Chapter 2

The next morning, I swallowed an entire bottle of painkillers.

I did it so I'd appear normal—so no one would suspect something was wrong with me.

But soon, I realized my worry was unwarranted.

Lily's pale complexion and swollen body—symptoms of kidney damage—made me look healthier by comparison. No one noticed that I hadn't eaten a single thing since being rescued.

Even when the doctor arrived with my pre-surgery physical report, which showed signs of organ failure, no one noticed.

I was about to quietly tear the report and throw it away when Lily suddenly rushed over.

"What's this?" Her voice rang loud and dramatic. "Organ failure? Olivia, you're sick! How can you still donate your kidney to me when you're this weak?"

She turned toward our parents. "Mom, Dad, I can't let Olivia harm herself just to help me! I don't want her kidney anymore."

Lily cried and mocked me at the same time. Then, in a heartbeat, she shifted into her innocent act—handing the report over, looking utterly concerned.

Their faces changed instantly—Mom, Dad, Ethan. All at once.

I watched them nervously.

Would they finally discover my true condition?

Would knowing I was dying make them care?

Mom, her eyes red and hand on my face, asked anxiously, "Olivia, do you feel unwell?"

She continued, "Organ failure—that's serious. You never told us you were sick!"

Her voice was pained. "Call the doctor now. I need to know what's happening to you."

Even Dad, who rarely showed emotion, stared at me with quiet guilt. It looked like he regretted leaving me in the mountains for seven days, just to teach me a lesson.

"Olivia, I shouldn't have abandoned you in the mountains for days," Dad murmured. "I'm sorry."

It was the first apology I'd ever heard from him.

Tears burned my eyes. Deep within me, a multitude of unexpressed grievances swelled, a burden so heavy I couldn't find the words for it.

Why did they only begin to show love when I was close to death?

I realized I had just two more days to feel what it was like to be loved.

Then Lily held up the empty pill bottle I'd thrown away. "You must've been in so much pain to take this many painkillers," she said with a mix of sympathy and drama.

Her sorrow looked almost genuine.

"You're so sick and still willing to give me your kidney? I can't accept that!"

She cried louder than before, acting like she truly cared.

"The doctor's here!"

Ethan hurriedly brought the attending doctor into the room, sweat dripping from his forehead. His breath came in ragged gasps, clearly having run the whole way.

So he could care that much about me as well. I thought he only favored Lily.

I had prepared myself to comfort Mom, Dad, and Ethan once the doctor confirmed I was dying. But what the doctor said shattered everything.

"The pre-surgery report for Olivia Larson is a forgery," the doctor with gold-rimmed glasses announced, and the room instantly fell silent.

The tension surrounding my illness vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling new atmosphere. Mom's and Dad's loving, worried gazes morphed into looks of profound disgust and cold distance.

Mom pulled her hand from mine, Dad's face contorted with anger, and Ethan, who had been anxiously watching, now simply stared, aghast.

"This report wasn't issued by our hospital. The stamp is fake."

He held up a fresh report. "I just reviewed Olivia's real test results. Aside from slightly low blood sugar, she's perfectly healthy."

I froze. How was that possible?

I was dying. How could my results say otherwise?

Mom, Dad, and Ethan now looked at me with nothing but pure disgust and dislike.

I was now just the liar. The fraud.

The daughter and fiancee who forged a report to manipulate their emotions.

They looked at me as if they regretted ever caring at all.

They seemed to regret the tiny bit of love they just felt for me. I was, after all, someone who was unworthy of their care.

In my despair, I spotted Lily in the corner.

Her sneering smile said it all. "Serves you right."

At that moment, I understood.

It was all her doing.

I should've known the moment she "accidentally" found the report and shared the results. She clearly intended for Mom, Dad, and Ethan to despise me once more; she wanted to erase my final standing in their hearts.

"Did the patient forge the report to avoid donating?" the doctor asked flatly. "If she's unwilling, we won't proceed. You'll need to resolve this within your family. Forcing organ donation is illegal."

And just like that, he left.

His words left me crushed beneath the weight of betrayal.

I understood everything now.

Lily had bribed the doctor.

She wanted to make it appear as though I'd agreed to the donation, then tried to back out by faking an illness to garner sympathy. This, she hoped, would "prove" I was a scheming, manipulative person.