Chapter 243
Leanne was giving him the silent treatment.
An invisible standoff lingered between them.
After a while, Curtis broke the silence, casually throwing out a lure. “I heard the FDA in Emberland recently approved a new oral medication. It’s supposed to be pretty effective in preventing relapses.”
High-risk neuroblastoma is an unforgiving disease. You can’t cure it. You can only hope to extend your life through surgery or medication.
With a survival rate of less than fifty percent over five years, the high mortality rate comes from the risk of relapse. Each relapse means a more aggressive cancer.
If this newly approved treatment could reduce the risk of relapse, maybe there would still be a glimmer of hope for Jada.
Leanne’s brows furrowed. “So, you’re using this as leverage against me?”
“Yes.” Curtis rested his wrist on the table’s edge, his watch casting a cold silver glow,
making his gaze sharp and detached. “Otherwise, why would I bother? Leaving behind a mountain of work at the company to run around Emberland for a kid I barely know. Come on. Take a seat. Don’t rile me up.”
After a standoff, Leanne finally compromised and took a seat.
Curtis reached out, picked up a shrimp, and placed it on her plate.
“I’ve been running around, setting her up with the best cancer center, personally discussing her treatment plan, even sorting out their accommodation and care. Everything’s ready. They only need to start the treatment.
Rushed to see you when I was back, thinking you’d be touched, maybe even fall for me a little. I thought you’d run into my arms. It turns out you’re as cold as the stone.
They’re not my wife or kid, and here I am, bending over backward for them, not even sure why.”
When had Curtis ever faced such indignity?
“Leanne, let’s just have a nice dinner, okay? Pretend for a bit. Don’t be so cold, okay?”
Leanne didn’t look at him, but she would’ve seen the almost pleading look in his eyes if she had.
Instead, she focused on the shrimp, asking, “When are you sending them to Emberland?”
“Next Thursday.”
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10:12
Chapter 24
“That means three days,” Leanne thought.
She just had to endure for three more days. Once Belinda and Jada were gone, it would be time to finalize the divorce.
She picked up the fork and ate the shrimp.
Sometimes, Curtis hated how well he knew her, making it too easy to guess her mind.
“So, for these three days, anything goes, huh?” he played with his porcelain cup. “Using them as leverage works that well on you?”
Leanne tensed, feeling trapped. “Don’t push it.”
“What’s pushing it?”
Suddenly, Curtis wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her onto his lap.
Still holding her fork, Leanne frowned, “What are you doing?”
Curtis met her gaze, a mocking smile on his lips. “I’m curious about your breaking point. A kiss, a night together, or not getting a divorce?”
Feeling the sting of humiliation, Leanne’s grip on her fork tightened as she snapped, “Curtis!”
“What? Planning to use your fork against me?” He covered her hand with his, directing the fork’s prongs toward his chest.
“Go ahead. Stab me, and see if my heart spells out your name.’
Curtis was fuming inside.
No matter how he tried to please her, he couldn’t earn her affection. Busting his hump for a mother-daughter duo he barely knew, and all for her to condescend to share a meal with him-it was like a punch to the gut.
In her heart, he weighed less than two strangers.
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10:12 m)