Building Her Throne Burying My Heart (Claire) novel Chapter 35

When I got to the hospital, a nurse was gently trying to talk sense into Darleen. As soon as she noticed me, she looked relieved.

“Lambert, could you talk to her, please?”

Darleen stood up the moment she saw me walk in. Her voice shook as she glared at me, tears already filling her eyes.

“Lambert, why did you lie to me? You told me it was just a regular cold. How could it turn out to be something like this?”

She looked so much thinner than just a few days ago. Her eyes were red and puffy. Guilt and heartache twisted inside me.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I never meant to lie. I was just scared you wouldn’t be able to take it.”

Darleen never remarried. She raised me all on her own, working herself to the bone so I could go to college. After graduation, I met Claire, fell in love, and landed a good job. We’d talked about getting married and bringing Darleen to live with us. Everything felt like it was finally coming together.

Then Halley showed up and told me who I really was. I thought everything would finally make sense, but then the Gates family got sabotaged. Their money vanished overnight, and my biological father’s true colors came out.

I never even got the chance to give Darleen the life she deserved. The day I got out of the hospital after donating my kidney, someone set me up. I barely made it out alive. I dragged myself back to Darleen, and she saved me all over again.

She’s rescued me so many times. How could I ever turn my back on her now?

“Mom, really, try not to worry. It’s not as bad as it sounds...”

She squeezed my hand tight, fighting her tears.

“Let’s just go home. I don’t need treatment. I’m old anyway.”

“No matter what the doctors do, I probably only have a few years left. Why waste all that money?”

She let out a long, tired sigh. “No, I want to go home...”

“Mom, can you really just leave me?” My voice broke a little. “You’re all I have left in this world. How can I keep going if you’re not here?”

The person who’d loved me most was already gone. All I had left was a family that didn’t feel real.

Darleen looked at me, her face crumpling as the tears finally spilled over. “How could I ever leave you? I raised you all by myself...”

I couldn’t hold it in anymore. My own tears started to fall, and we sat there, crying together in the hospital room. In the end, all we had was each other.

After I finally calmed her down and she drifted off to sleep, I slipped out of her room. A nurse came over to tell me the doctor wanted to talk, so I hurried down the hall to his office.