From Sneers to Cheers: Anthea’s Ascent (Anthea )



As soon as the words were spoken, silence fell over the room like a heavy blanket.

Lung cancer? Advanced stage?

Impossible!

How could Tanya suddenly have lung cancer?

Everyone thought they were hearing things.

Gage Jones stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, forcing a laugh, "Come on, Jane, don't joke about something like this. It's not funny at all."

"Exactly!" Hank chimed in.

"I'm not joking," Jane choked out, her eyes welling up with tears, "My little sister... she really has lung cancer..."

Tanya couldn't hold back her tears any longer.

Crash-

Karan Jones was pouring water when he heard the news, and the glass slipped from his hand, shattering on the floor.

"What... Jane, what are you saying?"

Jane covered her mouth, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Tanya Jones? Really?" Karan rushed to Tanya's side.

With tears in her eyes, Tanya nodded.

"Oh, baby! Tell me this isn't true!" Karan enveloped Tanya in a tight embrace, crying out, "It can't be true! My child, so young, how could you be sick? It should have been me..."

She was in her fifties.

She could handle being the one who was ill.

But Tanya was only neen, fresh into college.

Her life was just beginning.

How could she be sick?

At that moment, Karan wished she could trade her life for Tanya's health.

Realizing how she had treated Tanya these past days, Karan was filled with regret, wishing she could slap herself for her negligence.

It was all her fault.

She hadn't been attentive enough to Tanya.

No wonder Tanya had suddenly spent all her savings on gifts for the family.

No wonder...

She had not only neglected Tanya but also made her take up a job.

Gage seemed to age ten years in a moment, his legs trembling as he approached Tanya, trying to hold back his tears, "Tanya, my child, this will kill your mom and me."

After saying that, Gage couldn't control his emotions any longer.

He buried his face in his hands and wept.

A man in his fifties, bending like a child under the weight of his sorrow.

The atmosphere in the living room was suffocating.

Hank pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep his emotions in check. With both parents and his wife in disarray, he knew he had to stand strong; otherwise, their family would crumble.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

"Mom, Dad, Jane, please stop crying.

Tears won't solve anything. The most important thing right now is to get to the hospital. Don't worry about the money; Jane and I have saved up a bit over a million. With how advanced medical science is, Tanya can definitely get better!"

"Yes! Yes!" Karan clung to that hope like a lifeline, "To the hospital! Let's go now. Your dad and I have also saved up a bit, we'll surely be able to cure Tanya!"

Tanya shook her head, "It's no use, Mom, Dad, bro, sis-in-law, please don't waste your money. Instead of enduring all that pain in the hospital, I'd rather spend my last days with you all, making good memories."

"We can beat this! We definitely can!" Jane insisted, "My colleague had breast cancer, and she's been living a healthy life for five years now. As long as you keep a positive attitude and follow the treatment, there's always hope. Money is nothing compared to a life. Please don't give up on yourself!"

Karan and Gage looked at Jane, moved by her words.

It was surprising; Jane, usually so calculating, showed such generosity and understanding in this critical moment.

"It's pointless! I'm telling you, it's

pointless!" Tanya said through tears, "Lung cancer has one of the highest mortality rates. It's incurable! Mom, Dad, bro, sis-in-law, please, don't waste resources on me. Everyone dies eventually, I'm just going a bit sooner. Don't be sad, think of it as me going on a trip."

"No, Tanya, don't talk like that! You're not going to die. I won't let you. Let's go to the hospital! We're going now!"

"I won't go!" Tanya's resolve was firm.

She couldn't go.

With her condition, going to the hospital meant burning through money for nothing.

"Tanya, stop being stubborn! Let's go to the hospital right now!" Hank grabbed the car keys and tried to lead Tanya outside.

Tanya cried out, "Big brother, I won't go! It's incurable. You and my sister-in-law have saved for years just for a down payment on a house. I can't be that selfish!"

"Tanya!"

"I won't go, big brother! Please, don't push me. Let me spend these last three months happily with you all, can you do that?"