Chapter 4

My heart clenched. "What do you mean? Why can't you perform the surgery?"

Although I'd been taking the best medication available, cardiomyopathy was a dangerous condition that could turn fatal at any moment.

While waiting for my surgery, I'd suffered at least three attacks. The worst had nearly killed me. I'd spent twelve whole hours in the emergency resuscitation room. Only through sheer determination to survive had I managed to pull through. My body couldn't afford to wait any longer.

David looked troubled. "The donor heart matched to you has just been transferred to another patient."

I clutched my chest. "Transferred? Who transferred it? Did someone offer you more money? Whatever they paid, I'll double it!"

David didn't dare answer. He put on his mask and tried to flee.

I climbed off the operating table and hurried after him, on the verge of a complete breakdown.

"You know my condition! I can't afford to wait any longer. How could you just give my donor heart to someone else?" I demanded. "This is no different from murder!"

My cries quickly attracted a crowd.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Who stole my heart? Do rich people really have the power to decide whether someone else lives or dies?"

The onlookers were outraged on my behalf, and it didn't take long for them to identify the person responsible.

I rushed toward him without a second thought, but the moment I recognized him, my blood ran cold.

It was Benjamin.

He stood guard right outside the operating room, refusing to let anyone inside.

Hailey, who was crying nearby, spotted me and immediately grabbed my arm.

"Edith? Are you accusing me of stealing the heart for my mother?" She dropped to her knees in front of me. "I was wrong to keep taking your things. I admit it, and I'm sorry. If you're angry, take it out on me. Please, just spare my mother!"

Benjamin's expression darkened instantly. "Edith, just because you don't have a mother anymore, does that mean Hailey has to lose hers too? How can you be so heartless?"

My fingernails dug deep into my palms, and I clenched my teeth so hard I could almost taste blood. "Benjamin Olsen, her mother has cancer! A heart transplant won't cure her. Hailey deliberately—"

Before I could finish, Hailey suddenly began bowing to me on her knees. "Edith, I'll return everything I've taken from you. I promise I'll never bother Benjamin or Owen again. I'm begging you! How much money do you want? I'll give you whatever you ask for!"

A chill spread through my entire body. I was so furious I could barely get the words out.

"Who wants your money? I want the heart! Give me back my heart!"

"Enough!" Benjamin flew into a rage and grabbed my arm. "To hurt Hailey's mother, you've even pretended to be sick and exploited other people's sympathy to cause a scene! Edith, you've gone too far this time!"

He summoned the security guards and ordered them to drag me out.

I struggled with all my might, but I couldn't break free.

My heart began pounding faster and faster, and the pain in my chest grew so unbearable that I felt as though it would burst open.

…

By the time they threw me out at the hospital entrance, a suffocating sense of impending death had completely overwhelmed me.

I reached out desperately for help, but the bystanders spat at me instead.

"Ugh! We almost fell for your lies and helped you hurt someone. And you're still pretending!"

My arm fell limply to my side.

As my consciousness faded, I had only one wish.

In my next life, I never wanted to see Benjamin again. Not ever. Not for all eternity.

-

Third-Person POV

After Hailey's mother underwent surgery, Benjamin wasted no time arranging his wedding to Hailey.

Yet as they prepared to exchange rings, his mind was filled with thoughts of Edith. She'd looked terribly frail at the hospital that day, and despite everything, he still couldn't quite stop worrying about her.

"I'm sorry, Hailey. Let's put the ceremony on hold for now. Your mother's already confused. She probably won't suspect anything anyway." With that, he tore off his boutonniere and called his assistant, Joseph Wilson. "Check Edith's medical records."

Ten minutes later, Joseph called back, his voice hesitant. "Mr. Olsen, the records show that your wife was diagnosed with acute cardiomyopathy. Her heart transplant was scheduled for a week ago..."