A Slip in the White Room

"Are you sure the kidney's a match? I've waited three years for this."Samuel released my hand and pulled Meredith into his arms. He kissed her forehead. "Dr. Lawson ran the tests. It's a match. I'll give you the healthy body you deserve."Meredith nodded. When she spoke again, her voice was soft but also a little hurt. "What about her womb? You promised I'd be the only one to bear your family's heir. Your housekeeper told me Rachel's been trying for a baby."My heart skipped a beat. She even knew something that private?Samuel's kisses stopped. "Do we have to remove it? I can make her use an IUD."Meredith stiffened, rejecting the idea outright. Her voice cracked. "So, you really have fallen for her, Samuel. I thought I was the only one for you. If you won't take her womb out, I'm not doing the transplant! Let me die and spend your life with Rachel!"Samuel sighed softly. "Stop it, Meredith. You're having the transplant. You need that kidney. I won't let anything happen to you."

"You're the best, Rachel."The boy looked at me with innocent curiosity. I smiled back, but my heart felt frozen.Samuel held a grand welcoming party that night. He said it was to celebrate my coming home safely."Samuel's a good husband. You're so lucky, Rachel.""Yeah. He stayed with you even through all that. Not all men could do that."The guests lavished praise on me, but I was numb. Still, I smiled at them while my heart was getting sliced to pieces. Samuel's parents were there too, gazing at Riley with affection and calling him their precious grandson. Of course, they knew the truth.Charlotte, Samuel's mother, sneered at me. "Some women are just barren. Years go by, and still no child. Completely useless."Samuel's expression darkened. "Stop it, Mom. It's not her fault. It's mine."I clenched the hem of my dress, and humiliation filled my heart. I wanted to snap and tell them the truth, but I swallowed my words. One little rant couldn't possibly tell them the enor

The rough asphalt scraped my arms and cheeks. I curled instinctively and rolled toward the roadside. My car kept racing forward, the door still flung open.Moments later, I heard the screech of something coming to a halt, and then a thunderous crash erupted. Then an explosion shook the air.I was lying on the ground, the world around me swaying. Struggling, I got back up, only to see the car swallowed by flames. My bag was in there, and along with it, my ID and license.But none of that mattered. I needed a hospital. The fall had split the skin on my calf and cracked my head hard enough to blur my vision. Blood trickled steadily down my leg.…When I lay back down later, my body throbbed with dull, relentless pain. The nurse came in to switch out my dressing. Under her breath, she murmured, "Such a pity. The Terrason heir's wife is gone."Once she left the room, I rummaged around for my phone and turned it on. Then, I was blasted with hundreds of push notifications.'Rache

"Even if you find her, what then?" Meredith laughed bitterly. "Who would fall in love with a man who stole her kidney and womb?"Samuel fell back into his chair, as if all his strength had been drained. "Then, give her back the kidney," he muttered quietly. Suddenly, he grabbed her by the shoulders. "Give her the kidney back! Take mine instead! Give her my life!""Are you mad?" Meredith screamed as she tried to pull away from him. "Do you even hear yourself? You're doing all that for a dead woman?"Samuel's head snapped up, his eyes blazing with wild resolve. "How many times do I have to say it? She's not dead. I will find her!"Meredith thought coldly, 'And even if you do, so what?'Samuel squeezed Meredith's throat, glaring at her. "If you tell her any of this, I'll take both your kidneys!"Meredith clawed at his arms, wheezing. Terror filled her eyes. "You… you wouldn't…"That did not make Samuel waver. His grip tightened. "That's where you're wrong! For her, I can do anyth

The look in Samuel's eyes made Meredith shiver. "I can explain, Samuel.""Explain what?" Samuel sneered and gripped Meredith's throat tightly. "You've been lying to me all this time, haven't you? You never had the transplant. That talk about her kidney saving your life was a lie, wasn't it?"Meredith was starting to breathe heavily, but she grinned. "Yes, it was all a lie. I wanted her dead!"Samuel's grip tightened. "Why?"A hysterical scream burst out of her. "Because I hate her! We spent ten years together, and you still married her! That wasn't fair! I wanted to kill her!"Her laughter rang out, shrill and broken. The storm brewing in his expression only seemed to delight her.His fist clenched until his knuckles cracked. He yanked her upright. "Where's her kidney?"Meredith tilted her head and put on an innocent look. "Tossed away like garbage, of course. Rotten and burned like the medical waste and tumors they took out."Samuel slammed his fist into the wall. Blood trickl