My Parents Force Me to Donate Blood and Kidney

1

"Wake up, you little brat! It's time for surgery!"

I was jolted awake by a stinging slap and a barrage of curses.

By the time I fully came to, I found myself lying on the cold operating table.

"Mom, please... I don't want to do this," I pleaded, my voice trembling.

I desperately reached for my phone, hoping to call for help.

"Quit your whining! Didn't you agree to this last month? If I'm not scared, what's there for you to be afraid of?"

My stepmom, Louise Clarke, scowled in disgust. She pocketed her phone like it was radioactive, moving quickly as lightning.

Thanks to her hospital connections, Louise managed to sneak into the operating room with us.

But her eyes kept darting past me, fixated solely on my brother, Oliver Clarke.

Then, as if struck by a pang of guilt, her expression softened.

"How about this? If you just quietly donate your kidney, once your brother recovers, I'll give you ten million dollars. I'll make it up to you in the future. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

I said nothing but tightly wrung my sleeves.

I'd said I'd consider it, but she twisted that into agreement.

I hadn't signed any donation papers, yet I was heartlessly pushed onto the operating table.

Perhaps sensing my defiance, my mom's gentle red lips transformed into a snarling maw in an instant.

"Won't listen to reason, huh? Today, you're donating whether you like it or not!"

"It is illegal!

"Please, I don't want to do this. Let me go..."

I shouted and screamed, even begged Louise, but her response was a slap across my face.

Louise looked down at me coldly as if to say my wishes were irrelevant.

"You won't die from donating a kidney! You'd rather watch your brother die with your own eyes, is that it?"

The anesthesia was slowly pushed into my body.

As consciousness faded, I heard Louise's warm words to my brother, Oliver Clarke, but they burned my ears.

"Oliver, Mom will always be by your side...

"That little brat has to donate a kidney to you today. I'll do whatever it takes, even if it costs me my life...

"Alright, alright. Once you're better, I'll buy you a watch and computer. Then you'll be off to college."

Such caring words she'd never spoken to me.

She said since she'd fed me, I owed Oliver blood and organs.

Oliver couldn't lose a kidney. She still wanted grandchildren from him.

I was trapped, helpless, as they devoured me piece by piece.

Half asleep, I heard Louise's venomous words.

"Oliver's surgery was successful? Thank God!

"What's that? Is the brat's bleeding out? Only Oliver's rare blood can save her?

"Oliver's health is fragile. He needs to get into a top university.

"That worthless girl should've died long ago! What do I care what happens to her..."

I felt abandoned, betrayed, and choked on breath and hope.

"Mom, save me! Didn't you say you wanted to make it up to me?

"I don't want to die!"

I screamed desperately in my mind, but no echo reached my ears.

I died.

I died in a putrid morgue.

I died drowning in endless hatred and resentment.

I hated them!

How could my family members be so vicious...

2

When I opened my eyes, I found myself back in that so-called home.

For the first time, I was served spaghetti at the dinner table, a treatment I'd never experienced before.

Louise flashed a smile and said, "Grace, Oliver is anemic now. You'll have to donate blood for him, won't you?"

Dad's voice was low but carried an undeniable command.

"You're siblings, both with the rare blood type. You need to help each other out."

He always talked about family harmony, but that harmony never included me.

I didn't pick up my fork.

Eating this meal meant giving in to Louise's demands.

The atmosphere at the table suddenly grew cold. Seeing I wasn't touching my food, Louise slammed her bowl down with a loud crack.

"You ungrateful brat!

"Do you want your brother to be sick forever?"

I shot Louise an icy glare. "When Dad wasn't home, you were supposed to take care of me. Instead, you fed me leftovers and sometimes didn't let me eat at all. I don't know if Oliver really has anemia, but I sure do.

"Hey Mom, why don't you donate some blood to me first?"

Dad's face hardened, but he didn't jump to Louise's defense.

Louise arched an eyebrow, feigning concern as she handed me some honey water.

"Don't make up stories just because you don't like me. What this family needs most is harmony, you understand?"

Louise had always made me eat scraps, and now she was preaching about harmony and love.

How ironic!

I turned to my dad, my voice shaking. "Dad... don't you remember? I can't eat honey. It makes me sick to my stomach."

Dad's face darkened as he glanced at a nervous-looking Louise.

Louise shot me a dirty look while putting on a show of piling shrimp onto my plate.

"Here, eat up. The shrimp will do you good. Mom's only asking for a little blood donation. No need to stir up trouble," she said with fake sweetness.

Nice. She was flipping the script on me.

I put on my best-hurt face. "Mom, you're so careless. You know I break out in hives from shrimp. Dad made such a big deal about reminding you. Don't tell me you forgot?"

Louise had always doted on her precious son, never sparing a thought for me.

Now she was trying to play the doting mother in front of Dad.

If she wanted to put on an act, I'd play along.

Dad clenched his fists, his voice getting more challenging with each word. "Is this... is this how you've been taking care of Grace?"

Louise's face turned ashen. Her thin lips tightened, but she couldn't find the words to respond.

I showed the needle marks on my wrist, choking back tears. "Dad... I always eat leftovers. My stomach hurts all the time now. If you want me to donate blood, I will..."

Disgust flashed in Louise's eyes as she turned to Dad. "Who are you going to believe? Her or me?"

Dad pressed his lips together, saying nothing as he got up and walked into my room.

When he returned with my stomach medication, Louise's face showed shock, and she was about to lash out at me.

I cut in with a tearful voice. "Dad, I asked Mom for money to buy medicine, and she... she said, 'Why should a little bastard like you need medicine?'"

Dad's face turned livid. "You heartless witch! How could you say that to her?"

He let out a harsh grunt and suddenly knocked the bowl out of Louise's hands, sending it crashing to the floor.

"Have you lost your mind?" Louise cried out, panic flashing in her eyes.

Dad's response was a stinging slap across her face.

"Dad, stop it!" Oliver yelled, bursting through the door and grabbing Dad's arm.

I just stood there, feeling nothing but cold indifference inside.

Oliver was anemic, but that didn't stop him from chasing skirts left and right, all because Louise spoiled him rotten. He even bullied me regularly.

In my past life, he and Louise had the nerve to beg me for blood and a kidney!

They made their bed. Why should I lie in it?

Dad glared at Oliver, his voice sharp. "Been out raising hell again, haven't you? Grace, tell me, what was Oliver's score on his final exam?"

Seeing the panic in Oliver's eyes, I coolly replied, "He skipped class. He didn't even show up for the test."

Louise jumped to his defense. "Oliver's got my genes! He just didn't try his best..."

Yeah, Oliver coasted on Louise's teacher genes, getting all Dad's hopes pinned on him, but he kept bombing the SAT year after year.

Meanwhile, I aced my grades, only to get shut down with a "girls don't need education" line.

How unfair was that?

That golden boy who couldn't get his act together was still basking in all the favoritism.

No surprise, Louise's begging let Oliver dodge Dad's wrath once again.

Their bias was never even hidden.

Watching the cold indifference behind my family's backs, I made a silent vow to myself.

They'd taken my blood, my kidney, even my dreams and my life!

In this second chance, I swore they'd never destroy me again.

3

Back at school, I found myself facing deliberate hassles from Louise, our homeroom teacher.

She stuck me in a seat right by the trash can near the back door. Every time it opened, the icy draft felt like needles on my skin.

With the door closed, the stench of cigarette butts from the garbage made me want to gag.

Louise couldn't hide her smug satisfaction. "That spot's perfect for tossing trash. I don't let just anyone sit there, you know."

Ignoring her yapping, I buried my nose in my practice exam review.

When the exam started, Oliver, sitting in front of me, demanded I give him the answers.

Oliver was infamous as a "model" student. He'd shake down classmates for cash by the school gates.

He also "treated" kids to toilet swirlies and even swiped my tampons... then mocked me for leaking.

Now, he'd weaseled his way into the advanced class, riding on Louise's coattails.

Why the hell should I hand over my hard work to that lowlife?

I gave Oliver the cold shoulder, but after the exam, Louise tore into me.

"Grace Clarke and Gilbert Gomez swept the bottom two spots in the latest test.

"They're nothing but deadweight, dragging down our advanced class!" Louise spat out.

My eyes bored into Louise's powdered face. "I don't buy it. Let me see those papers."

I'd always been a top student, while Oliver consistently scraped the bottom of the barrel.

Louise, our homeroom teacher, hadn't raised a single eyebrow at this sudden role reversal.

Talk about playing favorites!

My best friend, Jane Pemberton, jumped to my defense. "Mrs. Clarke, there's no way Grace bombed this test."

Louise deliberately kept a stern face, trying to assert her authority, but she didn't expect us to stand up to her unfairness.

"No need to check the papers. Grace, have you considered why you performed so poorly?

"Oliver reported that Grace and Gilbert are dating. We've got the love letters right here. Quit denying it, you shameless brats!

"How dare you start dating at your age? What would your parents say? Have you no self-respect?"

Louise smirked as she held up the love letter for everyone to see. There was no mistaking Gilbert's handwriting.

She was covering for him and throwing me under the bus at the same time!

I clenched my fists, wanting to ask why, but swallowed my words.

What could I do? She was my dear "mom" and the "homeroom teacher Mrs. Clarke" who held my academic future in her hands.

She barked, "Get out and stand in the hall until school's over.

"And you too, Gilbert. You heard me, didn't you?"

With Oliver and Louise sneering at us, Gilbert and I were forced out of the classroom to face our unjust punishment.

Gilbert whispered an apology, telling me Oliver had pressured him into writing it.

In my past life, I remembered Gilbert discussing homework with Jane, only to face Oliver's jealousy and bullying.

Once in the top ten, he'd now fallen to the bottom of the class.

I frowned and asked, "Why don't you tell the guidance counselor?"

Gilbert pressed his lips together. "It's no use. The counselor only believes what our homeroom teacher says."

"Then go to the principal and your parents."

Gilbert didn't dare, fearing retaliation from Oliver and Louise.

"Keeping quiet only emboldens the bullies!"

Students who make a big deal out of forgetting their school cap wouldn't dare to offend a teacher.

After my past life of betrayal and abandonment, I realized living for myself was paramount.

Jane pulled me aside after class, revealing Oliver had unexpectedly scored first place.

She handed me a love letter Oliver had written her.

One look at the handwriting and my heart sank - Oliver must've swapped out my test paper.

I bolted straight for the principal's office. Alvin Blake, the principal recognized me and asked what was wrong.

I came clean.

"Someone switched my test. My score dropped from first to second-to-last."

Alvin was shocked. He knew I was a top student with a real shot at Kingstown University. Plenty of first-tier schools were already trying to recruit me early.

Even a broken clock was right twice a day. How could this happen?

"Mrs. Clarke not only didn't deal with it, she accused me of puppy love!" I fumed.

Alvin couldn't believe it. In his mind, Louise wasn't that low.

He tracked down Samuel Cooper, the English teacher, only to find that while the name on the test was Oliver's, the handwriting was clearly mine.

Samuel squirmed uncomfortably. "Look, I've got stacks of papers to grade. How am I supposed to check everyone's handwriting? That Oliver, swapping out the name with tape - it's just not right."

"Samuel, get Mrs. Clarke and Oliver in here right now," Alvin ordered.

It was his alma mater that he'd worked so hard to build up, and now it was infested with vermin!

4

My dad showing up to pick me up from school was a rare sight. His first words made my stomach drop.

"It's Oliver's birthday today. Let's celebrate at that fancy restaurant downtown. Where are your mom and brother?"

He was all smiles, but of course, he couldn't remember my birthday.

Favoritism had woven a thick web around me, squeezing tighter by the day.

I was about to speak when a teacher whisked me away to the principal's office.

Dad, thinking I was in trouble, followed with a thundercloud for a face.

In the office, Louise didn't seem the least bit guilty. Instead, she brazenly lashed out at me,

"Sir, she's nothing but a liar. Her grades have dropped because she's dating Gilbert!

"I don't care about teenage romance? What about our top class? What about the school's reputation?"

Oliver shot me a contemptuous side-eye. "So you're not just a liar, but you're fooling around too?"

The cruelty of this mother-son duo chilled me to the bone. Why were they always so determined to throw me under the bus?

I turned to the principal, my voice steady. "Sir, I just took a test and got a perfect score. Why don't we have Oliver take it right now?"

Louise's face darkened. "Nonsense, you..."

"Enough!"

Alvin roared, his brows furrowed as he slammed his hand on the desk.

"Mrs. Clarke, you're well aware of your own issues.

"Oliver's behavior is absolutely unacceptable. He's on probation, and one more slipup means expulsion!

"From now on, Oliver will be transferred to Class 10."

The color drained from Louise's face. Class 10 was notorious for being the worst in the school.

Dad suddenly slapped Oliver across the face, then started begging Alvin in a humble tone.

"Mr. Blake, there must be some misunderstanding. Couldn't we work something out?"

Louise tried to salvage the situation, explaining it was just a momentary lapse in judgment. "Sir, why don't you ask Grace if this is all just a big misunderstanding?"

Dad's eyes bore into me, silently ordering me to plead their case.

When I needed support, he took the other side.

He wanted me to help Louise and Oliver but didn't hesitate to throw me under the bus.

Two women appeared in the doorway. One plump and one tall.

"Which one of you is Mrs. Clarke?"

I recognized them as Gilbert and Jane's mothers and quickly pointed at Louise.

"That's her right there."

In a flash, Gilbert's mother, Diana Gomez, lunged forward, grabbed Louise by the collar, and slapped her twice across the face.

Everyone froze in shock!

The color drained from Oliver's face as he stood there, paralyzed.