Chapter 4

It would take thirty minutes to walk home from the seafood market.

This was the same road Daniel and I had walked countless times, hand-in-hand, when we first got married.

He didn't like takeout, so I learned to cook.

He didn't like vegetables, so I'd find creative ways to hide them in meat.

He loved seafood, so I'd endure my allergies and accompany him to the market countless times, noting down the names and cooking methods of every type of fish and shrimp.

He used to say, "Audrey, having you in my life is my greatest blessing."

Now, that blessing belonged to Holly.

By the time I reached my building, the sky was already beginning to lighten.

The house was brightly lit, and I could hear fierce arguing.

I pushed open the door.

Holly was pulling a suitcase, sobbing dramatically: "Audrey must hate me, I shouldn't have come back!"

My mom clung to her tightly, "Holly, don't talk nonsense! This is your home!"

Daniel saw me, clinging to me like a drowning man grasping at a straw: "Audrey! Quick, tell Holly you didn't get lost on purpose!"

I looked at them. Suddenly, I felt so tired.

"Daniel," I said, "didn't you tell me to get out and walk? I walked back."

He froze.

"Do you know I just had surgery?" I asked softly. "Do you know what it means for someone who just had a kidney removed to walk for thirty minutes in ten-degree Fahrenheit weather?"

"I..." Daniel's mouth opened, but no words came out.

"You don't know," I finished for him. "Because your heart is only for Holly."

Holly suddenly rushed forward and dropped to her knees before me with a thud.

"Audrey, I'll give you back your kidney! I'll give it back right now!" She tore at her hospital gown, revealing an incision in the exact same spot as mine.

"Holly!" Daniel and my mom exclaimed in unison.

Daniel immediately picked her up, then turned and roared at me, "Audrey! Are you only satisfied if you drive her to her death?!"

I laughed. Laughed until tears streamed down my face.

"Daniel," I said, "take a closer look at her incision."

He froze.

"A kidney transplant incision is usually in the mid-abdomen, at least fifteen centimeters long." I slowly lifted my hospital gown, revealing the bandage-wrapped incision. "But hers..."

Everyone's gaze fell on Holly's side. There was a bandage there, but it was only half the size of mine.

Daniel's mouth opened, but no words came out.

"You all conspired to deceive me," I said, each word deliberate. "You forged my medical records, tricked me into signing the surgical consent form, and took my healthy kidney. Daniel, you're a doctor; you've committed aggravated assault."

Daniel finally panicked.

"Audrey, let me explain..."

"Explain what?" I cut him off. "Explain how you fell in love with Holly? Explain how you gradually plotted to make me 'voluntarily' give up my kidney? Explain how you convinced my mom to lie to me?"

I turned to my mom.

"Mom," I asked, "Why?"

She wouldn't meet my eyes. "Holly... Holly saved my life..." Her voice trembled. "That year, in the car accident, she pulled me out of the wreckage..."

"So you repay your debt using your daughter's kidney?" I laughed, tears streaming down my face. "Mom, that year, in that car accident, I called 911. I gave you 500 milliliters of blood. How could you forget that?"

My mother collapsed to the floor, covering her face and crying.

Seeing this, Holly also cried and suddenly ran out the door.

"Holly!" Daniel chased after her.

My mom also scrambled up and stumbled out after them.