Seven Days to Goodbye (Irene and Stellan) novel Chapter 14

Stellan closed his eyes and said softly, “I want to pray for her and light a candle again.”

He lit a candle in front of Irene’s urn.

He gazed at the highest point of the candelabrum, where a bright flame flickered and danced.

Suddenly, Stellan remembered Irene dancing under the golden sunlight on Denali.

So she truly had been burning her life away.

It was only after leaving the chapel that Stellan opened Irene’s bag.

Inside, apart from cosmetics and her phone, there were several medicine bottles, as well as the scarf and shawl he had bought.

A vague sense of foreboding crept over Stellan.

Throughout the journey, Irene had been taking medicine.

She said it was for altitude sickness, and Stellan thought it was for depression.

But now it seemed… that was not the case.

After all, when they parted, Irene had already grown so thin she looked as if the wind could blow her away.

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Stellan searched the names on the medicine bottles online.

The moment the results appeared, his hand trembled violently, and the bottles rolled onto the floor.

They were anti–cancer drugs… for treating stomach cancer.

Stellan stared at the words on the screen, his throat feeling as if something was strangling it, constricting even his windpipe, making it hard to breathe.

“Why… why did you have such a serious illness and never tell me…”

Stellan murmured these words, then suddenly his breath caught, and a memory surfaced in his mind.

Back when Irene said she had depression, he believed her and even accompanied her to see a psychologist.

But not long after, Valentina placed a test report on his desk and said, “Stellan, I had someone check it. Rene is just taking regular vitamins, and the medical records are forged.”

“After all, people with depression have no energy. Rene brings you lunch every day and is so lively. How could she have depression?”

“But don’t be angry. Rene must have pretended to be sick just to get you to spend more time with her. It’s better to talk to her nicely.”

Thinking back to Irene’s state during that time, Stellan had to admit she did not seem like someone suffering from depression.

So he believed Valentina’s explanation without doubt, and was even

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misled into thinking Irene was just seeking attention.

He even frowned and scolded her, “We’ve been married for so many years, how can you be so childish?!”

“You use such childish tricks too? Do you take me for a fool?”

At that time, Irene looked at him in utter disbelief, and then they had another fierce argument.

Despite her anger, Irene had tried to explain, but he dismissed all her words as excuses…

Perhaps it was that incident that completely broke her heart, so that even when her days were numbered, she never intended to reveal her

illness.

She had always been someone who loved and hated with all her

heart…

Stellan closed his eyes, realizing for the first time how memories and regret could follow like shadows, cutting as painfully as a knife.

This trip had only been scheduled for three days.

So on the second day, Stellan and Valentina boarded the return flight.

After returning to New York, they went straight to the hospital to visit Sophie,

Sophie was Irene’s aunt. They had always been close, but ever since Valentina joined his company, Irene’s relationship with the Hawley family had deteriorated, eventually to the point where they no longer

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had any contact.

This time, his trip to Alaska had been intended to bring news of Sophie’s illness to Irene, but unexpectedly…

Stellan closed his eyes, suppressed his emotions, and pushed open the door to the hospital room.

Sophie lay in the hospital bed, tubes all over her body, struggling even to speak.

Even so, her eyes remained fixed on Stellan.

While Valentina went to speak with the doctor, Sophie managed to say, “Stellan… Rene, she still won’t… come see me?”

A look of deep pain flashed in Stellan’s eyes as he pressed his lips together in silence.

The light in Sophie’s eyes gradually dimmed, and tears welled up at the corners of her eyes.

“It’s my fault… I treated her and Val equally all my life, but when it came to your relationship, I favored my own daughter…”

“Back then, I told her that your relationship was so strong that Val could never break you up. I begged her not to drive Val away… It was all my foolishness…”

Listening to her endless confessions, Stellan felt his heart numb with pain.

So all these years, every hysterical moment Irene had was the result of

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being pushed to the edge by people and circumstances, bit by bit…

He wanted to hate, but he no longer knew whom to hate.

Sophie used all her strength to lift her hand and gently tugged at Stellan’s sleeve.

“Stellan, could you let Rene come see me… I want to apologize to her in person…”

What was this? Was it true that a dying person’s words were always kind?

Stellan looked at the pleading in her eyes and let out a laugh, but tears fell uncontrollably.

“Sophie. I can’t bring her here. She died alone in Alaska, and even arranged her own funeral before she passed.”

“The day Valentina and I arrived, we happened to catch her funeral. I watched with my own eyes as her body was cut by knives, pecked by birds… In the end, nothing was left.”

“Sophie, if you want to apologize to her, you can wait a few more days and go find her yourself.”

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