Chapter 1

I stood outside the hospital room, clutching my critical condition notice, listening to Kelly whimpering affectionately into Zachary’s chest.

"Zach, thank God you altered the medical records. Otherwise, I never would’ve gotten that kidney donor match."

Zachary’s response was bone-chillingly cold.

"Chloe is too selfish. She always acts like the world owes her something. Reassigning her spot will humble her. It’ll teach her some gratitude."

I looked down at the words stamped in bold red on my surgical notice: *Urgent Transplant Required.*

Suddenly, twenty years of loyalty felt like a cruel joke.

Nine years by his side. Three years of marriage. And in his eyes, my desperate fight to survive was nothing more than "arrogance that needed humbling."

Fine. If he wanted my life, he couldn’t have it.

And I was done keeping him, too.

"Done talking?"

I pushed the door open. Kelly slowly sat up from Zachary’s arms.

Zachary didn’t flinch. A cigarette dangled between his fingers, ash drifting onto the floor.

He looked at me, his face blank enough to freeze the room.

"How much did you hear?"

He asked it casually, like asking what was for dinner.

"Starting right from 'thank God you altered the medical records.'"

Kelly’s reaction was even faster than I expected.

Her eyes rimmed with red, her lips trembled, and her fingers clutched Zachary’s sleeve.

"Chloe, I didn't know Zach falsified the records... I swear I never asked him to do that..."

I stared at her.

The cream-colored cardigan she was wearing today was the exact one I’d given her during my winter chemo round. She had come to visit and complained about how chilly the corridor was, so I took off my only warm coat and handed it to her.

She was still wearing it today.

"Zachary, I only have one question for you."

He stubbed out his cigarette.

"Go ahead."

"I waited fourteen months on the transplant list for that match. Who gave you the right to reassign it to someone else?"

He pinched the bridge of his nose, acting like I was an annoying math problem.

"Chloe, can you stop being so dramatic for once?"

"I’m speaking to you calmly."

"No, you’re not." He stood up. "You’re interrogating me. We’ve been married for three years. When has this family not put you first? Kelly has severe liver dysfunction. I secured a spot for her, and you lose your mind?"

My nails dug deep into my palms.

"What liver dysfunction?"

Kelly looked down, letting tears drop silently.

Zachary answered for her. "She was diagnosed last year. We kept it from you so you wouldn't overthink."

I stared at Kelly.

Last year at this time, she had just returned from Miami. Her Instagram feed was packed with bikini beach photos, teeth gleaming in the sun.

Someone with end-stage organ dysfunction went deep-sea scuba diving.

I had spent a year and a half in pre-med, and that was news to me.

But I didn't call her out.

Because I knew Zachary too well—he believed her.

Right now, any doubt I voiced would only earn me four words in his head: *selfish, paranoid, bitter, toxic.*

I pulled off the band on my ring finger.

A simple platinum ring worth barely a thousand bucks. When we got married, he said wedding rings didn't need to be flashy, that "it's the thought that counts," and told me to pick one out myself.

It had taken me six months of saving to buy it.

I placed the ring on the nightstand, right beside my critical condition notice.

Zachary’s expression flickered for a fraction of a second.

"What is this supposed to mean?"

"Give her the spot. My life is mine to keep or throw away."

Kelly suddenly lunged forward, grabbing my wrist with shocking strength, digging red marks into my skin.

"Chloe, don't leave! I don't want the kidney anymore! Please don't give up on treatment..."

I looked down at her manicured fingers digging into my forearm.

It was an arm riddled with needle punctures—after two years of dialysis, there wasn't a single patch of smooth skin left.

I pulled away gently.

"Take it."

I looked into her eyes. "Take the kidney, and take Zachary with it. I won't fight you for either."

She froze.

As I walked out of the hospital wing, my phone buzzed.

It was my mother.

I picked it up.

Her voice exploded through the speaker before I could even say hello.

"Chloe, are you picking a fight with Kelly again? Zachary's mother just called me, saying you're acting out again! Couldn't you just yield the spot to your sister? Kelly grew up without parents. Do you have any idea how much trauma she carries—"

I leaned against the hallway wall and slowly slid down into a crouch.

"Mom, that kidney was supposed to save my life."

"Stop using death to guilt-trip me."

Silence hung between us for two seconds. I asked one last question.

"Mom, if I actually died, would you even care?"

The other end went dead quiet for a long time.

"Listen to the nonsense coming out of your mouth."

She never answered.