Chapter 17 Filthy Diseases Frank left the hospital ward when he saw The coming in . Thea had just knocked over a bowl of stew and spilled some of it on her clothes and arm . Skylar reached out for her hand to check on it . " Why aren't you resting in your own ward ? Did you burn yourself ? " Thea shook her head , her eyes growing red . " I'm fine . I just had Lucy make some stew for Ms. Shelton since she got injured . " Skylar wiped the spilled stew off Thea's arm and helped her sit down . " You're also recovering , so you should focus on taking care of yourself . You didn't have to do this . " Thea's eyes turned redder . She looked at him and whispered , " Skylar , you still don't believe me , right ? You think that I lied to you and framed Ms. Shelton . So now , you want to look for Wendy to testify about me , right ? " Skylar did not expect Thea to overhear his conversation with Frank. He felt a little guilty . " Please don't misunderstand , Thea Of course , I believe you . I'm just worried that you're being used . I can't be certain if there's someone else trying to hurt you , or rather , someone else other than Elaine " After everything that you've gone through , I need to investigate thoroughly so that I can give you the justice you deserve . " Thea started sobbing softly . " I did my best to endure all those years abroad . When I finally made it back home again , my biggest fear was that you wouldn't believe me . I'm already dirty . If you don't believe me or if you don't want me anymore , what's the point of being alive ? " She then turned to look at the fruit knite on the bedside table . Skylar immediately stepped forward and positioned himself between her and the knife . He replied in a soft tone , " Don't say that , Thea . You suttered all because of me . I would never not believe in you . Don't worry I'll always be on your side no matter who tries to harm or even falsely accuse you . " Thea leaned into him as tears streamed down her face . " I thought that you'd abandon me as well . Skylar gently comforted her . " I'll never do that . Don't overthink it , okay ? Right now , the most important thing is for you to recover Before he could finish , however , Elaine started coughing on the bed and finally woke up . She was unconscious for a very long time , and the first thing she saw after waking up was Skylar and Thea in an emotional embrace right by her bed . The only words that popped into her mind were , " What bad luck ! " She then closed her eyes as if she had not seen a thing Elaine had just narrowly escaped death . She didn't have the strength to deal with any of them , nor did she want to . Skylar subconsciously tried to pull away from Thee . But upon realizing that the woman he loved was Thea , he softened his tone and said , " Go back to your ward and rest , alright ? You shouldn't be staying up late given your current condition . I'll come to you soon . Thea gave a well - behaved nod and left the ward . Once outside , she clenched her fists tightly . A cold and vicious expression appeared on her face . Thes realized that Skylar had begun to have doubts about her . This was not good news at all . If Wendy , who was extremely loyal to Madeline , was found , the truth abour Thea abandoning Skylar and going abroad , as well as her having an affair with Elliott , might not stay hidden for long Thea realized that she needed to deal the fatal blow to Elaine soon . She couldn't afford to let Skylar soften up toward Elaine . She needed to make Skylar believe that Elaine was a truly wicked and shameless woman capable of doing the worst things imaginable . Back in Elaine's hospital ward , Skylar had sat back down by her bed . Elaine continued to lay on the bed with her eyes closed , refusing to even glance at him It had been a very long time since Skylar had taken a good look at Elaine from up close . Only now did he realize just how much worse she looked compared to before . He suddenly remembered the bloodstained tissues he saw in the trashcan back in the bedroom . Back then , he had just assumed that it was from some minor injury . But now , he realized that it was most likely blood that Elaine had coughed up . Elaine's coughing had been growing worse and worse as of recently . Sometimes , Skylar could hear her coughing late into the night whenever he passed by her room after leaving his study . He wondered just what was wrong with her . Skylar's expression darkened as he spoke up in a low voice . " What's going on with you , Elaine ? Why did Dr. Middleton say that you need a heart transplant ? You'd better explain yourself clearly . I don't want to share a bed with someone who has filthy diseases on them ." Elaine opened her eyes and looked at him . She was genuinely amused by what he said . She realized that it only made sense that someone as heartless as hiru didn't actually care about her . She figured that what Skylar really cared about was whether someone he had touched was still pure or not . Elaine didn't have the strength to argue with him and just replied coldly , " It's my hereditary heart disease . I've had it since I was young . You should know that , don't you ? " Skylar was visibly displeased . " Dr. Middleton said that your condition is nothing like the usual heart disease . The usual heart disease doesn't require a Exart transplant like you do " Elaine cluclded and replied , " Well , what do you think it could be ? Cancer ? Tumor ? Or could it be some terminal illness of sorts ? Sorry to disappoint you , but I don't have any of those . As for a heart transplant , if my heart disease can be resolved by getting my heart swapped out for a suitable one , isn't that She casually listed off all the worst possibilities that he was thinking of ln his mind . She spoke in such a nonchalant and indifferent tone that it actually Chapter 17thy Disaster eased his suspicions . Skylar thought about it for a moment and agreed with Elaine . He recalled how back when they had just gotten married , Elaine would always make a big fuss over just a mere paper cut . She would keep shoving her wound in his face. He figured that if she really had some serious illness of sorts , she would be crying to him for sympathy right away . He believed that there was no way she would decide to hide it from him . But he still felt uneasy upon thinking about how Elaine had been coughing up blood recently . He replied coldly , " You'd better not lie to me , Elaine . You still owe Thea a lot , remember ? You need to stay alive so that you can repay her for all you've done . Your blood type is a match with Thea's as well , so your blood and your orgens should also be preserved for her just in case . Consider it your atonement to Thea " Skylar grew even more irritated when he saw the indifferent expression on Elaine's face . He continued , " I'm warning you now . People like you don't get to just die and be done with it . Death would be too easy of a way out for you . You need to pay Thea back for everything she has suffered " Elaine laughed and replied , " Don't worry , I'll stay alive just in case your precious little Thea ever needs anything . I'll make sure that she lives a long and healthy life . " months . She figured that Skylar would probab would probably harvest all of her organs and then freeze them to His words reminded her of her eventual death in six m preserve them for his beloved Thea . With that in mind , Flaine decided that she had to find a way to leave Skylar before she died . Only then could she , at the very least , be given a peaceful rest after death Skylar could feel the anger rising within his body after listening to her sarcastic reply . But he did not want to argue further with Elaine , given how lifeless and exhausted she looked . He decided to just stand up and leave the ward for a smoke at the end of the hallway . He had smoked half a pack of cigarettes when he saw the sky outside starting to turn brighter . But the scenery only caused his frustration to deeper instead of calming him down . Skylar recalled promising Thea that he would go keep her company . He put out his cigarette and stood by the window a little longer to air out the smell before finally heading to her ward . As he approached Thea's hospital ward , a nurse rushed out from within and shouted , " Is anyone here a friend or family of the patient in ward number three ? Something has happened ! We need your help ! " Skylar froze up as he realized that ward number three was Thea's . His face went pale as he rushed inside the ward , only to find Thea lying on the ground with her abdomen stabbed and her face ashen Standing beside Thea was Elaine's younger brother , Eric , along with a bloodstained knife lying at his feet . Time Takes The Bis