Jeffrey returned soon with an easy smile on his face. "I checked. The sea urchin quality is top-notch today. You'll love it."

The dishes arrived one by one. Jeffrey still carefully peeled the sea urchin for her and dipped it in soy sauce.

Halfway through the meal, Amelia suddenly looked troubled. "Jeffrey, I thought about it again. Kidney donation surgery isn't minor. Recovery takes a long time. I'm afraid of aftereffects. Aren't we... getting married soon?"

Jeffrey paused while picking up food. "Baby, don't overthink. The wedding is just a formality. Sooner or later doesn't matter. Once you're fully recovered, we'll have a grand one. I promise."

Amelia understood his implication.

For Emma, their wedding could delay indefinitely. Their future could step aside anytime.

At that moment, Jeffrey's phone lit up again.

He glanced at the screen. His face changed slightly. It was the hospital caregiver.

He picked up the phone right away and gestured an apology to Amelia. He said softly, "Office emergency. I'll take it outside."

A few minutes later, he came back. He spoke while grabbing his jacket nearby. "Sorry, Amelia. An urgent project issue at the office. I have to handle it. Take your time. Have the family driver pick you up after. Okay?"

Amelia nodded and watched him leave the private room.

Twenty minutes later, Amelia wiped her mouth slowly. She stood and went downstairs to hail a cab. "To Moss Private Hospital."

The cab stopped at the hospital entrance quickly.

Amelia did not get out. She just rolled down the window. Her gaze fell on the well-kept small garden below the inpatient building.

On a bench not far away sat a figure Amelia knew very well.

Jeffrey.

Beside him sat a young woman in a blue-and-white hospital gown. Long hair draped her shoulders. Her face looked pale.

This was Amelia's first time seeing Emma.

At that moment, Jeffrey leaned slightly. He held a book and seemed to read to her.

Emma rested on his shoulder. She occasionally lifted a finger to point at the page. Jeffrey bent his head to listen. Smiles touched his eyes and brows.

Anyone who saw them would think they were deeply in love.

Amelia sat in the cab and watched quietly for a long time.

Perhaps she had cried all her tears. Only numb dull pain came from her heart now.

His affection for her existed only because she qualified as an organ donor.

She watched Jeffrey carefully tuck the slipping blanket back over Emma's legs...

Enough.

Truly enough.

"Let's go." Amelia withdrew her gaze and rolled up the window.

In the hospital garden, Emma suddenly said, "Jeffrey, your wedding date... is it soon?"

Jeffrey stiffened for a moment. Then he hummed lightly.

"I, can I go? I want... to see the most important moment in your life."

Jeffrey's heart twisted instantly. "Silly, that's just a necessary formality. If you go, won't it hurt you more?"

How could he let her witness that fake wedding planned carefully to save her?

That would be too cruel for Emma.

Emma lowered her head. Her voice carried some choking. "I just... just want to see. And, Jeffrey... do you still blame me for insisting on breaking up to study abroad back then..."

"How could I blame you?" Jeffrey's voice stayed gentle. "Emma, I never blamed you. You had your dreams. All I could do was support you. I didn't want to tie you to me. That would be too selfish..."

Emma's tears fell instantly. She parted her lips slightly to say something.

In this tender moment, Alex hurried over.

He did not even notice Emma's presence. He leaned to Jeffrey's ear and said. "Mr. Moss, bad news! Miss Fuller came earlier. She was in a cab..."

Jeffrey's gentle expression froze on his face. His heart skipped a hard beat!

Amelia came?

She saw?

How much did she hear?

Huge panic enveloped Jeffrey instantly.

He stood up abruptly. He had no time to explain to the confused Emma. He just tossed Alex a quick "Take care of Emma" and ran fast toward the parking lot.

Jeffrey floored the gas pedal all the way back to the villa.

He parked and rushed inside. The living room lights blazed.

Jeffrey's rapid breathing choked when he saw the scene.

Amelia stood in the center of the living room. Two open suitcases sat at her feet. Inside were decorations they had picked together before.

Jeffrey suppressed the questions in his mind and spoke gently. "Amelia, what are you doing?"

Amelia looked up at the sound. Her face showed nothing unusual. She answered. "You're back? Nothing much. These things feel old. They look off. With the wedding coming soon, clear out the old stuff. Replace with new ones."

Jeffrey's heart, lodged in his throat, settled back.

He sighed in relief and walked over. He naturally wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. "So that's it. You scared me. By the way, Alex called earlier. He thought he saw you at the hospital?"

Amelia gently pulled from his embrace. She looked at him and explained. "Yeah, I meant to find Alex to learn about surgery risks. But right after arriving, I felt we already bothered him today. Going again so soon for personal matters seemed rude. And honestly, I'm still a bit scared..."

This explanation made perfect sense. It fully erased Jeffrey's doubts.

He reached to pull Amelia close again. His voice filled with tenderness. "Baby, you're always so understanding. Don't worry. I'll find the best doctors in the world. The best meds. You won't have any issues. Once everything ends, we'll have the grandest wedding! Whatever you want, I'll give you!"

He whispered sweet words in her ear. But to Amelia, they were cream coated in crap.

A lick tasted sweet cream at first. But later came endless disgust.

She opened her phone and looked at a ticket to Arton seven days later.

Departure time counted down second by second.

The day after takeoff was the wedding date she had already canceled.

Soon after, Amelia unexpectedly received a call.

It came from Emma. On a whim, Amelia agreed to the meeting.

In the VIP ward, Emma's face looked pale. Her gaze toward Amelia held no hostility. Instead, it carried a kind of pity.

"Miss Fuller, you came." Emma's voice stayed light. "I always knew you existed." "Jeffrey... he struggled. For me, he had to deceive you. Only your kidney could save me."

Though Amelia already knew the truth in her heart, hearing this cruel reality aloud still made her feel dizzy.

Emma looked at Amelia with complex eyes that held a victor's gloat. "He promised me it was just temporary... Once he got the kidney and cured me, he would return to my side. Miss Fuller, these have been five hard years for you."

So she knew everything.

She knew about Jeffrey's deception and pitied this fool from a superior stance.

Immense humiliation flooded Amelia instantly.

But she did not explode. She forced herself to calm down. "Too bad I already knew the truth, Miss Foster. Unfortunately, we marry soon. I'll stand by his side legitimately."

"You!" Emma clicked her tongue and glared at her viciously.

But the next second, she seemed to think of something. She calmed down gradually.

Before Amelia could react, Emma ripped off the IV needle from her hand. Then she pulled out the nasogastric tube that kept her alive!

Blood surged from her hand instantly. The monitor blared urgent alarms.

At that moment, the ward door crashed open!

"Emma!" Jeffrey rushed in. His buddy Caiden followed close.

"Amelia, what the hell are you doing to Emma?" Caiden roared at her.

Jeffrey tightly hugged the weak, trembling Emma in his arms. He hit the call bell.

When he looked up again, the gentle eyes that once gazed at Amelia held only raging fury.

Amelia stood stunned in place. She knew Jeffrey trusted her far less than Emma. So she did not explain.

In his fury, Jeffrey exhausted his last patience. He ordered men to restrain Amelia directly.

He held the prepared organ donation agreement and walked to her. "Amelia, if you stayed smarter and pretended ignorance, we could have a future. But you never should have hurt Emma! I want this signed in five minutes."

Amelia smiled bitterly. Now she couldn't do anything.

After signing quickly, men forced her into a hospital gown and wheeled her into the operating room.

Through the glass, Jeffrey stood in the observation area. He stared fixedly at her on the table.

Surgery began.

But minutes later, the lead surgeon Alex paused. He looked up in horror and said to Jeffrey. "Mr., Mr. Moss! She... Her left kidney is, is missing! There's an old removal scar! Amelia... She only had one kidney all along!"

"What?" Jeffrey felt struck by lightning!

Almost at the same time, the monitor on the table let out a long beep!

Amelia's ECG turned into a flat line!

Alex performed futile resuscitation right away.

Finally, Alex announced the time of death with a trembling voice!

A white sheet slowly covered Amelia's pale face.

Jeffrey slumped on the cold floor. He watched Amelia die on the table. His mind went blank.

While everyone drowned in the chaos of Amelia's death, no one noticed a masked caregiver. She pushed a cart for medical waste and slipped out of the hospital quietly.

This person got into a black sedan waiting outside.

The caregiver in the car removed the mask. Amelia's calm face appeared.

Half an hour later, Amelia stood on the airport jet bridge. She glanced back at the place where she had lived for over twenty years.

Finally, she boarded the rescheduled flight without hesitation.