Chapter 534


    Alice stood in the quiet room, the silence echoing with the finality of her actions. She had taken care of the men sprawled across


    the floor, dealing with them as one would butcher livestock.


    Yes, in her eyes, they were not men but mere animals deserving of their fates. They had indulged their drunken desires without a


    thought, and as such, they had met their end without a chance toprehend what was happening.


    By the crack of dawn, the room had turned into a crimson sea, and Alice, barefoot, walked over the filthy bloodstains, her


    laughter chilling the air. She had avenged herself against the demons who tormented her, but it wasn''t enough. She had yet to


    confront the mastermind who had wronged her.


    Oh, Natalia, you must wait for me!


    Alice cleaned her blood-soaked feet on the corpses, found some clean clothes in the house, and stepped out into the breaking


    day. She looked up at the rising sun and vanished into the sin-filled alleyways like a devil into the mist.


    In Hawaii, Natalia had been feeling unusually drained, lethargic, and without her usual spark. Initially, she dismissed it as poor


    rest, but one morning, as a wave of darkness passed before her eyes, concern gripped her. She knew she needed to get toa


    hospital.


    “Reba, could you please mind the house? I''m heading out to the hospital," Natalia called out to her maid, who was busy


    dusting the living room. Reba nodded dutifully and continued her chores.


    Natalia offered a considerate remark as she passed by, "Don''t overexert yourself. The ce looks spotless already." But


    Reba, focused on her task, didn''t respond.


    Shrugging off the maid''s silence, Natalia grabbed her purse and left the mansion, driving toward the hospital. Natalia had hired


    Reba to rece a previous maid who had left to get married. She had encountered Reba, a homeless soul, on her way to


    the employment center and offered her a generous tip out of kindness. But Reba, adamant in her pride, refused the money


    and instead asked for work. Unable to speak due to a tragic incident, Reba struggled to find employment until Natalia, ever-


    compassionate, took her in.


    Despite being mute, Reba was a diligent worker who kept the household in immacte condition, much to Natalia''s delight. It


    felt good to help someone in need and to have found such a reliable helper.


    However, Natalia couldn''t shake off the feeling of unwellness that had been guing her recently. She hoped the hospital visit


    would shed light on whether it was just a bad cold.Content rights belong to N?velDrama.Org.


    With a heavy heart, Natalia drove on, her spirits dampened by her waning health. When she arrived at the hospital, she parked


    and made her way to the specialist''s clinic.


    A doctor with silver-rimmed sses greeted her. "What seems to be the problem?"


    Natalia described her symptoms with concern, "I''ve been feeling constantly fatigued, stumbling while walking, dropping things... |


    feel weak. I''m not sure if it''s a severe cold, because | haven''t had a fever or been exposed to anything cold."


    The doctor scribbled something on her chart and handed it back. "Please go have these tests done, and bring me the results,


    okay?"


    After the tests, Natalia returned to the office with results that might as well have been in a foreignnguage. The doctor, with a


    grave expression, stood up. "Ms. rkson, do you have any family history of gic diseases?"


    “Not that | know of. | was adopted and never knew my biological family," Natalia replied, her voice tinged with uncertainty.


    The doctor adjusted his sses. "I''m sorry to inform you, but based on your test results, you may have Amyotrophic Lateral


    Sclerosis,monly known as ALS."


    Natalia blinked. "ALS? What is that?”


    "Stephen Hawking''s name might ring


    a bell. He had this condition—it''s a


    motor neuron dise eolrusinape


    tersnsethevierde be s controlling our


    muscles inexplicably die. Once we


    lose over fifty percent of these cells,


    symptoms like muscle weakness


    manifest." Please read the original


    content at .


    Natalia felt her world spin. "Are you saying | might have the same disease as Stephen Hawking?" Anxiety colored her voice. "Is it


    treatable?"


    The doctor shook his head with regret. "If it were easily treatable, Hawking wouldn''t have been bound to a wheelchair. There''s no


    cure for ALS; it''s one of the most intractable diseases, alongside cancer and AIDS."


    "So, is it terminal?" Natalia''s voice wavered.


    "Yes. The progression is rapid.


    Typically, it takes only 3 to 5 years


    from symptom ongettq conprete!


    pasalygis( And thecruelest part is


    that your cognitive functions remain


    intact even when you can no longer


    move or breathe independently..."


    Please read the original content at


    .


    The doctor continued speaking, but Natalia could hardlyprehend the words. The fear and shock had consumed her, leaving


    her pale and trembling in the sterile light of the hospital room.


    There''s no greater agony in the world than being fully conscious, yet forced to watch helplessly as your body gradually shuts


    down—unable to move, speak, and breathe. Eventually, even the power to wish for death eludes you.


    Natalia had no clue what she''d done


    to deserve this bizarre, terminal


    illness. The hospital was the fina


    arbiter of fate, ans theskSestresuits


    Hawretiddtidly signed her death


    warrant. She stumbled to her feet,


    straining to show a semnce of a


    smile. "Doctor," she implored with a


    hushed urgency, "please keep this


    between us. My family... they can''t


    know." Please read the original


    content at .