chapter 2

I wrenched free, shoved them apart, and caught her waist in a vicious pinch that made her yelp.

Margaret collapsed onto the floor, wailing that I was a wicked daughter-in-law who dared strike her. “Curse you,” she screeched. “My son worships the ground you walk on, and still you refuse to save him.”

Colin’s eyes gleamed with something sly as he murmured, “Mom, please don’t pressure Viv.” He lifted his gaze to me, devotion softening his eyes. “Viv, if you refuse to help, I will never blame you. I love you. I would die for you, and when I’m gone, you must find someone who cherishes you.”

Die for me? How absurd.

His mask of solicitude made the events of the past snap into brutal clarity.

Whenever I clashed with his mother, he seemed to defend me, yet the only winner was always Margaret. The loser, without exception, was me.

Before the wedding, Colin had sworn we would never share a roof with his parents. Yet, barely a month after the ceremony, Margaret arrived, bags in hand, claiming the guest bedroom as her own. I pushed back, and to my surprise, Colin joined me, shouting at her in open defiance.

Later, I found him crouched on the stairwell, phone pressed to his ear, apologizing in a whisper, “Mom, I know I’m unfilial. Viv wants to live apart, so I must keep my word. I’m sorry.”

He slapped his face again and again until my resolve crumbled, and I drove over to bring her into our home.

In my previous life, I had signed the Kidney Donation Consent Form without hesitation, and none of this farce had unfolded.

Now that I had refused, they slipped back into their old routine, with one pretending to be the villain and the other the martyr.

“I want every one of Colin’s test results,” I said, extending my hand toward Margaret, my voice unflinching.

A flicker of panic crossed her eyes before anger settled over her face like freshly poured concrete.

Clutching her chest, she cried, “How sinful! How dare you doubt my words. Colin is lying in the ICU. Are you blind? Can’t you see how pitiful he is?”

I must be blind in my previous life to let him trick me out of money and, eventually, my life. I never asked to see the scans, and panicked the moment I heard renal failure. Today, I was certain they had no report at all.

George stepped forward, carefully avoiding any talk of the missing report. “Viv,” he coaxed. “The doctor says you’re in excellent health. Give up one kidney and you will stay as energetic as ever.”

My nails gouged crescents into my palm, a bright sting anchoring me to the moment.

In my previous life, donating that kidney ruined me. Pain became my weather. Margaret, who had vowed to nurse me, never appeared, and Colin spent whole nights away as though I were already dead.

The last time I saw Margaret, while breath still lived in me, was at Autumn’s celebration. Her triumphant smirk and the venom that dripped from her tongue remain etched in my memory.

“Autumn is finally cured. Colin knew exactly how to get it done, pretending to be ill so that the stupid girl would surrender a kidney. How dense she is. The moment I said ‘renal failure,’ she rushed off for compatibility tests.”

Had I not stumbled on the truth in my previous life, they would have kept me blind until my last breath.

Now, facing their familiar performance, a cold smile spread inside me.

“I am his wife, so I have every right to see the report and the scans, do I not? You want me to sign away a kidney. I deserve to know his exact diagnosis.”

I lifted my brows in mock astonishment. “You are not hiding something from me, are you?”

George and Margaret grew flustered, yet tried to act composed. They dragged me to the doorway and bellowed down the corridor.

“Everyone, take a look. My son spoils her rotten, yet when his life is in danger, she refuses to do a thing!”

Margaret glared, her eyes sharp as knives. “You never intended to save my boy. You must have a lover on the side!”

Like mother, like son. They both enjoyed smearing my name with their filthy gossip.

I watched, satisfied, as more and more people crowded around us.

They listened only to her shrill accusations and began pointing at me.

“This woman is trouble. You can see it at a glance,” someone muttered.

“If she were my daughter-in-law, I would smack her right now,” another voice snapped.

A third voice remarked, “A loose woman like her would have been punished back in the old days.”

Seeing the onlookers take her side, Margaret let tears stream down her face. “I have only one son. What would I do if I lost him? Give him your kidney and, if you want to leave us afterward, we will not stand in your way.”