year-old son, Jared Calderon, screamed once again for her to dive into the freezing pool in the dead of winter for his toy.
This time, she refused. "Jay, you can stop trying to make me sick now," she said.
"Rest assured. I will never bother you or your father again while you spend time with Rebecca."
Jared frowned. "Really? But Mom, you always get jealous and lose it. You make everyone miserable.
"Becca is different. Dad and I light up the second we see her."
Both Jared and his father, Ramon Calderon, loved Rebecca Baird.
To spend time with her without Elianna, Jared had pulled stunts like this many times before.
Once, he tore his homework to shreds and insisted Elianna stay up all night taping it back together.
Just as he wished, her eyes were so strained the next day that she couldn't join them at the observatory to watch the meteor shower.
Then, he kicked his new soccer ball into the doghouse and demanded she fetch it.
Her finger was mangled by a dog that had gone without food for three days, leaving her unable to go to the pottery studio with them.
He even stopped in the middle of the road with a truck approaching.
Elianna pushed him out of the way on instinct, fracturing her shin. She missed the kindergarten field day.
Jared's latest attempt almost killed her.
He cried that his necklace was missing and insisted that Elianna go back up the snowy mountain to find it.
When she finally found it, the car was already gone.
Alone on the snow-capped mountain in temperatures plunging to minus twenty degrees Celsius, she slipped into severe hypothermia and nearly died in the ER.
***
That evening, Ramon came home.
He tossed a box of medication onto the entryway console and began taking off his coat, head bowed.
"I brought you some medicine," he said.
"Since you have a fever, just skip Jay's birthday party tomorrow. I've already arranged for Rebecca to take your place..."
He stopped mid-sentence as the living room lights flicked on.
Seeing Elianna standing there looking perfectly healthy, he furrowed his brow. "You... You aren't sick?"
Elianna nodded, catching the flash of annoyance and panic in his eyes.
"I thought..." he stammered. "But I already agreed that Rebecca would host the guests tomorrow. The invitations have already been sent..."
The invitations were brought home three days ago.
A maid had opened one by accident; the cover featured a photo of Ramon, Jared, and Rebecca.
The maid couldn't help but comment, "Mr. Calderon looks at Ms. Baird with such deep affection. They look like a loving couple.
"But in that wedding photo in the bedroom, he looks at his wife as if she were a stranger."
Elianna had been standing right behind her when she said it.
The maid was terrified, thinking she'd be fired on the spot.
But Elianna simply told her in a calm voice to put the invitations away.
Now, she responded to Ramon with the same calm.
"It's okay. Just let Ms. Baird handle the party. I have other plans for tomorrow anyway."
She turned to head back to her room, but Ramon grabbed her wrist without warning.
"Other plans?" He stared at her indifferent face, a sudden, inexplicable anger rising in his chest.
"What could be more important than Jay's birthday?"
"You already decided Rebecca would take my place, didn't you?" Elianna found the situation amusing.
"Besides, you were the one who said I should get a life. You told me not to hover over you and Jared because it's annoying."
"That isn't what I meant..." Ramon felt a rare urge to explain himself.
Elianna pulled her hand away. "I'm tired. I'm going to rest."
Ramon stared at his empty palm, momentarily dazed.
The old Elianna had indeed been annoying.
She'd follow him everywhere and share every mundane detail of her life, no matter how trivial.
And anything linking him with Rebecca would throw her into a hysterical frenzy.
But now, hearing that Rebecca would be taking her place tomorrow, Elianna didn't so much as blink.
It seemed that ever since she came back from the snowy mountain, she had changed.
She had become thinner and weaker.
There was also an unsettling air about her—something that filled him with a growing sense of dread.
Ramon couldn't stop himself from following her.
His expression was serious, as if he were making a major concession.
"The seating for the party is already finalized; it can't be changed. But if you're desperate to go, I suppose I could find a way to squeeze you in at the back."
"No need," Elianna declined flatly. "I truly have other plans for tomorrow."
"What could you possibly have to do?" Ramon's expression finally hardened.
"You're just unhappy about what happened on the mountain, aren't you?
"I already told you, Rebecca had severe altitude sickness. I had to rush her down to the hospital immediately. Must you keep pushing this? It's a small thing—stop being so difficult."
"Your family is bankrupt. You aren't the high-and-mighty heiress you once were. No one is obligated to tolerate your bad temper anymore!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Ramon realized he had gone too far. "I didn't mean that—"
But before he could explain, his phone rang.
He picked up, and Rebecca's intermittent sobs leaked through the receiver.
She was saying something about a broken light, or maybe a strange noise in the hallway.
Ramon panicked, grabbed his coat, and hurried out the door.
"It's alright. I'm coming right now. Don't be afraid," he murmured softly into the phone as he disappeared down the hall.
The moment the front door slammed shut, Elianna's phone began to ring. It was a call from the laboratory.
"Ms. Benton, we are deeply grateful for your willingness to donate your cerebral neurons to this experiment.
"Everything is in place for the procedure. We are ready whenever you are."
Elianna was about to reply when a sharp burning pain shot through her abdomen.
She struggled to pull a bottle of medicine from the cabinet, poured a large handful into her palm, and swallowed them whole.
Only then did she regain enough strength to speak.
"I have late-stage pancreatic cancer anyway. If I can do something for medicine before I die, at least my life won't have been for nothing."

READ FULL NOVEL HERE