Chantal sneered, "Ondine, if you have any shame, you'll leave Ellis on your own. I've seen girls like you a million times, trying to latch onto some rich kid and marry into wealth. Keep dreaming! It's never going to happen!”"Get out!" Ondine shoved Chantal toward the door, her eyes filled with disgust and rage."I found this place, which means I have connections at this hospital. I hear your mother has cancer?" Chantal's lips curved into a cruel, gloating smile. “See? That's karma for you. You became the other woman, and now your mother is paying the price. You'd better watch out for her..."Smack!Ondine couldn't take it anymore. She swung her hand and slapped Chantal hard across the face."Get out!" she roared, her voice raw with a fury that seemed to draw on all her strength.Chantal stumbled out of the room, her face contorted with rage. "How dare you hit me! Who do you think you are?"A nurse, hearing the commotion, rushed over. "What's going on? This is a hospital. Please keep your voices down."Chantal lunged at Ondine in the hallway, and several nurses scrambled to pull them apart.Ondine's face was a mask of fury. She bit out, "She came here looking for trouble. Please get her out of here."Seeing the fight escalating, two nurses grabbed Chantal and started escorting her away as she hurled a stream of curses over her shoulder.Another nurse turned to Ondine, her tone disapproving. "What was all that about? You need to be quiet in a hospital.""Does this hospital just hand out patient information to anyone who asks?" Ondine shot back. "She told me herself she has connections here. Lye never met her before in my life, yet she knew exactly which room my mother was in and what her diagnosis is. Is that how you run things here?" The nurse frowned, her voice turning sharp. "Why are you yelling at me? I didn't leak anything. If you have a problem, take it up with the hospital director." She turned and walked away, muttering a complaint under her breath. ་Ondine took several deep breaths to compose herself before turning back into theroom."Ondine, who was that? What did she mean by all that?" Yvaine asked, her face pale and her eyes brimming with tears.Seeing her mother's frail, ashen appearance, Ondine's heart ached. She rushedto the bedside, sat down, and pulled Yvaine into her arms. Content originally comes from Find~Novel.net"Mom, she was lying," she choked out. "I would never do something so shameless. Don't listen to her."The illness had wasted her mother away, leaving her gaunt and bony. Holding her, Ondine could feel the sharp edges of her bones, a mix of sorrow and pain twisting in her heart like a hand wringing it out.Tears streamed down Yvaine's pale, thin face. "Ondine," she sobbed, "I know you're not that kind of person. I know the daughter I raised. My heart just breaks for you."Yvaine's voice cracked as she cried. "My poor Ondine, you've been suffering out there, haven't you?"noveldramaAt those words, the dam Ondine had built around her emotions shattered. Tears streamed down her face, and she buried her head in her mother's embrace, crying like a small child."It's okay, Ondine. You've been through so much," Yvaine whispered, gently patting her back over and over, just as she had when Ondine was little.Ondine had always been tough, with a gentle exterior hiding a resilient core. She was strong enough to endure Ettis's deceit and the diner owner's harassment without saying a word to her mother, shouldering it all alone. But now, she felt just like a bullied child again. She could hold it all in when no one was there to there tocomfort her, but the moment her mother offered a kind word, the floodgates opened, and the more she was soothed, the harder she cried.