8 Returning to the Country

Anitastill remembered that when she was conflicted about whether to continue her studies, her ex-boyfriend, Eric, was very unwilling for her to do so. At that time, her ex-boyfriend and her parents also hoped that she would find a job early to earn money. It was because the mentor had communicated with them many times that Anita was able to continue pursuing a computer science doctorate. So, every time Anita thought of this, she felt extremely grateful to her mentor.

After more than ten hours of flying, she finally landed in America. When she returned to the familiar place, Anita took a deep breath. As expected, everything was still the same as before.

After taking her luggage out of the airport, she saw Ethan waiting at the door.

Anita was extremely surprised. She hurriedly picked up her luggage and ran to Ethan. "Hey, are you here to pick me up? How did you know I would be back today?"

"You didn't tell me about the flight, but I guessed that you would be back soon, so I came here today to see if I could find you," Ethan said with a smile as he looked at Anita.

Looking at Anita's glowing face, he guessed that she had been in a good mood these past few days overseas. Ethan's mood instantly improved.

"Good friend, you're so loyal!" Anita reached out her hand and hugged Ethan.

Ethan looked at the hand on his shoulder and blushed. He knew that Anita was only trying to express her affection for him, but Ethan could not stop letting his imagination run wild.

In fact, over the years, Anita had always treated Ethan as her closest friend.

The two of them knew each other because Ethan was often bullied in school. One time, Anita happened to see it and rushed up to protect him.

At that time, Anita was like a little sun that lit up Ethan's heart. But Ethan also knew that he was not Anita's type, so he had never revealed his feelings and had only been trying hard to act as Anita's loyal friend.

Anita was so oblivious she didn't realize that Ethan blushed.

The two of them packed their luggage and Ethan drove Anita home. Anita was jet-lagged, so Ethan thoughtfully sent Anita home and said goodbye.

After a good night's rest, Anita finally returned to the campus.

The workload that had been piled up for more than a week was extremely heavy. Her mentor did not say anything and only patted Anita's shoulder. "Work hard. Your workload is quite heavy."

Anita knew that she couldn't escape this, so she obediently did her work. She had to prepare her PhD thesis and complete various tasks. During that time, she was extremely busy, and she had no time to think about her breakup. She was either in the laboratory or at home.

The first week after she returned to the country, an experiment was scheduled. Anita woke up early in the morning and was almost at the laboratory when suddenly, she received a call. It was not from her parents, but from her neighbor.

He told Anita that her father was diagnosed with stage 2 liver cancer, but the two of them didn't want Anita to worry and were afraid of increasing the burden on her, so they hadn't been hospitalized. It was just that the neighbors couldn't bear to see her father's condition deteriorate anymore, so they called.

After she heard this news, Anita's heart almost stopped beating. "How could… how could this be?" Anita murmured helplessly.

"I have to call Mom." She picked up her phone frantically and was about to call her mother, but the more anxious she was, the more flustered she became. Why couldn't she find the phone? For a moment, Anita felt like crying.

When she finally found the phone, Anita frantically dialed it. The phone started to beep. "Hey, Anita, what's wrong?" Mom called Anita's name affectionately on the other end.

When Anita heard her mother's voice, she remained silent.

"Anita, what is it? Are you angry because Daddy and I didn't call you? Let me tell you, we've been a little busy lately," Her mom, afraid that Anita would be angry, said a little sheepishly on the other end of the line.

At this moment, Anita finally couldn't hold it in anymore. Her tears started to fall. "Mom. You're hiding something from me, right? Is Dad sick?"

"Anita, no… no. Your father is fine. What's wrong? Don't talk nonsense!" Mom said weakly.

"The neighbor called me today and said that Dad has been diagnosed with stage 2 liver cancer. Mom, tell me, is it true?" Anita said with a sob.

"Well… well…" Mom didn't know what to tell Anita.

"Anita, don't cry. He's fine. He's already seeing a doctor." Her mother couldn't hide it anymore. She could only try to reduce Anita's worries.

"Mom, I'll go home today." Anita was afraid that her cries would make her mother even more worried, but Anita was too sad to hold it in, so she hung up.

Anita didn't dare to cry out loud until she hung up. How come she didn't even know that her dad was sick and even went overseas on a vacation because of her breakup? The more Anita thought about it, the sadder she became.