My fierce resistance seemed to make the doctor hesitate. He frowned and said, "The patient is so emotional, the operation is very risky. If something goes wrong, our hospital will not be responsible."

Victor and Helena looked at each other, a hint of unwillingness flashing in their eyes.

“Alright, alright, let’s not do it for now!” Victor waved his hands irritably, “Take her back and let her calm down!”

They untied my restraints, but then carried me on both sides like a prisoner, not giving me any chance to escape. They forcibly took me away from the hospital, stuffed me into a car, and drove all the way back to Victor's home.

The living room was filled with smoke and was full of Rossi Family relatives, including my parents.

Seeing me being carried in, my mother stood up immediately with a trace of panic and reluctance on her face, but she opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing and slowly sat down again.

My father kept his head down the whole time, with his hands in his hair, not daring to look at me.

At that moment, I felt like the sky had fallen. My last hope, my parents, who were related to me by blood, actually acquiesced to this absurd farce.

"Get down on your knees!" Victor yelled at my cousin Brandon Schneider.

Brandon was wearing a hospital gown and his face was sallow. Upon hearing what I said, he immediately knelt down in front of me. Then he turned to the direction of my parents, crawled a few steps on his knees, and cried.

"Uncle, aunt! Please, persuade Emily! She listens to you the most!" He said as he kowtowed, and his forehead soon turned red.

"As long as Emily is willing to save me, this life of mine is given by you! From now on, I will be your biological son. I will take care of you in your old age and see you to the end of your life. I will work like a slave to repay you!"

My mother's eyes suddenly turned red. She stood up and wanted to help, but was stopped by Helena.

Helena sighed and said in a compassionate tone, "Sister-in-law, look at how pitiful and filial this child is. Emily saved him, so you two old people will have one more son in the future."

My father suddenly raised his head, and a light flashed in his cloudy eyes that I couldn't understand. He looked at his nephew who was kneeling on the ground and crying bitterly, then looked at me who looked as pale as death, and after moving his lips for a long time, he finally spoke with difficulty.

"Emily, your cousin is indeed the hope of our family." His voice was hoarse, and every word cut my heart like a knife. "You are a girl, and you will get married in the future. Our family cannot be without a male heir."

"Dad!" I cried out heartbreakingly, unable to believe that these words came from my biological father's mouth.

"Just for your so-called male offspring, for his illusory promise of old-age care, are you going to sacrifice my health and my life?" I pointed at Brandon who was kneeling on the ground, and at the room full of numb relatives, "I am your daughter too! Is my life so worthless?"

My mother finally couldn't help it and started crying, covering her face.

But her cries seemed so pale and powerless in this trial of family affection.

A white-haired Elder Harrison tapped his cane and said in a deep voice, "Girl, don't be so selfish. The continuation of the family is the most important thing. It is your blessing to be able to contribute to the family."

"Yes! Emily, don't be so ignorant!"

"That's right, saving your brother's life is your duty!"

"If you don't donate, you will be the sinner of our whole family! You will be too ashamed to disgrace our ancestors after you die!"

Every heart-piercing word was like countless steel needles, piercing into my heart.

I looked around at these so-called relatives. On their faces, there was greed, calculation, numbness, and indifference, but not a trace of affection or compassion.

I suddenly found it ridiculous that I had been living in a false family bubble for more than twenty years.

"I'm telling you," I wiped my tears and spoke in an almost calm tone, word by word, "If you want me to donate a kidney, I have to die."

After saying that, I turned around and wanted to leave this disgusting place.

"Stop her!" Victor ordered.

Several young cousins ​​immediately rushed up and blocked my way.

"What do you want to do? Illegal detention?" I looked at them coldly.

"Emily, we're doing this for your own good." Helena came over and put on a compassionate face again. "You're emotionally unstable right now, so just stay here and we'll talk when you've figured it out."

Without saying anything, they pushed me into a bedroom on the second floor, and with a "bang", the door was locked from the outside.

I was put under house arrest.

They took away my cell phone, my bag, and cut off all contact with the outside world.

Every day, Helena would deliver three meals on time, and each time, she would persuade me earnestly, and her words were full of clichés of "family honor" and "sacrifice and dedication".

I went from fierce resistance at the beginning to silence later.

I looked at the small piece of sky outside the window and had only one thought in my mind: I can't just sit there and wait to die, I have to escape.

This bedroom was where my cousin used to live, and it was filled with his old things. I began to rummage through it quietly, hoping to find something useful.

On the third night, I finally found an old, discarded tablet computer in the corner of an old bookcase.

I was ecstatic, hid under the quilt, and quietly pressed the power button.

Fortunately, the tablet still had power. Even more fortunately, it automatically connected to the neighbor's Wi-Fi.

With trembling hands, I opened the browser, logged into my social account, and sent a message for help to my best friend Sophia Wright.

"Sophia, save me! I've been locked up by Victor's family. They want to force me to donate a kidney to my cousin! The address is..."

After sending the message, every second seemed like an eternity.

Five minutes later, Sophia's reply finally popped up: "Fuck! Just wait, don't be afraid! I'll call the police and bring people over!"

When I saw the words "Don't be afraid", my nerves that had been tense for the past few days suddenly broke, and tears flowed out silently.

It turns out that I am not alone.

In order to avoid their suspicion and to buy time for Sophia, I started to pretend.

The next day when Helena came to deliver food, for the first time I didn't give her the cold shoulder. Instead, I lowered my head and whispered, "Helena, I've figured it out."

Helena's face immediately lit up with surprise, "Really? I knew you were a good kid!"

"But," I raised my head, trying to make my eyes look sincere and cowardly, "I'm scared. I want to see my parents alone before the operation and ask them to give me some courage."

"Of course that's no problem!" Helena agreed immediately and turned around and left happily.

I leaned against the door, listening to her brisk footsteps as she came down the stairs, while counting down madly in my heart.

Sophia, please come quickly, it will be too late if you don’t come.

An hour later, my door was opened again.

Victor, Helena, and my parents came in together.