IN LOVE WITH THE RIVAL BILLIONAIRE CEO

FEAR OF ANOTHER LOSS

Leon suddenly stepped in. “Sir, you don't look alright. Shall I take you to your doctor now?"

“I just took my meds; I'll be fine." He replied, putting his stuff in place. “Call in Mrs. Carlton."

~

DIANE'S POV

I drove into the mansion and handed the keys to the butler.

"Welcome, Miss Diane,” Butler Jeffery said, with a small smile. “How was your day today?"

“Ugh, it was exhausting," I groaned as I grabbed my bag. “Tell me, are the two monsters around?"

I needed to make sure I won't be running into trouble.

“No," he replied. "Mrs. Sinclair left in the morning for the spa, and Miss Carla just stepped out not long ago."

“That’s good news, thanks Jeffrey." I sighed in relief and strutted inside.

A maid was busy making something in the kitchen, so I walked towards her.

“That smells really good. What are you making?"

“Welcome back, Miss Diane," the maid replied. “It's chicken salad and soup. Would you like me to send some to your room?"

“Yes please, I would love that." I replied, walking upstairs.

A few other maids walked about, doing their duties. The Sinclair mansion was a beautiful place. The only reason it felt suffocating was because of the two devils that lived here as well. I had considered moving out. But the thought of grandpa being left alone with them didn't sit too well with me. So I choosed to endure their treatments.

I stepped into my room, took a relaxing shower and waited for my lunch to arrive while watching TV. A few minutes later, a knock sounded on the door. It was the maid holding a tray, with the butler behind her.

"Miss Diane, your new laptop just arrived.” He said, handing me the box containing the laptop.

I collected it with a smile while the maid dropped off the food. When the door closed behind them, I unboxed the laptop and plugged in the drive containing all my files as I ate.

A few hours later, in the cool of the evening. Butler Jeffery came to inform me that grandpa wanted us to have a family dinner.

That meant something was wrong.

Grandpa rarely called for family dinners except when there were very important issues to be discussed. Due to how badly I got along with Fiona and Carla, he avoided such dinners. The last one we had together was a month ago, and it was to settle the matter of what car belonged to whom since we were always arguing about it.

Unsure of what today's topic was, I swiftly got dressed in casual wears and walked downstairs.

The mother and daughter duo were already there, fawning over each other. Their moods turned sour as soon as they saw me. I rolled my eyes in return and sat on the right side of grandpa, which was my regular seat.

“Hey Grandpa, how are you doing today?" I asked, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

He smiled weakly. “I'll be alright, dear."

My heart skipped a beat. Something was definitely wrong with him. Just as I made to ask. He coughed to get everyone's attention.

“Let's eat," he simply said, and without another word, began consuming his food.

This caused me to be restless. I stared at him and noticed he wasn't ready to say anything until we ate. And so reluctantly, I opened my dish and ate.

While everyone was slowly eating their dessert, grandpa coughed again to get our attention, and we all turned to him.

“Diane," he called, looking at me. “You're graduating soon; your birthday is close. That is a very good thing; I can't wait."

I gave a small smile and shifted uncomfortably on my seat, but I didn't say anything. Instead, I let him continue.

"I…I have very bad news,” he said, his head dropping. "I fixed an unscheduled appointment with my doctor today because of how I've been feeling, and the result I got wasn't really great.”

We were all suddenly on edge. I stared intently, my heart beat fast and goosebumps rose on my skin. I didn't know what to expect, I just hope he wasn't dying soon. What would I do if he was? I inhaled sharply and held my breath, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

"What is it? Is everything ok?” Fiona asked in concern.

"No, everything is not ok,” he replied, gently squeezing his nose bridge. "The results gotten from my scans and blood tests today show that I have amyloidosis."

“Well, what is that? Is it like cancer?” Carla asked.

"It's not cancer but something as dangerous as that," he replied. “It's a rare terminal disease caused by the buildup of misfolded proteins in tissues and organs. So, I was told I had a life expectancy of six months.”

I froze. He was dying?

Fiona shrieked aloud, collapsing on to her chair while Carla froze, too shocked to respond.

I drew close and grabbed his hand, tears already streaming down my eyes. "Can't it be cured?”

He turned to me, wiping my tears with his thumb. “It can't, at least no hospital or research facility that I know can."

“But something has to be done, you can't leave me, Grandpa. I won't let that happen." I said, sobbing.

He pulled me into a hug, holding back tears from his eyes.

Fiona rushed in suddenly and shoved me aside, causing me to almost fall. “Honey, we have to do something about this. There's got to be some hospital or something. We can't just wait for six months to come so you'll die!"

"You should apologize to Diane for shoving her like that," he said.

"f**k Diane!” She screamed. "I'm talking about your life here, and you still give a s**t about some stupid girl in the background!”

"She's not stupid!” Grandpa yelled, standing to his feet. "She's my granddaughter. I've seen how badly you and your daughter treat her, and I hate it. You better begin to treat her with respect or you'll regret your choices later.”

He suddenly felt lightheaded and slumped back on his seat. I attempted to support him but Fiona stood in my way.

"Take a look at what you're doing to yourself,” she cried, massaging his head. "You have to forget her for now; let's focus on you.”

She turned around and gave me a look of disdain before calling out aloud. “Jeffrey!”

Butler Jeffrey walked up to her with long strides.

“Help take him to his room; he needs to rest." She said.

Butler Jeffery wrapped his arms around Grandpa and helped him up to his room with Fiona trailing behind.

I was still frozen on my chair. My mind roamed endlessly in fear at the thought of grandpa dying. This was terrifying. If he died, there was no one else in my life then.

“You should stop crying," Carla said suddenly, standing up. “It'll only make you uglier."

I was not in the mood to trade words with her, so I simply stood up and quietly walked to my room.