My husband, the hospital director, stole my kidney to save his beloved first love, who suffered from uremia.

While I was under anesthesia for heart surgery, he stormed into the operating room without permission and ordered the removal of one of my kidneys.

I begged him to stop, explaining that my heart condition was critical and that I could not survive back-to-back major surgeries.

He only sneered at me, his voice dripping with disdain. “I knew you’d be jealous of Cece and make pathetic excuses. That’s exactly why I chose this moment.”

Ignoring my desperate pleas, he took my kidney and walked away. In the end, I suffered multiple post-surgery complications and died miserably on the operating table.

I had died on the cold operating table. I watched as Maddox Jagger carefully cradled my kidney and turned away, heading straight to Cecilia Rodgers' operating room. He did not even spare me a final glance.

Tears slipped from the corners of my eyes as my vital signs faded away completely.

My soul trailed after Maddox as he paced anxiously in the hospital hallway, his eyes fixed on the light above Cecilia’s operating room. The moment it flickered off and the doctor stepped out, Maddox lunged forward like a man possessed.

"How is she?"

The doctor removed his mask and nodded, looking somewhat relieved as he said, "The surgery was a success. Fortunately, the kidney arrived in time."

Only then did Maddox exhale in relief. Behind him, a nurse's panicked voice suddenly rang out.

"Dr. Jagger, about Ms. Rhea Simpson… She suffered massive chest bleeding during surgery. We couldn't save her."

Her voice trembled as she said these words.

Maddox's expression changed instantly. He pointed at the nurse and lashed out.

"How much did Rhea pay you to lie to me? She's as strong as an ox! She only scheduled her surgery on the same day as Cece's to get my attention.

"She truly spends her days scheming and fighting for favor. If she's really dead, then she deserved it!"

Then, his tone shifted sharply as he glared at the nurse.

"This hospital isn't a charity. If you took Rhea's money to deceive me today, what's stopping you from taking bribes from a patient's family tomorrow? Get out of my sight!

"Don't blame me for doing this. Blame that selfish woman.

"Go back and tell Rhea, if she has a shred of conscience left, she should come and apologize to Cece immediately. If not for her, Cece wouldn't be in the hospital in the first place!"

A sharp pang twisted in my chest. I was here because of Cecilia. She was the reason my heart condition had worsened, forcing me into surgery.

Yet somehow, in Maddox's version of reality, her hospitalization had become my fault.

Of course, Maddox never believed me.

The nurse's face turned ghostly pale. She tried to explain, but Maddox waved her away without a second thought.

Just then, Cecilia was wheeled out of the operating room. When she saw Maddox, her pallid face managed a weak smile.

"Maddox… I was so scared earlier. Thank goodness you were here. What about Rhea? Is she still mad at me for taking her kidney?"

Maddox's once gentle, affectionate eyes turned ice-cold at the mention of my name.

"If not for her, you wouldn't have been hurt in the first place. Forget taking a kidney—if she had to trade her life for yours, it would have been nothing more than what she owed you."

I saw the subtle smirk tug at Cecilia's lips, but she still fluttered her lashes, pretending to hold back tears.

"I don't know why Rhea suddenly wanted me dead so desperately… but I don't blame her. Maybe she was just too afraid of losing you."

Maddox scoffed.

"Don't even mention her. I must’ve been out of my mind to marry such a heartless woman. Just thinking about the years I wasted with her makes me sick.

"She even tried to stage a scene with that nurse, pretending she was dead. If she really died, I'd be celebrating with fireworks."

My heart sank completely.

At least they got what they wanted, I truly was dead.

I always knew that Cecilia was special to Maddox. I was nothing more than her stand-in. After three years of holding onto Maddox, it was only right that I returned him to her.

Maddox had lost his mind when Cecilia left the country. He desperately went searching for women who resembled her.

I was the one who looked most like Cecilia, as well as the most obedient and the most understanding. After countless days and nights of unwavering devotion, Maddox reluctantly chose me to be his wife.

I overheard him talking to his friends on the eve of our wedding. He said, "If I can't marry Cecilia, then it doesn't matter who I marry."

At that moment, I was standing right outside the door, but I did not even have the right to be upset.

I loved Maddox so much that I lost myself. The idea of him not loving me was painful, but the thought of losing him was unbearable.

Yet, Cecilia called him on our wedding day, and Maddox walked out without hesitation, leaving me alone in the grand wedding hall, lost and helpless like a child.

I should have known that Cecilia was irreplaceable in Maddox's heart.

After that, she even sent me a text, taunting me.

"A fraud will always be a fraud. All I have to do is curl my finger, and Maddox comes running like a dog. How does it feel to have a wedding all to yourself?"

I bit my lip so hard it almost bled. It felt like my heart had been torn open. I confronted Cecilia, demanding to know why she did not marry Maddox herself if she had come back.

Her response made me realize what a pathetic joke I had become.

"Marry him? Are you kidding? Maddox is just one of my many lovesick suitors. I'm not about to give up an entire forest for one tree.

"Marriage is boring. Only an idiot like you would cling to a man who doesn't love you."

That night, Maddox returned and immediately demanded a divorce. I refused. Instead, I showed him Cecilia's messages.

I just wanted him to see the truth—the woman he had placed on a pedestal only saw him as a backup plan.

Maddox impatiently knocked my phone out of my hand, looking at me like I was some kind of monster.

"Rhea, I never thought you'd go so far as to get a fake number just to frame Cece in order to have me all to yourself. Your heart is absolutely filthy.

"Since you're so desperate to cling to the title of Mrs. Jagger, I'll let you have it. But don't expect even a shred of love from me. And don't think I'll ever touch you!"

It was at that moment that I finally understood—Cecilia did not have to do anything. Maddox would love her with everything he had.

"Maddox, I suddenly have a craving for your walnut pie," Cecilia's soft voice pulled me back to reality.

I watched as the two of them stood together in the hospital corridor, wrapped in their little world of affection. Passersby glanced their way, some with admiration, others visibly moved by the sight.

Maddox smiled gently as he tapped Cecilia's nose.

"Alright. As soon as you're allowed to eat, I'll make them for you."

A sharp, unbearable pain spread through my chest.

I used to stalk Cecilia's social media, digging through her old posts just to understand her better. Years ago, she had once shared a post about Maddox making her walnut pie from scratch.

I knew how complicated the process was. Maddox despised anything troublesome as his hospital responsibilities barely left him with time to breathe.

Once, I foolishly asked if he could make some for me too. He merely shot me a cold glare.

"Do I look like I have that kind of free time? Do you even know what I do for a living? How valuable my hands are?"

Yet now, he agreed to Cecilia's request without hesitation. His hands were precious—but he would crack the hardest walnut shells for Cecilia.

Not to mention, he would slice into my body in an operating room and take my kidney for her without a second thought.

The difference between love and indifference were never clearer than before.

Maddox pushed Cecilia's wheelchair toward the VIP ward. Halfway there, a heart-wrenching wail echoed through the hospital halls.

"My daughter! Why did you leave so soon? How am I supposed to live without you?"

I recognized that voice. It was my mother's. Pain twisted through me, as if her cries were tearing at my very soul.

So, even the dead could feel heartbreak.

Maddox hesitated for a split second, as if trying to make out the voice.

"Maddox? What's wrong?" Cecilia held his hand, her voice full of concern.

Maddox let out a cold laugh. "Nothing. There's always some drama queen in the hospital, addicted to putting on a show."

I watched as he wheeled Cecilia into her room, and a helpless smile formed on my lips.

I knew he recognized my mother's voice. He just believed that she, like me, was putting on an act.

A drama queen. That was what he compared her to. How ironic.

Yet Maddox didn't know that, at that moment, my lifeless body was being wheeled past Cecilia's room.

My mother, who was overcome with grief, immediately collapsed at the doors of the operating room, unable to stand any longer.

Cecilia got to stay in a luxurious VIP hospital room, while I had been crammed into a shared five-person ward. The air was thick with an unbearable stench, and the constant noise sent my heart into palpitations.

At the time, I called Maddox, hoping he would move me to a quieter room. It did not have to be VIP—just somewhere more peaceful.

However, he only sneered over the phone.

"Addicted to putting on a show, aren't you? Always competing with Cece for attention. If you want to keep playing the sympathy card, go ahead.

"Just so you know, I put you there on purpose. There's plenty of infectious diseases in that ward—if you're not afraid to die, then just stay there."

A chill ran down my spine as he spoke of infectious diseases and death. The words felt foreign yet terrifying.

However, I was too weak to move, my body tangled in tubes and wires. Even the nurses and doctors had been ordered by Maddox to treat me with deliberate neglect.

They deliberately missed my veins, stabbing me over a dozen times before successfully inserting an IV, leaving me drenched in cold sweat from the pain.

Even when the IV fluid started flowing backward into the tube, no one bothered to check on me. The food they brought was nothing but cold leftovers.

When I complained, a nurse rolled her eyes.

"You've probably been a rich wife for too long, huh? Do you think you're better than the rest of the patients?

"Everyone here is sick—what makes you so special? This is what we've got. If you don't like it, then go home."

I did not dare say a word. I wanted to live—more than anyone.

Meanwhile, Cecilia lived comfortably, surrounded by the best caregivers. Yet Maddox had never once hired even the cheapest help for me.

"Maddox, I want chicken noodle soup too, along with walnut pie," Cecilia cooed, her voice laced with sweetness.

Hearing that, a terrible premonition crept over me.

I often made chicken noodle soup for Maddox. Cecilia must have had some before, which was why she asked for it now.

Sure enough, Maddox first looked at Cecilia with gentle adoration.

"I'll have Rhea make it for you."

Then, his expression darkened with cold indifference as he pulled out his phone and called me.

It finally connected after the second try, but before the person on the other end could say anything, Maddox got straight to the point.

"Rhea, I don't care what you're doing, drop everything and go make chicken noodle soup for Cece. Deliver it before tonight.

"And apologize to her while you're at it. If you don't, don't blame me for divorcing you!"

There was silence on the other end. But Maddox did not wait for a response—he simply hung up.

"I don't care what you're doing," he said.

Even if he did not believe I was dead, even if he refused to accept that I had undergone heart surgery, he had barged into the operating room and taken my kidney with his own hands.

I had been cut open twice—I could not possibly recover faster than Cecilia.

Then again, of course, what was I compared to her?

I had always given Maddox everything he wanted, no matter what he asked. But this time, he would never get an answer from me.

As for divorce? Let him do as he pleased.

Maddox had used divorce as a threat so many times. He knew better than anyone that I would never agree. Whenever I did not comply with his wishes, he repeated the same tactics.

Even when he wanted my kidney and I refused, he used the same threats. It was not that I wanted to just say no, I simply was not physically fit for the surgery.

Maddox just wanted me dead.

Even so, he never believed me.

The moment they sedated me and cut into my chest, Maddox stormed into the operating room with his people.

They did not even wear surgical gowns or masks.

They did not care if I got infected.