Chapter 4 Deathbed

Mariah Montenegro knew her time would come. She had fought this battle for over three years, and she couldn't cling to life any longer. As she lay on her dying bed, her eyes shaking as her life flashed before her, she realized that she had achieved everything she had wanted. She had gotten wealth and also a good husband.

A younger one, one that was better than her first. One that knew how to treat a woman right. She could say that she was very lucky to have found someone like him.

"Where is he?" She asked weakly.

Surrounding her deathbed were her closest relatives. The ones that had been following her after the news of her ovarian cancer had come to their ears. She knew this, and knew that they were after one thing only; her money. And she knew how to deal with them perfectly.

"He is on his way, Mariah. Please be patient," her lawyer, Mr. Andrew Simons said.

Mariah sighed and stared at the ceiling.

"Did you come with the documents that I had requested?" She asked.

Andrew nodded and opened the briefcase which he held so close to his chest. She had done the most despicable thing. Something he wasn't sure she was aware of. While Andrew had been preparing her documents, she had made the most bizarre request. She had asked him to put her young husband, Kaiden Toliver as her next of kin.

It didn't make any sense because it didn't include her son, Caleb Montenegro who was on his way home as soon as he got the call that his mother was dying. He had been out of the country for a year and didn't know his mother's condition had grown critical until now.

"Madam," a man dressed in a suit called standing by the door. He had black hair and a pair of blue eyes.

Mariah lifted her head gently and gazed at him. She smiled softly as she realized who it was.

"Isaac? What about Kaiden? I need to see Kaiden," she said.

"I just spoke to him. He will be here shortly."

She nodded and laid back on the bed.

"What about Caleb?" Andrew asked.

Mariah turned to him slowly. Her bed was already crowded with murmurs at the mention of her son.

"My son. Caleb wasn't there for me when I needed him most. Why would I need him now?"

Andrew opened his mouth to speak but couldn't say anything. He wasn't going to annoy her on her last day. But he felt she was making a terrible decision. Handing over everything to her husband whom she had just met three years ago just a few weeks before her ovarian cancer results came out was suspicious.

"Mariah! Mariah my darling!" A male voice called as he rushed into the room.

It was Kaiden. He was dressed in a black suit which complimented his jet-black hair and smoking green eyes. Mariah smiled as she realized he had arrived.

Another murmur erupted from the group of relatives that surrounded her. Kaiden rushed towards her bedside and sat on it gripping her cold arm. He could see her wrinkled face which was stained with tears staring at him.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't spend much more time with you," she said.

Kaiden caressed her white hair slowly before placing a kiss on her forehead.

"You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault," he said.

Mariah held his hand and stared into his eyes.

"Come closer. I want to tell you something."

Kaiden moved closer and Andrew watched as Mariah whispered something into his ear. He watched with contempt. When Kaiden sat back in his seat, he turned to Andrew and requested the documents.

Andrew glared at him as he clutched the documents to his chest. He didn't like the fact that Mariah was being scammed on her deathbed. Why would somebody be so wicked to scam a dying woman? If there was anything he was sure of after experiencing three years with Kaiden, it was that he was a cold-hearted bastard. And he had just displayed that for all to see.

Kaiden held out his hand and cranked an eyebrow at him.

"The documents?" He requested again.

Andrew sighed and handed over the documents to him. He didn't have any other choice.

Kaiden opened the documents to the page where the dotted line for her signature was requested. He gave her the pen and Mariah grabbed it. Mariah could feel the life going out of her. Oblivion slowly approached her and she couldn't escape it for long.

"Kaiden. Don't forget what I told you."

Kaiden nodded.

"I won't."

With that, Mariah signed the documents and let go of the pen.

"I love you," she said weakly and laid back on the bed breathing her last.

Kaiden kissed her on the forehead before picking up the documents. One of the female relatives rushed towards Mariah's corpse and grabbed her, shaking it.

"Mariah! Don't die on us yet! What about us? What are we going to have?" The woman asked.

"Mariah!"

Kaiden wiped his lips and walked briskly out of the room. He had done everything he could do. He had played his cards right, and now he had acquired the wealth he needed to get everything he wanted.

Seven years. It had taken him seven years to get to the standard that he was now. And with this substantial wealth in his grasp, he had only one thing in his mind.

As he left the room, he found Isaac Burton, his butler and his trusted friend who had been with him all the years. He already had all his suitcases packed and was waiting for him by the door.

"Congratulations, sir," he said.

Kaiden nodded at that.

"Now where to?"

Kaiden turned to him and smiled.

"Home."