Chapter 4

I cried, trembling uncontrollably, almost suffocating.

The hospital room instantly fell silent.

Ava, startled by me, shrank into Mom's arms, coughing violently.

"Mom! Does she not want to give me her heart anymore?"

"It's all because of her! Ever since she came to our house, I've been sick, always having surgery. Did she pass her bad luck onto me?"

"Oh, and she stole my lucky dumplings this year, and now she wants to steal my Dad and Mom too!"

Steal?

I abruptly looked up, screaming as if I'd lost my mind, tears mixing with the bloodstains on my face.

"Then who took what was drawn from my spine, who took my kidney, who took my liver from my belly!"

"My body, my organs, my life, aren't they worth anything? Ever since I came here, I've been losing things, always in pain. I never took anything, I gave you everything!"

Another slap, heavier and crueler than before.

This time it was Dad. His big hand roughly grabbed my hair, yanking me up from the floor.

"Willow, your wretched life, from the day you were abandoned at the orphanage entrance, it was worthless!"

"A worthless thing abandoned by her own parents, a good-for-nothing who would eventually starve, freeze, or fall ill and die in an orphanage! Our family took pity on you, pulled you out of that awful place! We gave you food, we gave you clothes!"

"From the day we brought you home, your existence was solely for Ava to live! Now Ava needs your heart, this is your fate, what you owe our family!"

I lay on the ground, my blood frozen.

So that's how it was.

Just because I owed them.

Then I'll pay them back.

I smiled faintly, slowly pushed myself up, and stood shakily.

"Doctor, I voluntarily agree to the surgery. Can we do it now?"

Dad grunted.

"It's about time. Stop stalling and delaying Ava's condition!"

I entered the operating room. Anesthetic slowly spread from the vein on the back of my hand, flowing through my limbs.

The doctor was making the final preparations. I strained to turn my head, looking at the small observation window of the operating room.

Behind the window glass, two shadowy figures stood.

It was Dad and Mom.

They stood side by side, their gaze fixed on Ava, who was on another operating table beside me.

Mom pressed her hands together under her chin, as if praying, Dad's arm was around her shoulder, his lips pressed thin.

From beginning to end, they never looked at me.

Not even once.

The anesthetic's potency grew stronger, and my consciousness began to blur.

The last thing I saw was Mom leaning close to the observation window, nodding vigorously at the doctor inside, her lips seeming to form the words:

"Please, save her."

Then she turned and walked with Dad towards Ava's observation room next door.

Their backs, and the retreating shadow from that snowy night in my memory, completely overlapped at that moment.

I closed my eyes, letting the darkness completely envelop me.

Mom, Dad.

Everything you wanted, I've given back to you.

My bone marrow, my kidney, my liver, and this heart.

This time, we're finally even.

I don't owe you anything anymore.

I don't know how much time passed, but the door opened again.

Outside the operating room, Dad and Mom rushed over as soon as the chief surgeon emerged. The surgeon nodded.

"The surgery was very successful, with almost no rejection."

"This situation is extremely rare in non-blood-related transplants; usually, only direct blood relatives have such perfect tissue compatibility."

The air suddenly froze.

Dad's voice was hoarse as he spoke.

"Direct blood relatives?"