Frankenstein bride

~~Emilia's POV~~

I don't think I've ever been this happy in my entire life.

Standing in Mia's kitchen, I grabbed my phone like it was my lifeline, waiting for the call I'd been expecting since early morning, the minutes dragged by, each second feeling like an absolute torture, and when my phone finally rang, I nearly dropped it on the floor trying to answer.

"Miss Lambert?"

"Yes, this is she! Is it done?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"This is Dr. Patel from St. Mary's VIP Medical Center. I'm calling about the kidney transplant."

I gripped the edge of the kitchen counter so hard my knuckles turned ghostly white. "Is everything okay? Is my boyfriend's mother…"

"The transplant was an absolute success, Miss Lambert, the organ is functioning beautifully, we wanted to thank you personally, without your donation, Mrs. Whitmore wouldn't have survived the month, you saved her life."

"Yes!" I screamed, jumping up from the stool. "Thank you, doctor! Thank you so much! I'm coming to the hospital right away!"

The moment I hung up, I let out a loud shout, Mia came rushing in from the living room, looking panicked.

"Emi! What the hell? Are you okay? I heard you from the other room and thought someone was dying!"

I threw my arms around her, hugging her tightly before pulling back. "Everything is completely perfect, Mia! In fact, everything is more than perfect! I just saved Gerald's mother's life!" I grabbed my designer coat from the chair. "I need to go tell Gerald right now! I can't wait to see his face when I tell him my kidney saved his mother!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Mia held up her hands, stopping me. "You just got off the operating table a few days ago, and now you're running off to see that man? At least let me drive you, you're too hysterical to drive right now."

"I can't wait, Mia!" I insisted, dragging her toward the front door. "You don't understand what this means! His mother never approved of my background, she thought I wasn't good enough for the Whitmore corporate empire! Now she'll finally accept me as her daughter-in-law!"

"Oh, I understand completely," Mia rolled her eyes, but she grabbed her car keys anyway. "You want to see his face when he realizes you literally gave a piece of your body for his family, fine, I'll drive you but you owe me a bottle of wine after this."

We rushed down to the parking lot and sped off toward Gerald's luxury penthouse suite, on the way, I made Mia stop at the highest-end wine shop in the city so I could buy a five-hundred-dollar bottle of vintage champagne.

Then I made her stop at an elite bakery to pick up Gerald's favorite customized cake, when we pulled up to the glittering skyscraper housing his residence, I felt like the luckiest woman in the world.

"You sure you don't want me to come up with you?" Mia asked, looking at me through the rearview mirror.

"No, I want to tell him alone, this is our moment," I beamed.

"Fine, call me if you need anything, alright?"

I nodded, skipping toward the private elevator. I hit the button for the top floor, my heart fluttering with excitement, I imagined Gerald's reaction, how he would wrap his arms around me, kiss me passionately, and tell me how much he loved me.

When the elevator doors dinged open on the penthouse level, I pushed open the front door with my hip, carrying the champagne and cake bags in both arms.

"Gerald! Baby, I'm home!" I called out happily. "You are never going to believe the news I have for you!"

I kicked off my heels at the entrance, not bothered to place them on the rack. "Gerald? Where are you?"

I listened carefully, expecting him to come running out. Instead, I heard low laughter coming from the master bedroom upstairs, male laughter. I figured he was probably discussing corporate investments with one of his business partners, so I decided to surprise him.

I walked up the grand staircase quietly, holding my breath. When I reached the top, I approached the master suite and pushed the door slightly open.

"Gerald?" I whispered.

The words died in my throat, the sight before my eyes instantly drained the blood from my body, making it impossible to breathe.

Gerald was on our king-sized bed, positioned behind another man, his hands were pinned tightly around the man's waist, his body slamming into him with brutal, punishing thrusts while the guy was on his hands and knees, face buried in the silk mattress, groaning louder with every stroke.

The loud, sickening sound of skin slapping against skin echoed throughout the room, Gerald’s head was thrown back in pure ecstasy, his hips snapping forward completely without a single care in the world and without a single thought of me.

"Oh fuck, Ben, I missed doing this so much," Gerald groaned, his hands shifting down to grab the guy's intimate parts roughly, squeezing and stroking them in rhythm with his aggressive pounding. "Fuck... you feel so good."

The champagne bottle and cake box slipped out of my lifeless fingers.

*CRASH!*

Glass shattered violently against the floor, splattering champagne and cake everywhere.

Gerald froze, he snapped his head toward the door, his face instantly turning pale as he scrambled backward, pulling the tangled bedsheet over his waist.

"Emilia?!" he stammered, sweating heavily. "Emilia, wait! Please listen to me! I can explain…"

"Explain?" I choked out, stepping over the broken glass, my voice rising in hysterical disbelief. "Explain what, Gerald? Explain why you are in our bed, fucking another man behind my back?!"

The other man on the bed, Benjamin, panicked and frantically grabbed his trousers, trying to cover himself, Gerald scrambled off the mattress, swinging his legs over the side, he tried to approach me with his lower half completely exposed, not even having the decency or shame to put on clothes.

"Stay back!" I screamed, tears finally spilling over my burning eyes. "Three fucking years, Gerald! I gave you three years of my life! I just came back from the hospital today because I sacrificed my own kidney to save your mother! I gave away a piece of my body just to prove to your arrogant family that I was worthy of being your wife!"

Gerald stopped, running a hand through his messy hair. He didn't look remorseful. Instead, his expression hardened into cold, aristocratic indifference.

"Emilia, stop screaming and fucking listen to me!" Gerald snapped, pointing a finger at me. "I didn't want to hurt you, okay? But you made things convenient for me! My family needed me to maintain a wholesome, respectable image for the board of directors and our corporate sponsors! You were sweet, quiet, and easy to control. You fit the perfect girlfriend image."

He reached out and grabbed Benjamin's hand, pulling him forward.

"I've always been gay, Emilia!" Gerald declared coldly. "My parents would have stripped me of my inheritance and removed me as CEO of the Whitmore Group if they found out. That's the only reason I dated you! You were just a placeholder to keep my seat safe!"

I stood there, completely stunned, as if someone had stabbed me in the chest, the tears I tried so hard to hold back poured down my cheeks, three years of love, care, and sacrifice... reduced to a corporate cover story.

"So that was your plan all along?" I sobbed, laughing bitterly through my tears. "Make a fool out of me? Let me believe you loved me while you fucked your male lover behind my back? You were going to marry me and keep using me as a puppet?!"

"Don't be so dramatic," Gerald scoffed, stepping closer. "Look, you don't have to leave. What if I pay you a monthly allowance? Say, fifty thousand dollars a month? You play the obedient wife at corporate events, and in exchange, you live in luxury and never have to work again. It's a winning deal for both of us…"

*SLAP!*

Before he could finish his disgusting sentence, my hand flew across his face with every ounce of strength I had left, the sharp sound of my palm striking his cheek exploded through the bedroom, spinning his head to the side, a dark red handprint immediately bloomed across his pale face.

Gerald gasped, clutching his bruised cheek in total shock. "You crazy bitch! Did you just slap me?!"

"Offer me your filthy money again and I'll kill you!" I hissed, my voice dripping with pure hatred. "I'm fucking done with you!"

I turned around, slammed the master bedroom door shut, and ran out of the penthouse as fast as my legs could carry me.

Three days passed in a blurry haze. I stayed locked inside my apartment, staring at the ceiling, feeling completely hollowed out. Mia sat on the edge of my bed, placing a glass of white wine on my nightstand.

"Emi, are you going to spend another day crying over that piece of trash?" Mia asked gently, shaking her head. "Yes, Gerald is a sick, manipulative bastard, but you've already wasted three years on him, don't waste another second crying."

"I'm not crying for him," I mumbled, wiping my eyes. "I'm just worried about his mother. Mrs. Whitmore is still weak in the ICU, how will her heart take it when she finds out her son was lying to her and sleeping with men behind my back?"

"Forget about them!" Mia said firmly. "They don't deserve your empathy."

I picked up my phone from the bed, over the last three days, I had received over sixty missed calls from Gerald, which I ignored. I swiped past his notifications and dialed Mrs. Whitmore's private hospital line, but it went straight to voicemail.

"She's probably still recovering from the transplant," Mia reasoned. "The doctor said she needed rest."

Suddenly, my phone vibrated with an incoming call from an unknown number. I picked it up quickly, hoping it was the hospital.

"Hello?"

"Is this Miss Emilia Lambert?" a polite woman's voice asked on the line.

"Yes, this is her."

"Hi, this is Meredith from Elite PR & Events. I'm calling to verify your mailing address so we can deliver your VIP invitation to the Whitmore grand gala and wedding…"

"Wedding invitation?" I cut her off, my tone instantly turning hostile. "What wedding?"

"The wedding of Mr. Gerald Whitmore and Mr. Benjamin Walsh, of course. Mrs. Whitmore gave her full blessing for the marriage after learning that Benjamin selflessly donated his kidney to save her life when Gerald's ex-girlfriend ran away with his money…"

"WHAT?!"