Chapter 1

Despite the general anesthesia, I was fully conscious. My eyelids felt heavy. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't open them.

A sharp, searing pain tore through my lower waist and made my scalp tighten.

It hurts!

"Doctor, what's happening?!" Miranda's anxious voice came through the darkness. "He's trembling. Can he still feel pain?"

Her familiar voice gave me one last spark of hope.

Miranda, save me...

The anesthesia didn't work. It hurt so much…

"Don't worry, Ms. McQueen. This is a normal stress response caused by muscle stimulation. The patient is unconscious. He can't feel a thing," the doctor said.

He was lying. The pain crawled up my spine and spread through my body.

Lucas let out a fake sigh. "Miranda, I'm so worried… Evan looks like he's in so much pain. Maybe we should stop. My health doesn't matter. I don't want him to suffer."

I heard Miranda walk past me to him.

"Don't be silly," she said. "Why are you saying that? The doctor said he's unconscious. There's nothing to worry about. Now, just be a good boy. It'll be over soon, and I'll be waiting outside for you."

Then, there was a clack. It was the sound of the operating room being closed.

I could feel the cold instruments moving inside my body. The pain was so intense that even my soul seemed to shake.

A soft chuckle sounded beside me.

"You heard all that, didn't you, Evan?"

I could feel Lucas seemingly turning toward my motionless body.

"I told the doctor to give you less anesthesia than needed and twice the usual dose of muscle relaxant. Does it hurt? So what if you're the McQueen family's biological son? The bond Miranda and I built over more than a decade is real, too. She tricked her own brother onto an operating table and had his kidney removed, all for me."

I heard every word, but I could not respond.

He was right.

Miranda and I shared the same blood, but it could never compete with the bond they had built over more than a decade. The hope that had kept me alive through three years of inhuman torment had been nothing but a cruel joke.

There had never been any debt from a past life.

I had no idea how long the operation lasted.

The agony finally stopped when I heard something metallic clink against a tray.

"The operation was a complete success. The kidney is in perfect condition. Congratulations, Mr. McQueen. With this kidney, you'll be completely healthy."

"Thank you, doctor. Right, wheel that crippled man out. He's an eyesore."

"Of course."

The anesthesia still had not worn off, and I could not move. All I could do was endure every jolt pulling at my fresh incision that had just been sutured.

People crowded around Lucas and took him to a VIP ward on the top floor.

Meanwhile, I was dumped in a regular hospital ward. They didn't even leave anyone to watch over me.