Chapter 1 Chapter 1 He Secretly Donated the Kidney to Someone Else!

Not long after the call was hung up, Zachary sent me a message. 'There's a surgery. I'm staying at the hospital tonight.' Short and to the point, it indicated he wouldn't be coming home. I couldn't help but recall the smug confidence in Ella's voice when she answered his phone. Judging by Zachary's response, it was clear she hadn't told him what I said. I let out a bitter laugh, picked up the last of my things from his house, and walked out the door. Locking it behind me, I didn't even bother with a final glance. We had been married for five years, and in all that time, whenever Zachary had to work late at the hospital, he would always make sure to let me know in detail. He once told me that women were sensitive and that as long as a man took care of the little things, it would give a woman a sense of security. Sending a text or making a quick call wasn't that hard. This time was no different, as he used surgery as his excuse. Once, I had loved him for his brilliance and thoughtfulness. But now, it all seemed like a cruel joke. … I went back to my mother's house. The familiar scent of her still lingered in the air. I collapsed onto the bed she used to sleep in, my strength completely drained. I wept silently. Just a few days ago, we had been holding each other, crying tears of joy. The long wait for a kidney transplant had finally come to an end! The news had given her renewed hope, a rare spark of life after years of battling this disease. Three years of dialysis had stripped her body bare, leaving her gaunt and frail. Despite all that, she still gave me the gentlest smile. "You've worked so hard for so long, sweetheart," she said softly. I smiled back, resting my head in her lap while enjoying the comforting warmth only a mother could give. Three years wasn't long, but it wasn't short either. For my mother, dialysis had extended her life, but it also took away so much of her dignity and joy. She had always been such a graceful, elegant woman, yet she had to endure this—a shunt in her body, placing all her hopes for survival on a machine. She was the one who had suffered the most. I had lost count of the times I found her late at night, staring at my father's photo and quietly weeping. I knew she wanted to join him. But Zachary had promised that once she got the transplant, everything would be fine. He was the leading nephrology expert at Hathlon Hospital, after all. With him on our side, I allowed myself to hold the greatest hope. So, we waited through the dialysis sessions and finally received good news. Yet, just half an hour before the surgery, Zachary secretly gave the kidney meant for my mother to Ella's mother instead! My mother didn't survive the surgery. Due to complications from heart failure, she never made it out of the operating room.

Chapter 2 Chapter 2 I Cannot Trust You Anymore

Clutching my mother's death certificate in my trembling hands, I felt like an empty shell. My eyes were dry, unable to shed even a single tear. I was too numb to cry. I called Zachary over and over again, but he never picked up. When my mother's condition worsened, I begged him to pull some strings, to move her up the transplant list faster. He knew how desperate I was, but he still refused. "If I did that," he said, "what about the patient who's next in line? That person has been waiting just as long. It wouldn't be fair." Zachary grew up in a small border town and was the only child to graduate from a prestigious university. He had no family connections or privileges, and he became a well-known professor entirely by his own efforts and talent. He despised injustice, both at the hospital and the university. That was why it was so hard to believe that the man who claimed to uphold fairness had stolen my mother's kidney and given it to someone else! I rushed to the door of Ella'

Chapter 3 Chapter 3 His Worthless Vows

Under the weight of his betrayal, I felt my heart grow cold, wrapped in an icy numbness. The urge to rip apart Zachary's mask of righteousness consumed me. "Give her proper treatment? How will you treat her? Do you even realize that because of you, she's already—" Before I could finish, a voice rang out. "Zachary! Come quickly. Something's wrong with my mom!" It was Ella calling desperately for him. Zachary's face immediately tightened with concern. He didn't even listen to the rest of my sentence before rushing off to her mother's ward. I couldn't stop a bitter smile from tugging at my lips as tears spilled down my cheeks. In my mind, I could see Zachary's self-righteous expression, the one he always wore when lecturing me about "fairness." And in that moment, I realized I never truly knew him. As the medical staff called me again and again to sign the paperwork for my mother's remains, I fought to hold myself together. Somehow, I managed to gather the strength to handle her affa

Chapter 4 Chapter 4 He Discovers My Mother's Death

When Ella first started appearing around Zachary, his behavior changed in ways that were impossible to ignore. He would sit at home, eyes glued to his phone as if waiting for something. Then he went and bought a privacy screen protector for his device. When I asked, he claimed it was to stop people at the hospital from snooping because some people liked to do so. I didn't say much at the time, but a woman's intuition was rarely wrong. Little by little, the name Ella began slipping into Zachary's conversations. That was when I knew something was off. What I never expected was that he would go so far as to bend the rules and sacrifice my only living family member for her. After that call, Zachary stopped contacting me altogether. I knew what he was waiting for. He was waiting for me to give in and admit my fault. Unfortunately, I had no time to talk to him because I was too busy planning my mother's funeral. My mother had always told me she didn't want anything extravagant. As long