Chapter 7

Evelyn Reed POV

Sophia was rushed to the emergency room.

The look Nate gave me before he left was as if he were looking at an enemy.

Silence returned to the ward. I sat quietly on the hospital bed, watching the yellowed leaves outside the window being carried away by the autumn wind, feeling an unusual sense of peace.

No anger, no grievance, only a kind of liberation.

Two hours later, Nate's assistant pushed open the ward door. He looked at me with a complicated expression and handed me a document.

"Mrs. Thorne, Mr. Thorne said... Miss Smith's condition has worsened, and she urgently needs a kidney donor. Your blood type and various indicators are a high match with Miss Smith's. Mr. Thorne hopes you can... donate a kidney to Miss Smith."

The assistant's voice grew softer and softer, almost inaudible by the end.

I looked at the "Organ Donation Consent Form" and suddenly laughed out loud.

My laughter echoed in the empty ward, tinged with boundless desolation and mockery.

"He wants me to donate a kidney?" I pointed to myself, tears streaming down my face from laughter. "Does he know I just had a miscarriage? Does he know my leg burns haven't healed? He wants me to save his mistress?"

The assistant lowered his head, not daring to meet my eyes: "Mr. Thorne said that if you agree, he is willing to transfer thirty percent of the company's shares to you and guarantees that he will never have any inappropriate contact with Miss Smith again."

"No more contact?" I scoffed as if I'd heard the biggest joke. "He means he wants to trade my life for Sophia's!"

I grabbed the consent form and, in front of the assistant, tore it into shreds.

"Go back and tell Nate that if he wants my kidney, it will be over my dead body."

The assistant sighed and silently backed out.

That same night, Nate came.

He looked utterly exhausted, with a five o'clock shadow on his jaw. He walked to the bedside, looking down at me, his tone carrying an unquestionable command.

"Evelyn Reed, Sophia can't wait. You can live with one less kidney, but she'll die without it."

I looked into his eyes, as if at a monster.

"Nate, do you think that because I loved you, I deserve to be trampled on?" My voice was soft, but full of disappointment in him. "When my brother died, you were with her. When I was pregnant and you drove me to a miscarriage, you were with her. When I was scalded by hot soup, you were still with her. Now, you even want to take my kidney to save her?"

Nate's eyes flickered with a hint of panic, but it was quickly masked by cold ruthlessness: "Miscarriage? When were you pregnant? Why didn't you tell me?"

"What's the use of telling you?" I sneered.

"Evelyn Reed!" Nate roared, suddenly grabbing my shoulders. "Don't be unreasonable! Sophia's illness can't be delayed! You're a doctor, are you just going to let her die?"

"I am a doctor, but I am not your tool!" I forcefully broke free from his grip, pointing to the door. "Get out! I never want to see you again in my life!"

Nate stared at me, his eyes terrifyingly sinister.

"Evelyn Reed, don't be stubborn. In New York, I have ways to get you onto that operating table to donate a kidney."

He flung those words at me, then turned and strode away.

I sat on the bed, trembling, my hands gripping the bedsheets tightly.

I knew Nate's words were real. He had money and power; if he truly went mad, I wouldn't be able to resist.

I had to leave. Immediately.

I pulled out the IV needle from the back of my hand, gritting my teeth against the searing pain in my leg, and changed into my clothes.

I pulled out my phone and dialed a number hidden at the very bottom of my contacts.

"Ethan Miller, it's me. Arrange for me to go to San Francisco. As soon as possible."

The other end was silent for two seconds, then a deep male voice replied: "Okay. See you at the hospital's back entrance in half an hour."

After hanging up, I looked at the ward that had held me captive for seven days, turning to leave without a single trace of nostalgia.

Nate Thorne, it's completely over between us.

I will never look back at you again.