Chapter 2

A sharp pain tore through my kidneys.

I grabbed my wife Kate's arm desperately: "Kate, quick! Get me to the hospital. I feel like I'm dying!"

She violently shook off my hand and sneered.

"What's the rush? When Pedro had his asthma attack, he was in a hundred times more pain than you are now."

The car suddenly braked hard.

I looked out the window—this wasn't the hospital. It was a deserted underground parking garage.

Complete silence surrounded us.

"Kate, have you lost your mind? What the hell are you doing?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she turned on the car's display screen. The image showed live surveillance footage from the hospital's dialysis center.

In the city's most advanced blood purification chamber—the one I had reserved—her childhood sweetheart Pedro lay comfortably, attended by several nurses.

Kate smiled at Pedro on the monitor, then turned to look at me.

"David, I'm so sorry. Pedro had a sudden severe asthma attack. It was critical, so he had to use your spot first."

My heart sank to the bottom.

"You planned this all along?"

She finally dropped her disguise, laughing contemptuously: "You're the one who said it—first come, first served. Now, you can just wait here."

The excruciating pain made my vision go black. I used the last of my strength to beg her: "Then at least take me to another hospital!"

She acted like she'd heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Another hospital? Why should I spend money to save a useless burden like you?"

She turned on the car's air conditioning to the coldest setting, the freezing air blasting directly at me.

I shivered violently from the cold, but the pain in my abdomen only intensified.

She lit a slim cigarette. The harsh smoke made me cough violently, each cough tugging at my torn kidneys.

I stared at her now-unfamiliar profile, my voice hoarse: "Kate, our three years together..."

"Really?" Her eyes were ice cold. "Pedro said he saw you embracing another woman. Now you want to talk about our three years together?"

I looked at her in shock: "You're insane! When did I ever—"

"Enough!" Kate whirled around.

"Pedro's body is damaged. Fine, you took his parking spot. But then you made him stand in the rain until he got a fever. Now it's time for you to experience what suffering feels like!"

The car door locked with a "click." She got out, imprisoning me alone in this cold, desperate space.

On the screen, Pedro showed a triumphant smile and waved at the camera.

I don't know how much time passed before the car door was violently yanked open.

Kate stood outside, several thugs behind her with cigarettes dangling from their mouths, their eyes leering at me.

She held a bucket filled with murky, filthy water.

"It's too dry in the car," she looked down at me condescendingly. "How else can you understand the helplessness Pedro felt waiting for a parking spot in the rain?"

I moved my lips weakly, each word draining all my remaining strength: "Kate... save me..."

She snorted coldly. The thugs immediately understood.

Two hands reached in, dragging me roughly from the car and throwing me hard onto the muddy ground.

Mud water instantly soaked through my clothes. I struggled to get up, but a foot pressed down hard on my back, pinning me to the ground, unable to move.

Kate lifted the bucket and walked over to me.

The filthy water poured down from above my head, reeking terribly, choking into my mouth and nose.

I shook violently from the cold, my consciousness gradually blurring between the freezing temperature and the excruciating pain in my kidneys.