Chapter 5

Tessa recoiled a step, startled by the fierce, savage look in my eyes, but she quickly forced herself to stand tall and push back.

"Aiden, stop acting like the good guy here!

"Mrs. Morgan was only fired because of you, anyway. Who told you to be so disobedient?"

I whipped my head around to face my dad. "Dad, is that what you think, too?

"To save the man who killed your wife, you're willing to have your own son's kidney cut out! Are you even human?!"

My dad's face drained of color under my roar, and he pointed a shaking finger right at my nose, red with furious embarrassment.

"You ungrateful monster! Shut your mouth! Levi is my son, too!"

Tessa snapped. She pointed straight at me, her expression twisted into pure cruelty.

"Aiden, even if you have to die today, that kidney is staying with Levi! Guards! Tie him up and drag him back!"

Mrs. Morgan tried to step forward and help me, but a single threat from Tessa froze her in her tracks.

"If you dare take one more step, I'll make sure your son never finishes school."

Mrs. Morgan froze, unable to meet my pleading eyes as she pulled back.

The only person who cared about me had been cornered and forced away by their threats.

Once I was securely tied up, Levi put on a sickening display of feigned innocence.

"Tessa, what if he runs away again?

"I think we need some leverage to keep him in line."

As those words left his lips, a cold wave of panic gripped my chest.

Levi smiled triumphantly. "Naturally, I mean Aiden's mom's ashes.

"He loves his mom so much, surely he wouldn't want her ashes scattered into the open ocean."

They dragged me straight to my mother's columbarium where my mother’s ashes were kept.

The rough, uneven ground scraped raw against my already mutilated knees.

Yet that physical agony was nothing compared to the anguish tearing through my soul.

My eyes locked desperately onto the ceramic urn clutched in Levi's hands.

Levi seemed to revel in the hollow, shattered look on my face.

He deliberately hefted the urn in his hands, wearing a smile that was equal parts innocent and sadistic.

"Aiden, look how nice I am to you.

"I even brought you out to visit your dear mom whom you haven't seen in six years."

My eyes burned with rage. "Levi, if you dare lay a finger on her, I swear..."

He chuckled lightly. "Let's see what happens if I do."

He made a sharp, theatrical motion as if to pop open the lid.

"No!"

I screamed, my voice completely shattered and hoarse beyond recognition.

Tessa crossed her arms, watching the spectacle with cold indifference.

"Who told you to be so difficult? Levi is just making sure you finally learn to listen."

Hearing those words, a profound, suffocating despair washed over me.

I stared at my mother's urn, and my tears finally broke free, flooding down my face.

"I'll do it. I'll donate the kidney," I whispered, breaking down completely. "Just leave my mom alone. I can't bear to see her dragged through this after death."

The smug triumph froze on Levi's face as if he never expected me to give in so easily.

Tessa frowned, shooting me a sharp, suspicious glare. "Aiden, what kind of sick game are you playing this time?"

I shook my head slowly. "I'm just tired of fighting."

"I only survived because I was lucky enough to make it out of the sea alive.

"My mom is gone, my home is gone, and the woman I loved belongs to someone else. What's the point of living anymore?"

Levi refused to accept my surrender.

Faking a sudden, violent medical crisis, he stumbled and let the urn slip from his hands, smashing it against the hard ground.

A sudden gust of wind swept across the grass, sending a gray cloud of fine dust scattering into the air.

"No!"

I choked violently, a burning, metallic wave of dark blood surging uncontrollably from my throat.

The very last thing I saw before my eyes slipped shut was Tessa scrambling forward, screaming my name in panic.