Chapter 3

3

Seeing Caleb say those words so casually made me wonder if he was even human anymore.

Lily is his own flesh and blood.

Yet, to force me out for Fiona's kidney, he was willing to threaten his own daughter.

My father heard him mention the child and fell into deep despair.

He held my mother's hand, trying to wipe the blood from her face.

He kept whispering under his breath.

"Devil... monster... devil..."

Caleb glanced at my empty-eyed father and my breathless mother.

He waved a hand to his men.

"I've had enough fun for today. We'll come back tomorrow."

He left the old house without a single backward glance.

Looking at his cold silhouette, I couldn't believe this was the same man who once swore to love me forever.

Everything changed three years ago in May.

I was at the office when I got a call saying Caleb had been kidnapped.

The kidnappers' demand was strange; they didn't want money, they wanted me at the scene.

I dropped a massive deal that could have saved my company and raced to the location.

I didn't know the men who took him.

They told me it was a life for a life―mine for Caleb's.

I agreed without a second thought.

As my lifeblood drained out of me in that abandoned building, I saw Fiona Miller arrive to pick him up.

I wasn't blind; I saw the way she looked at him.

With my last bit of strength, I called my mother.

I begged her never to tell Caleb what happened that day.

I wanted him to live a happy, guilt-free life after I was gone.

I thought our bond was deep enough that even if he moved on, he would protect my parents and child.

I never imagined it would come to this.

My attempt to protect him had become the weapon that killed my mother.

Suddenly, a sharp ringtone from inside Caleb's car pulled my thoughts back.

Caleb looked at the caller ID, took a breath, and answered.

"Caleb, can you get Ava or not? My health is failing. I can't take this anymore. If this goes on, I'll just jump from the 35th floor..."

Fiona's voice on the other end was frantic and aggressive.

Caleb's face tightened with worry.

His tone became incredibly gentle as he comforted her.

"Fiona, listen to me. I'll have news about Ava very soon. I heard her phone ring at her mother's house today. Once I find her, I'll make sure she gives you that kidney. Don't do anything reckless..."

Hearing about the phone, Fiona's mood shifted instantly.

"Then you need to strike while the iron is hot, Caleb. Don't give them a chance to breathe. Where are you?"

"On my way home..."

Fiona interrupted him again.

"No, don't come home. Go back to the old house. I don't want you to see me looking so pathetic tonight. If we solve this, we can plan our destination wedding next year. You know marrying you is my only wish..."

Hearing her sweet promises, Caleb's frown vanished.

A look of infatuation crossed his face.

"Fine. Anything for you..."

He hung up and turned to the driver.

"U-turn. We're going back."

Back at the old house, my father had cleaned up the mess.

He was wiping the blood from my mother's face while talking to Lily, who had just come home from school.

"Lily, if you ever see your father, you run as fast as you can. Do you understand me?"

The little girl was young but sensible.

She gripped my mother's cold hand and kept asking my father.

"Grandpa, what happened to Grandma? Why is she so cold? I want to hug her..."