chapter 2

When I woke up, the danger had passed.

All of a sudden, my father, Richard Walker, burst in and yanked me from the bed toward the door. “You wretch! If Isabelle hadn't heard about your hemorrhage, she wouldn't have fallen down the stairs in shock and caused massive bleeding. She lost the baby. Come with me now and comfort her.”

The obstetrics ward was in another building, a twenty-minute walk.

It was late autumn, and rain fell outside. Moreover, I'd just left the operating theater. If I went, I'd land in the ICU before nightfall.

The nurse hurried forward to intervene, saying, “Sir, Ms. Walker just had surgery. She can't handle that. If her wound gets wet from the rain, the complications could send her straight to the ICU tonight.”

Richard hesitated, then, picturing Isabelle's tear-streaked pale face, hardened his resolve and dragged me off the bed.

“We've pampered and treasured Isabelle since birth. Just endure a little, and it will pass. Besides, as her elder sister, can't you take care of her a little?” he snapped.

His tug ripped out my IV needle, tearing the vein and making me cry out.

The nurse quickly eased me back onto the bed and tended the bleeding.

Richard exploded. “It's just a scratch! Stop being dramatic. Are you determined to make your sister suffer?”

Fresh out of surgery, I had no strength to argue.

The nurse lost her patience. “Both are your daughters,” she snapped at him. “Where were you, her family members, when Ms. Walker nearly died on the operating table yesterday? Now, you're even shouting here? If you don't leave soon, I'll call security.”

Richard reddened in anger, speechless.

Just then, Isabelle rolled up in a wheelchair, a nursing aide behind her. Tears streamed down her face as she said, “Elena, are you okay? I was so scared when I heard what happened to you...”

Richard's eyes welled up with sympathy, and he grew more resentful toward me. “See how thoughtful she is and how much she cares about you. Apologize to your sister!”

Their profound bond struck a painful chord within me.

Isabelle had been rushed to the ICU the day we were born.

Doctors claimed I had stolen her nutrients in the womb, leaving her frail and in need of constant care.

Because of this, whenever we clashed, our parents would immediately take her side, calling me “bloodsucker” every time.

When Isabelle wanted to study design, I had to give up art.

She loved mangoes, so every birthday cake was mango-flavored — even though I was allergic to them.

She fancied Evan, so I was told to break up with him.

Everything changed at age eighteen, when Isabelle's health examination before her university entrance exam revealed kidney failure. Suddenly, our parents' attitude toward me did a one-eighty turn.

For the first time, my mother prepared a strawberry-flavored birthday cake and said, “Happy birthday, Elena!”

My parents and Marcus even gave me birthday gifts.

For a moment, I thought I was in heaven.

Hence, when they asked me to donate a kidney to Isabelle, I agreed right away, all because they said we were a family.

However, everything went back to square one after the operation. I was still the invisible one in the family, while all their attention remained fixed on Isabelle.

At that thought, my heart was filled with sorrow.

Just then, my mother, Linda Walker, hurried in and lashed out. “How did I raise such an ingrate? Isabelle miscarried because of you, and you left her out in the cold? Kneel and apologize to her now!”

She tenderly dabbed Isabelle's tears. “My dear girl, you're so fragile now. Why are you being so stubborn?”

Isabelle only cried harder.

Then, Linda shoved my shoulders, forcing me to my knees before Isabelle.

I stiffened my neck and retorted, “When I was bleeding out, she had Marcus take every bag of Rh-null blood type. If a kind stranger hadn't donated blood in time, I would've died on the operating table. A sister like that? No thanks!”

Upon being exposed, Isabelle flashed a look of panic before dissolving into sobs.

“I know you've always resented me, Elena, but I never meant to hurt you,” she whimpered. “Besides, I carried that baby for you. Leon wanted a child, and since you couldn't give him one, I had to...”