I refused to donate one of my kidneys to my younger sister, Ella. As a result, my parents forced me to marry a wealthy man in Pinetown.

People said Johnson kept his distance from everyone else. His first love had never truly left his heart.

Everyone waited to watch my miserable ending. Unexpectedly, Johnson actually deeply doted on me.

During the three years of our marriage, regardless of the place, he never seemed able to keep his hands off me.

Even when I went to the washroom, he followed me and pressed me against the sink.

We never took any contraceptive measures. Yet, I never got pregnant.

One day, when I thought I was finally expecting, we went to the hospital for a checkup. There, I accidentally overheard his conversation with a doctor.

“Johnson, three years ago, you asked me to secretly transplant Amber’s kidney to Ella. Today, you want me to lie to her that she’s naturally sterile. How could you be so cruel to a woman who loves you?”

“There’s no other way. Ella’s health is weak. If she can’t bear a child, she’ll suffer in her husband’s family. Only Amber’s kidney is a match for her.”

The voice I knew so well sounded so cold that it felt unfamiliar. The love and salvation I had basked in so comfortably turned out to be nothing but a lie.

If that was the truth, all that was left for me to do was to leave him.

At the far end of the hospital corridor, the doctor who had declared that I was infertile not long ago said with a conflicted look on his face, “Poor thing. She still thinks she’s pregnant. I’ve prescribed her something. The nausea is only a side effect of it.”

Johnson raised one of his eyebrows. “Then give her something with the least side effects. I don’t want anything harmful to happen to her health. Ella might still need her someday.”

“Aren’t you worried that she’ll hate you if she learns the truth someday? She has always wanted to have a child with you, yet she doesn’t even know that she’ll never be able to become a mother in this life.”

The doctor’s voice took on a note of sympathy.

“If she hates me, there’s nothing I can do about it. I simply can’t bear to see Ella suffer.”

Johnson’s tone grew impatient. “As for her, she has already gotten the title of Mrs. Stewart. Isn’t that enough?”

…

I froze at the corner of the hallway. My body trembled uncontrollably.

“Already earned the title as Mrs. Stewart, huh? So that’s what he thinks about me.”

Everything I had earned had not been given out of love at all. It had been paid for with one of my kidneys.

All the strength drained from my body at once, and I collapsed to the floor.

I fell into a miserable heap. Pain spread through my body. I did not even have the strength to get back up.

When Johnson saw me, he quickly strode over and helped me to my feet. He rested his profound gaze on me and asked, “How did you fall? When did you get here?”

I clenched my fists tightly inside my sleeves. I knew that tearing things up at that moment would not do me any good. I obediently leaned into his arms like I always did. “I just got here. My heels were too high. I twisted my ankle.”

The tension in his face finally eased. He scooped me up and headed out. He said in a low voice, “You’re not allowed to wear heels this high anymore.”

I looked at the face I had once been so captivated by, yet an endless chill spread through my heart.

When had he asked the doctor to take away one of my kidneys?

Did they do it when I had my appendectomy two years ago?

At that time, I had only felt slightly unwell. Yet, the doctor diagnosed it as appendicitis and said that I needed immediate surgery.

Johnson had been so nervous that he admitted me to the VIP wing and provided a top-tier medical team to perform my surgery.

At that time, I had thought he loved me so deeply that he could not bear the slightest risk to my well-being.

Looking back, I realized I had only been a tender lamb he kept under careful watch. All the care he showed me had simply been to prepare me for the day he would take what he needed and offer it to Ella.

During dinner, Johnson insisted that I finish a small bowl of pasta.

He looked at me gently while holding the fork to feed me. “If you don’t eat well, how would your body ever get better?”

I thought to myself. “If I don’t get better, I won’t be able to provide healthy organs to Ella. That’s the real concern, right?”

While looking at his hypocritical, gentle face, another wave of nausea rose in my chest.

I charged into the bathroom and locked the door. I ignored his concerns and vomited everything I had just eaten.

Just then, the phone inside my pocket vibrated.

“Have you really decided to leave?”

I held my phone. I inevitably recalled Johnson’s cold tone.

“Yes. The sooner, the better.”

It did not take long before Johnson had his servant bring him the key and unlock the door. He frowned as he stared at me. “Did you throw up again? Stop taking the previous medicine. Switch to the new one.”

He had lied to me every single day. He had clearly given me hormone medicines, yet he had insisted they were just tonics to help my body recover.

Back then, I had truly wanted to have a child with him. No matter how terrible the taste of the medicine was, I gulped it with hope and trust.

Looking back, I had been such a fool.

I looked up and stared at him numbly. “Am I dying soon? Can you tell me the truth for once? How much time do I have left?”

A flicker of panic crossed Johnson’s usually composed countenance. He abruptly pulled me into his arms and said with a tense tone, “Don’t talk like that. You’re going to stay with me for a very long time.”

I always fell for his pleasant words that were as sweet as honeycomb. Over the past two years, whenever I brought up the idea of having a baby, he always said he could not bear to see me go through the hardship of pregnancy.

But in truth, he already knew that I could never have children. Yet, he still watched me struggle daily just to improve my health by consuming various unpleasant medicines.

I had always dreamed about the day I gave birth to our child and lived a happy life together as a family.

But perhaps it was for the best. Without a child, there would be nothing to bind us together.

That meant I could leave him untethered.

Before I went to bed, Johnson clung to me for a very long time, like a child clinging to their parents. He made me swear never to mention the word “dying” in front of him again.

I numbly obliged. When everything was finally over, and he fell asleep beside me, I picked up the phone he had left on the nightstand and walked into the bathroom.

The lock screen password was my birthday. Because of that, I never once checked his phone. Looking back, he must have counted on exactly that.

When I opened his WhatsApp, I realized the nickname he saved for Ella was “Princess”.

Princess.

It was the very name he used to whisper in moments of passion when he held me close in bed.

So it turned out he had never been calling my name at all. I had only been a stand-in for Ella to make up for what he felt he owed her.

It was ridiculous.

My fingers trembled as I opened their chat history.

I finally realized that Johnson had established a charitable foundation for Ella to perform charity work in hopes that this would bless her health for the rest of her life.

While he believed the acts of charity would bring Ella blessings, what about the harm they had caused me? How was that supposed to be accounted for?

Tears fell before I even noticed. I bit my bottom lip as I took screenshots of their conversations. My heart was already numb from the pain.

After that, I went to a hospital for a full-body checkup.

The doctor frowned as he read my report. “How many surgeries have you had? Why are there a missing kidney and a missing lobe of your lung? There are also signs of damage to your liver.”

I gave a bitter smile. “A lot. I’ve lost count. With my condition like this, how long do I have left?”

The doctor refused to give me a definite answer. He sighed and told me to relax. He said I did not need to worry so much about it.

After leaving the hospital, I went to Johnson’s company. I wanted to propose a divorce.

The receptionist at the front desk stopped me. I told her that I was Johnson’s wife.

She looked at me with disdain. “Plenty of people would want to call themselves Mrs. Stewart. Take a good look at yourself. How dare a person with this look of yours even have the guts to pretend to be one? The real Mrs. Stewart is with him upstairs.”

My chest tightened. I instantly phoned Johnson, but no one answered.

The mockery on the receptionist’s face only grew deeper.

I waited patiently downstairs. I waited for a very long time before seeing for myself as Johnson stepped out of the elevator with one of his arms around Ella’s waist.

When he met my gaze, he looked awkward. “W-Why are you here? Ella twisted her ankle. She’s pregnant and can’t move around easily. I was just helping her.

Ella leaned into his chest and smiled gently. “Amber, Gary’s on a business trip abroad, so I have Johnson take care of me.”

I could only think about the word “pregnant”.

Ella had taken my kidney and lung. On top of that, she had grown pregnant.

I felt a sharp pain tear through my chest. It left me gasping for air. “Johnson, I need to talk to you.”

“Whatever it is, we can wait. Ella’s hungry. We’re going to eat at your mom’s house.”

My mother had already prepared a table of Ella’s favorite food to celebrate her pregnancy.

Ella had covered her nose and claimed that she had no appetite. Johnson suggested sending our housekeeper over to prepare food for her. Our housekeeper usually took care of me at home.

The corners of Ella’s lips curved upward slightly. She pointed at me. “No need. Look, Amber looks unhappy. I don’t want to cause any tension between you because of me.”

My mother instantly scowled and scolded me, “You’re not even pregnant! You’ve got hands and feet, so why can’t you take care of yourself? You’ve always been selfish since childhood. Whatever small favor we ask of you, you’ve always acted like it’s the end of the world!”

She had me just to collect cord blood for Ella’s treatment. In her eyes, I was nothing more than a supply of medicine to treat Ella. There was no room for me to resist or complain.

I did not want to argue with her. I put down my cutlery and tried to slip into my old bedroom for a moment. It was only then that I found out it had been turned into a storage room.

Tears instantly streamed down my face. I wiped them haphazardly.

“Are you upset with Johnson? It seems you still haven’t figured out your place. The years of history between Johnson and me aren’t something you can overstep.” Ella followed me in. Her tone dripped with arrogance, as if she had every right to lecture me.

I let out a bitter laugh. “If that’s the case, why don’t you just marry him?”

The corner of her mouth curled into a deep, knowing smile. “The unattainable things in life are always the best. I want him to always think of me and be my anchor for life.”

I felt speechless. I fixed my gaze on her swollen belly and instinctively touched it.

Ella smiled even more smugly. She leaned close and whispered in my ear, “Jealous? Too bad, you will never have a child in this life. A part of your kidney and your lung are with me.

“I hear life without complete internal organs is miserable. You need to take hormones for the rest of your life. On top of that, there are also all sorts of side effects. When I told Johnson about this, he didn’t want me to suffer and promised to help me instantly.

“That’s why he married you and kept you happy. By the way, he says I’m weak, so he has to take good care of you in case something happens to me. You should thank me, for your sole purpose in life is to be none other than being my vessel. No one truly loves you in this world.”

I dug my fingers hard into my palm. I raised my hand and was about to slap her. Suddenly, someone opened the door.

At the entrance, Johnson looked furious. He charged at me and grabbed my wrist. He snapped, “What are you doing? How can you strike your sister?”

I let out a mocking laugh. “What’s wrong? Is your heart aching for her? Since you care so much about her, why don’t you just bring her home and treat her like she belongs there?”

I had never spoken to him so harshly before. Johnson was startled. He was about to say something—

Just then, Ella clutched her stomach and cried out in distress, “Please don’t argue because of me. It’s all my fault. I upset Amber. If she strikes me, I deserve it. I don’t need the housekeeper anymore. Amber, please stop striking me.”

Johnson’s expression instantly turned as dark as thunderclouds. He glared at me. “Amber, apologize to Ella now!”

I clenched my fists tightly. My nails nearly cut into my skin. I trembled in anger.

“You want me to apologize to her, huh? Johnson, do you even know what actually happened?”

“Enough!” Johnson interrupted me without hesitation. “Amber, I’m really disappointed in you. When did you become like this? Ella is your sister. Even if you’re jealous of her, you shouldn’t strike her!”

He did not even bother to spare me another glance. He scooped Ella up in his arms and headed out.

I saw Ella bury her head against Johnson’s shoulder. She wore the quiet, haughty look of someone who had already won the game. She flashed me a smug smile.

But she could not hurt me anymore.

I would never care about Johnson anymore.

I took a cab home and packed my things. Johnson WhatsApped me.

[Ella is very sad now. I’m giving you one more chance. Come over tonight and apologize to her. Don’t make me send someone to bring you over.]

His tone left no room for argument, as if he had decided I was completely in the wrong.

He even told me to buy a gift for Ella as a token of apology.

Little did he know that I had already packed my bags.

I took a cab and headed to the airport.

On the way, I sent him one last message. [Alright, I’ll make sure to send a proper gift.]

After that, I pulled out my SIM card and snapped it in half. I wound down the window and tossed it out. I let it drift away in the wind.

The next morning, Johnson received an express parcel at his office in Stewart Group.

He opened it. A weightless sheet of paper slipped out.

He swept a glance at it, and the next second, his expression changed drastically. His hand trembled as he grabbed his phone and dialed a number.

But no one answered.