"Again, I'm truly sorry. Your son is estimated to have only four months left from now."
The faces of a middle-aged man, his wife, and a seventeen-year-old named Nolan sitting between them instantly went slack with shock. His mother immediately clutched her son and began to sob uncontrollably, while his father shot up, slammed his fist on the table, and loudly protested the doctor who'd just delivered the diagnosis.
Nolan stayed silent, head bowed; he couldn't say a word. His hope for life had vanished a long time ago, and he wasn't thinking at all about his future, which looked pitch black. There was nothing to be done. Nolan resigned himself to the verdict that he had only four months left; not a single tear escaped his eyes.
The doctor repeatedly apologized to the father, who was still unloading his heart's entire contents. Hearing the ruckus, Nolan's hand reached up and grabbed his dad's shirt. The father, whose face was flushed with raw emotion and whose eyes were glistening, turned to see his only son looking back at him with a bitter, sad smile.
The father immediately hugged Nolan, who was still cradled by his mother. A wave of profound emotion filled the cardiac specialist's office; the doctor could only lower his head, sensing the atmosphere in the room. After that, the father and mother took their son home.
Nolan went straight upstairs into his room, leaving his parents, who were wrapped around each other, crying. After closing and locking the door, Nolan slid down, leaning against it. He sat there curled up, hugging his knees. His face was buried in his lap.
"Why not just die right now? I'm already empty, I have no hope, I don't want to live anymore," were the words that flashed through his mind. Both hands grabbed and squeezed his hair.
He wanted so badly to scream, wanted to curse the world for being so unfair, and wished he'd never been born at all. Though he wanted to weep, he couldn't cry. Nolan stood up, stumbling toward his desk, and accidentally knocked into his bookcase.
"Clatter." A book fell behind him. Nolan turned to look at the fallen book, wheeled around, and picked it up. He carried it to his study table and opened it. It turned out to be a book he'd owned when he was hospitalized at the age of ten.
Inside were his written wishes, things he planned to do when he recovered. There were about 100 things he wanted to do in his life, from simple stuff like buying a sketchbook to the grand ambition of becoming an astronaut.
"This is all pointless, huh, hahaha. In four months, I'll be gone from this world," he muttered to himself.
Suddenly, "CRAAASH!" Nolan snapped his head up, his eyes fixed on the door. He walked slowly toward it. "Click." He opened it a crack, and instantly, arguing and shouting could be heard downstairs.
"No way... you are not going to work! What about Nolan if you work, huh?" his father yelled.
"But we're dead broke! Our savings are gone! We can't borrow from anyone else, especially the bank! We're three months behind on our mortgage! If we don't pay this month, the bank will foreclose the house next month! What the hell is wrong with you?" his mother shouted back.
"I'll find a way, damn it! The point is, I don't agree with you working, especially when the job offer is from your ex-boyfriend from high school!" the father screamed.
"W-what? So, this is about that? You don't trust me? We've been married for almost 20 years, and you're still doubting me? Just so you know, my ex-boyfriend is married! He's just trying to help us because he knows we're struggling!" his mother shrieked.
"This isn't about trust! You've been talking to your ex in secret late at night! This is about respect! You were talking to him even with me right next to you because you thought I was asleep! When I asked you, you lied and said it was your sister calling! Why couldn't you just be honest that you were calling him, huh?" the father yelled.
"Respect? We're having financial problems! Our son is sick! Are you seriously going to prioritize your damn ego? Think about our son! My ex's wife was the one who asked him to offer me a job at his office because she met me and saw how a mess I was! We talked, and then they called me! Was that wrong, huh? Now I'm telling you honestly, and this is your reaction? What did you expect if I had told you the truth back then?" his mother cried, "Smash!" as she hurled a glass on the table toward her husband, but it missed.
The shouting match raged on. Nolan slowly closed the door and walked back to his desk. He sat in his chair and rested his head on the table, his eyes glancing at the book he'd found. His hand slowly stroked the cover. "Ding." Suddenly, Nolan's smartphone chimed. With a weak hand, he picked it up and opened it. He looked at the screen—an email notification from an unfamiliar address.
He sat up straight, staring at his phone. Curiosity forced him to open the email. The message was only three lines of text and a PDF attachment.
"Dear Nolan Edwards, with this email, we would like to invite you to the villa of billionaire Arthur J. Waldorf to participate in a heir audition because you have been randomly selected from our polling to receive Mr. Arthur's inheritance after his death."
Nolan immediately put his smartphone down without opening the PDF. He managed a slight, sad smile.
"I'm already at rock bottom and I will die in four months. Don't fall for this scam. This email looks exactly like one of those 'prince from a wealthy country wants to invest' emails," Nolan mumbled.
But a minute later, "Ding." Another notification popped up on Nolan's smartphone. He looked at it again, and it was another email from the exact same address. He knew it was probably another scam, but something made him open it, and as he began to read, his eyes widened.
"Are you willing to participate in the audition? If so, you may have the opportunity to receive a heart donor for a heart transplant so you don't have to die in four months, and you may also discover your family's secret. Please contact the number below if you are interested. We await your response."
"Huh... how the hell does he know I need a heart transplant? And what the hell does he mean by my family's secret?" Nolan wondered to himself, utterly baffled.
Nolan put his smartphone back on the desk and began to think. His eyes kept darting back to the phone, even though he tried to look away. Then, a scenario, fueled by curiosity, popped into his head.
"If I really think about it, what do I have to lose? I'm already giving up on this life. Even if it's a scam and the worst thing that happens is I get murdered, I'm going to die in four months anyway. The result is the same. But if it's true and I get the inheritance, I can help my family financially, even if I die. And if I get a new heart and keep living, well, that's just a bonus." Nolan reasoned in his mind.
After thinking it over hard, Nolan finally made his decision. He picked up his smartphone and reopened the email. But as his finger hovered over the phone number, he paused, staring at the screen. Finally, "Click," he pressed it and put the smartphone to his ear. "Click."
"Thank you for contacting us, Mr. Nolan Edwards. Have you made your decision? Press one for yes, and press zero for no."
Nolan was a little shocked that a bot operator answered his call, and it seemed customized just for him. It felt impossible that this was a total scam, though he felt a knot of fear tightening in his stomach. Finally, after careful consideration, he pressed the number one.
"Very well. Please come to the location listed in the invitation on the date provided there. Thank you for participating."
Nolan opened the previous email and the PDF file that came with it. The PDF was a formal, seemingly luxurious invitation with his name printed right on top. It also contained the address and the time he was supposed to be there.
"Should I talk to Mom and Dad about this first? I probably should," Nolan mused.
He stood up again and walked to the door. He opened it, and the sound of the fight, even more intense than before, flooded the hall. Nolan slowly closed the door again and leaned back against it.
"Okay, I'll just go by myself. Mom and Dad are fighting because of me, so if I leave, maybe they can finally make up," Nolan thought privately.
Nolan ultimately decided to go alone. He got straight onto his bed and lay down, staring at the invitation, completely unaware that it was genuinely about to change his life forever.