60 A Beautiful Ending

Mrs. Inggrid, Mr. Kurniawan, and Johann were shocked to death when, finally, Andrea told them about Ludwina's illness.

At his wife's request, he delayed informing them for several months. Ludwina didn't want her family to worry. Moreover, doctors said her treatment seemed to be on a good track.

"The cancer cells have experienced a significant reduction. We can schedule the surgery," said Doctor Kim after the eighth chemotherapy.

Ludwina's uterus would be removed to dispose of any remaining cancer cells. This made Ludwina very sad. Even though she didn't want to have children at first, the potential to lose her uterus opened her heart – she now realized how precious it was to have a choice, whether she wanted to get pregnant and give birth or not. Now, she didn't have the luxury anymore.

She felt devastated because she thought that she would no longer be a complete woman.

"Ssshh...don't say that. I already have Ronan, and in this lifetime, I don't want to have children, if not from you. So we don't need that womb..." said Andrea to coax her. "As long as you recover, I promise I will do anything for you."

"Uhmm...well, let's have the surgery. You can tell my parents and brother, " Ludwina finally spoke.

"Thank you, Honey. Thank you..." Andrea kissed Ludwina, then called Ludwina's family in Jakarta.

Briefly, he explained what had happened and begged his in-laws not to get hysterical.

Mrs. Inggrid immediately fainted, and Pak Kurniawan was rendered speechless. Johann, a specialist doctor, also couldn't stay strong. He immediately cried on the phone and screamed for Ludwina.

The three of them immediately booked the earliest ticket to New York to visit Ludwina.

Thirty hours later, they were in the hospital surrounding Ludwina, who had been hospitalized for her surgery. All three of them had swollen eyes. Clearly, they had been crying through their flight and were now trying to look strong in front of Ludwina.

They did not want her to be sad, seeing how her family was heartbroken by her illness.

Before the surgery, the five of them sat together and chatted, trying to comfort each other. The atmosphere was quite tense because they didn't know whether, after the operation, Ludwina would recover or not.

The doctor said the chances were slim, but they still hoped and asked the family to pray during the operation.

The surgery lasted for eight hours, which felt like forever to Andrea. He was very nervous and kept looking at his watch, counting how many hours had passed since Ludwina was pushed into the operating theater.

When finally the team of doctors came out, he hurriedly approached Doctor Kim and asked about the results.

"The operation is successful, and the patient's condition is stable. We have to wait for the critical period for the next 24 hours," Doctor Kim replied with a reassuring smile.

"We'll wait while praying."

As soon as Ludwina was transferred to the private ward, Andrea immediately came in and waited for her.

He wanted to be the first person Ludwina saw when she woke up from her sleep. Ludwina's parents and brother were understanding. So, they relented and let Andrea stayed with Ludwina.

Due to her weak condition, the doctor did not allow many people to bother her and only let one person stay in the ward.

When Ludwina opened her eyes, she found a pair of brown eyes looking down at her and a smile from the most handsome face in the world.

Andrea looked relieved.

"Thank you, Honey.... because you have fought fiercely for us... I love you." Andrea whispered in Ludwina's ear. "The doctor said the operation was a success. We just have to wait for you to recover and confirm remission with some tests."

"Re ... really? You're not lying?" Ludwina asked weakly.

She couldn't believe her own hearing. When she started chemotherapy a few months ago, she had absolutely no hope of recovery. She just wanted to ease Andrea's heart. She didn't think the treatment her doctor recommended was working and her cancer could be reduced into small enough to be operated.

And today it turned out that the operation was successful too.

'It must be Andrea's good karma,' Ludwina thought.

Her husband was very kind and had sacrificed a lot. God would be evil if someone as kind as Andrea had to suffer any further.

"I never lied to you..." said Andrea firmly. "I'm not going to work and focus on taking care of you until you get one hundred percent better."

Ludwina shed tears of emotion.

During the last few months, Andrea had been very loyal and meticulously caring for her. He really kept his promise when they got married– to be together in good times and bad times, in health and sickness, 'till death do them part.

It was Ludwina who actually broke her promise by hiding her illness and not sharing her life burden with Andrea. When she remembered her actions, Ludwina felt very guilty.

"Thank you, Andrea ... I'm so lucky to have you," she whispered.

"Don't you ever lie to me again, Honey..." Andrea spoke in a pleading voice. "Please, never hide anything again. Let me make an informed decision for everything that happens, even if it's really bad."

"I promise..." said Ludwina quietly, "I'm sorry."

Andrea responded to Ludwina's apology with a kiss. He then got into bed and lay down beside Ludwina, hugging her.

"Till death do us part ..." he whispered.

***

SIX MONTHS LATER

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"I miss writing ..." Ludwina, who was lying down on Andrea's lap, suddenly spoke. They were relaxing on the sofa while listening to music. Andrea was reading a book in his hand.

"What do you want to write?" Andrea asked patiently.

"A Novel. I'm filled with ideas and don't want to forget all of them. I need to write them down, " Ludwina replied.

"Uhm... okay." Andrea put down his book and took his laptop from the table beside him. "You talk, let me type it for you."

Ludwina looked up at Andrea in disbelief, "Geez ... You're not a mere typist. What will people say if they find out that the best digital security expert in the Asia Pacific retires to become my secretary?"

Andrea laughed lightly. "Come on, hurry up, I want to type your novel. I'm ready."

After being urged by Andrea several times, Ludwina finally relented and dictated the story in her head. Andrea then typed the words patiently.

Since she was sick, Ludwina was used to being overly spoiled by Andrea. She knew that her husband loved her very much, but she never thought that a person was capable of such love.

She remembered her own way of showing her love for Andrea. She was even willing to die alone and reunited Andrea with Adeline and Ronan so that Andrea would not suffer too much when she died.

She loved Andrea more than herself.

Now, she realized that it was just the same with her husband. Andrea loved Ludwina more than himself and would do anything to make her happy. He quit his job and devoted his life to take care of Ludwina, and slowly, her health improved.

Doctors finally declared Ludwina a remission from cancer, but until now, Andrea still treated her like a sick person, not even allowing her to type.

After Andrea quit working, he and Ludwina decided to move to Bali. He sometimes helped Joe remotely on some projects, but in his daily life, he focused all his attention on Ludwina.

They reached an agreement with Adeline so that Ronan could spend every three months of his summer vacation in Bali with them. When Ronan came, Ludwina tried to be a good mother to her husband's son, and luckily she didn't have to try hard because Ronan was a very nice and wonderful child.

Andrea was right when he said that if Ludwina loved him, she would love Ronan too because that child really was a mini version of Andrea.

Not only they looked similar, but both of them also had similar traits and preferences so that in a short time, Ludwina had fallen in love with Ronan. She never thought that in her life, she would enjoy being someone's mother. She was endlessly grateful given a second chance at life, and for having the best husband in the world.

***

That afternoon, Ronan was sitting on the floor, drawing at the table, and Andrea was typing Ludwina's novel. The girl was lying on his lap, dictating her story, when Andrea's cell phone rang.

He picked up his cell phone and listened to the person on the other end. His expression suddenly changed.

"Oh....really? Okay.. we'll come," he said.

"Who is that?" Ludwina asked in confusion. She looked up and saw Andrea was teary-eyed. "Why– how come you look like that? What's wrong, Andrea?!"

Ludwina panicked, seeing Andrea's shocked face. She thought something really bad must have happened. Andrea shook his head.

"It's not bad news...." Andrea replied in a choked voice.

"Just now, Mom called. She said Johann had proposed to Irma and she accepted. They are getting married in November, and they are willing to let mom celebrate their wedding in a lavish party," He chuckled as he wiped tears from his eyes. "Mom was so touched because her dream to hold a festive wedding party finally came true... I'm so moved. I always felt guilty because we took that chance from her with our wedding..."

Ludwina immediately got up and hugged Andrea with wet eyes. She was also thrilled to hear it. Finally, her brother, Johann got back together with the love of his life, and they were getting married.

Her mother would also get the dream wedding she always wanted to throws. Good things began to happen in their life.

"Oh, my God... I'm so happy," Ludwina whispered.

After suffering repeatedly, Ludwina realized that humans didn't know how much time they have and how valuable was the family they have.

Ludwina was happy that Johann and Irma were reunited, and their parents didn't have to lose another child. From now on, she would cherish every second of their life together because her family was her most precious treasure.

Andrea kissed Ludwina and signaled for his wife to lie back down as he would continue typing. "Let's finish chapter five first, so later we can take Ronan to the beach."

"Thank you, Andrea. I love you," Ludwina whispered as she smiled broadly.

"I love you too, Honey."

________ THE END _______

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From the author:

Thank you sooooo much for reading this novel. I hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know your thoughts about this book. If you want to read my other books (I have plenty of them), go check my profile. You can read "The Alchemists". It's one of my favorite novels to write. I had fun writing this book and that story at the same time.

You can also read "Finding Stardust", "The Prince Who Cannot Fall In Love" and "The Cursed Prince".

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope you have a great time with your family and loved ones.

xx