Her Return, His Regret by Natie

Chapter 136~ A hug

Miles Kingsley gulped and buried his face in his hands as he struggled to suppress his frustration and guilt.

He reflected on how he had lived his life so far.

How did he end up being distant from his son?

When Ryan's mother was alive, they used to live as one happy family. Ryan was free and always talked to him about anything.

What led to them being this far apart and yet, they were father and son?

After hearing the news of Ryan's illness, Miles regretted a lot of things.

He should have spent more time with Ryan. Even when he become rebellious, he shouldn't have ignored him thinking he was just being a spoilt brat.

Perhaps if he did that, Ryan would have felt safe to tell him about his diagnosis.

"I'm so sorry, Ryan," Miles said, his voice hoarse as tears streamed down his cheeks. "You must have hated me all this while. Instead of being your father, I spent the rest of the time finding faults in you."

Ryan's heart clenched when he saw how his father reacted to the news. He said, "No, I'm the one who's sorry, Dad. I shouldn't have kept it to myself."

"Perhaps you kept it to yourself because you didn't have faith in me as your father," Miles replied and looked up, his eyes red. "Forgive me, son. You're my precious son and I love you... I shouldn't have acted like you were my enemy. And now... I might lose you. No parent should outlive their children. If I could trade this illness with you, I would do it in a heartbeat. Why did it have to be you? It should have been me... I've done nothing in this life as your father-"

"Dad, don't say that. You may have made some mistakes along the way but you're still my father and I love you very much. I wouldn't ask for another father... I wanted to fix things between us earlier but I didn't find the right time. It seems my illness has acted as the bridge to fix our relationship," Ryan remarked, his eyes blurring with tears.

"Son..." Miles sobbed and got to his feet, spreading his arms wide. "Come, give your old man a hug."

eyes widened. "I'm not

nudged Ryan in the side lightly with her elbow. She signalled to him with her eyes, telling

up anyway. He approached

son. I'm sorry for being a horrible father. I hate that it took you to be sick for me to realise this. But I promise to be a better father to you

Ryan uttered, his

was watching couldn't help but cry with them.

stretched his hand toward her, saying, "Come,

forward and joined the hug. They stayed like that for a while, crying and comforting

was proud of his son, Miles

the hug, they settled in their

somber because of the bad news about Ryan, it felt like this was the beginning of them becoming a

throat as he sat back heavily on the one-seat couch. His trembling hands clutched the arms of

strong head of the Kingsley family

began, his voice shaky from crying. I'm sorry you had to go through the weight of your illness alone. But don't worry, we are here for you. We are your family. As a

fight this together and find

his eyes filling

remarked, sniffing back his tears. "We will find a

tears. Seeing his family look so sad made

wiped her tears and said, "That's right. Let's not cry... Ryan, you're going to survive this. We can search for another donor internationally or try experimental treatments. There has to

Money is not an

ife

Kingsleys. We can use our resources as the Kingsley family to search for a new donor... that is if none of our cells match with yours, Ryan, Miles said with a

will explore every

emotion when he saw how worried his family was. If he died that day, at least he would leave knowing he was truly