Chapter 3

Monica and I fell in love in college.

At the time, she was drowning in $30,000 of debt left behind by her parents after their sudden deaths in a car crash. Each day, she survived on boiled cabbage in a run-down apartment, hiding from creditors.

I gave her every penny of my scholarship money and part-time job earnings. For three years, we worked together to pay off the debt.

After graduation, we both landed jobs at a prestigious company thanks to our stellar academic performance.

A year into our careers, I bought an engagement ring, decorated a small apartment we could call home, and proposed to her.

Monica was overcome with emotion, crying as she said yes. Not long after we got married, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

Monica was so excited to name the baby that she spent hours flipping through name dictionaries. She would curl up in my arms at night, softly reciting the names she’d picked out to the baby in her belly.

I teased her for being overly sentimental, but she just smiled and said, “This is only the beginning. One day, I’ll read bedtime stories to her every night. Fairy tales, adventures, and the story of how we fell in love.”

After our daughter was born, the company downsized. To support Monica’s ambitions, I quit my job and became a stay-at-home dad, taking care of Emily full-time.

Every evening, Monica would come home with a small gift for me or Emily. Our life was simple, but it was warm and full of love.

Back then, I truly believed this happiness would last forever.

But then David came back into her life.

I’d known about David even before we got married. He wasn’t just Monica’s first love—he was her “one that got away.”

One night, I heard her mumbling his name in her sleep.

I’d heard the story before. They grew up as childhood sweethearts and were even engaged at one point. But after Monica’s parents passed and she was left with their debt, David broke it off and moved with his family to another city.

At our wedding, Monica had tears in her eyes as she thanked me.

“Thank you, Noah, for giving me a home again.”

I held her tightly, thinking only of the pain she’d endured and the strength it had given her. I never realized she was still carrying the weight of her past—David included.

The first time I met David was at the hospital.

It was pouring rain. He was kneeling in the lobby with a little girl by his side, begging the doctors to save her life.

Monica froze when she heard his voice. She turned toward him instinctively, and the moment their eyes met, I saw the panic on her face.

She hesitated, visibly flustered, before whispering to me that we should let him have our appointment slot because “the child looked so pitiful.”

David’s daughter, Sophie, had a congenital heart defect and needed a transplant to survive. But finding a donor wasn’t easy, so they were relying on medication to keep her alive for as long as possible.

After that, Monica started visiting the hospital more frequently, and her relationship with David and Sophie grew closer.

Meanwhile, the time she spent with me and Emily dwindled.

She would talk endlessly about “Sophie,” comparing her to Emily, and the warm smiles she once gave us became rare.

I thought that once Sophie’s situation stabilized, Monica would come to her senses and resume her role as a mother.

But I was naive. It took losing Emily for me to realize how wrong I was.

Monica and I had been together for nine years. Nine years, reduced to a single sheet of divorce papers.

When I signed the organ donation consent form for Emily, my hands were trembling.

Organ donation has to happen quickly.

Emily was always kind and selfless. Two years ago, she’d seen a news report about donors and told me that if she ever passed away, she wanted to help others in need.

This was her wish, and I honored it.

But as I watched her tiny, lifeless body lying there, my heart felt like it was being torn apart.

“Emily, are you frowning because your stomach still hurts?” I whispered, tears streaming down my face.

“Sleep peacefully now, my sweet girl. Daddy will make sure the people who hurt you pay for what they’ve done.”

After the organs were harvested, the hospital prepared Emily’s body for cremation.

Not long after Monica left, I received a call from the hospital.

It was the director.

“Noah, we understand this is an incredibly difficult time, but there’s something we need to discuss. Emily’s heart… it’s already been removed.”

“I don’t care,” I said coldly. “We’re not donating it.”

There was a long pause before he hesitantly replied, “Sir, the transplant was scheduled for today. The patient—”

“Is her name Sophie Lee?” I interrupted, my voice ice cold.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t disclose patient information. Please reconsider—”

I hung up.

Later that day, I sat in Emily’s room, holding her ashes in my lap.

“Look, Emily,” I whispered, forcing a smile as I held up an Elsa doll I’d just bought. “Daddy finally got you the one you wanted.”

The sunlight streamed through the window, but every step I took on the way home felt like walking on broken glass.

The pain was unbearable.

And it only got worse when I reached my house and heard Monica screaming outside.

“That bastard Noah changed the locks! David, don’t worry—I’ll handle this. I’ll make him pay!”

David sighed theatrically. “Let it go, Monica. I’m sure Emily didn’t mean any harm.”

He looked every bit the victim, his face etched with false sorrow.

Monica’s anger flared even higher. She turned to the building security guard and shouted, “Break the lock!”

“What are you doing?” I demanded as I approached.

Monica spotted me and stormed over, grabbing my collar.

“Where did Emily hide it?” she snarled. “That little thief stole Sophie’s Elsa doll! What a disgrace of a child!”

I froze, disbelief washing over me.

My wife didn’t know that Emily was gone… and here she was, accusing her of theft.

“I’ve given her everything—how dare she steal from Sophie! Do you know Sophie is so upset about this that she doesn’t even want to go through with her surgery?”

“She’s evil! How could a child be so malicious at such a young age?”

“Stop, Monica,” David said gently, tugging at her sleeve. “She’s just a kid. We’ll find the doll and move on.”

I couldn’t hold back a bitter laugh.

Sophie’s surgery was delayed because they couldn’t find a donor, yet Monica had the audacity to blame my daughter.

“Do you have any proof?” I asked coldly. “If you’re so confident, why not check the security cameras?”

David paled, his fake righteousness faltering as he stammered, “There’s no need for that. Let’s just drop it.”

Monica patted his hand reassuringly, then turned to glare at me.

“Sophie told us herself,” she said. “And Sophie doesn’t lie.”

I stared at her, my heart growing colder with every word.

Monica didn’t even need evidence. She was willing to condemn her own daughter based purely on the word of someone else’s child.