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 nineteen, 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.
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