Chapter 2

“Enough talk. Arrange the kidney transplant surgery as soon as possible. Adeline can’t wait any longer. I don’t want her to continue suffering. Increase the anesthesia to ensure Ms. Cora doesn’t wake up and find out.”

The doctor hesitated momentarily but carefully replied, “The kidney can wait a bit longer. What if there’s a way to achieve both goals?”

“But Adeline can’t wait! I can’t bear to see her undergoing dialysis frequently. That beauty-loving girl has lost all her hair.”

“Then the scars from the transplant will eventually be seen. What will you say to Ms. Cora if your daughter really dies? She loves kids so much...”

“Then burn that patch of skin, and she’ll think it’s from the fire. I’ll tell her medical technology was limited, and we weren’t meant to be with the child. I’ll adopt Adeline’s son to divert her attention.”

I pinched my thigh hard to keep from crying and shakily took out my phone to record.

The doctor listened with a slight frown, his tone mixed with reluctance: “Think about it again. Ms. Cora is already blind, and her future life will be inconvenient. If the child dies and she loses a kidney, not only will it be hard to get pregnant, but just an infection could be fatal.”

Declan sighed, sounding helpless: “I’ll find the best medical team to keep her alive for the rest of her life. There’ll be children in the future. I can’t just watch Adeline’s last wish go unfulfilled.”

“She saved me before. I owe her. Whatever she and her child want, I must give them. Little Cora loves me so much; she’ll surely support me.”

The doctor shook his head slightly with regret. Before leaving, I heard him mutter, “As long as you don’t regret it, I hope Ms. Cora’s love won’t be exhausted.”

On this side, Declan took out his phone and made a call, speaking seriously: “Compensate the arsonist nanny well and let her live in a different city or country after her release. I don’t want any news reaching Ms. Cora’s ears.”

I slumped inside the ward door. Even though the physical pain was overwhelming, the heartbreak was worse, and tears flowed uncontrollably.

The person who should’ve been my closest companion now seemed so unfamiliar, whether it was tears blurring my eyes or smoke from the fire.

Hearing footsteps approaching outside, I shakily stood up, put away my phone, ignored the blood seeping from the scars on my body, and lay down on the bed.

Thinking of my severely burned daughter, whose condition was still unknown, I felt a dull ache in my chest that wouldn’t go away.

Such a beauty-loving little girl, how could she face disfigurement and pain alone?

I covered my painful chest, suppressing the nausea rising in my throat, but couldn’t stop the tears soaking the sheets.

That fire was orchestrated by the man I was so proud of.

My daughter and I were just sacrifices paving the way for his beloved.

Adeline’s last wish was paramount to him, while my daughter’s and my life meant nothing.

These seven years of marriage were nothing but a joke.

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