My Kidney

~~Emilia POV~~

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" I screamed into the phone, my voice shaking so violently I could barely hold the device to my ear. "What do you mean Benjamin donated a kidney for Mrs. Whitmore?!"

I stood frozen in the middle of my bedroom, waiting for the woman on the line to tell me it was a sick joke, a mix-up, anything.

"It’s not a secret, Miss Lambert," the event coordinator replied, her tone completely nonchalant. "It's all over the national business press and social media. Mrs. Whitmore publicly accepted Gerald’s relationship with Benjamin after learning about Benjamin's noble sacrifice, the entire corporate board is praising them. Anyway, I’ll have the courier drop off your invitation. Goodbye."

"Wait! Don't hang up on me…!" The line went dead.

Benjamin donated his kidney?! The exact same leech Gerald was fucking behind my back was now being hailed as a saint by the media, taking credit for the organ that was cut out of my body!

"Emi?" Mia grabbed my shoulders, her eyes wide with panic. "Emi, talk to me! What did she say? What’s going on?!"

"They’re saying Benjamin donated the kidney," I whispered, the words tasting like poison in my mouth. "Gerald’s mother thinks Benjamin saved her life! It’s on the news! Benjamin is taking credit for my sacrifice while they frame me as a coward who ran away!"

"That's fucking insane!" Mia yelled, her face instantly losing color. "You underwent major surgery! You have the legal consent forms, the compatibility tests, the hospital receipts…"

"Yes! Yes, you're right!" I snapped out of my daze, rushing toward my nightstand drawer, I grabbed the thick medical folder containing every piece of paperwork from St. Mary's VIP Medical Center. "I have everything. The pre-op records, the surgeon's signature, everything."

"Good!" Mia said, grabbing her jacket. "We’ll call the hospital, blast them on social media, and report Dr. Patel to the medical board. They can't rewrite reality!"

I snatched up my phone and frantically dialed the direct line for St. Mary's VIP surgical wing. The line rang three times before the chief administrator answered.

"St. Mary's VIP wing, how may I help you?"

"Put me through to Dr. Patel immediately!" I demanded, my hands trembling against the phone. "This is Emilia Lambert!"

"One moment, Miss Lambert.”

I held my breath during the agonizing pause until the line clicked, and Dr. Patel’s calm, clinical voice came over the speaker.

"Miss Lambert? What can I do for you?"

"Dr. Patel, You called me three days ago to tell me Mrs. Whitmore's transplant was successful!" I shouted, tears of rage welling in my eyes. "You personally thanked me for donating my kidney and saving her life! So why is the media reporting that Benjamin Walsh was the donor?!"

A heavy, suffocating silence filled the line.

"Dr. Patel? Answer me!"

"Miss Lambert, I don't know what you are talking about," Dr. Patel said smoothly, his tone ice-cold. "Our official medical registry clearly states that the organ donor for Mrs. Whitmore was Mr. Benjamin Walsh, he underwent testing, signed the legal forms, and underwent surgery here, everything is properly documented and sealed, there is zero record of your involvement in this case."

My brain short-circuited. "What?! You performed the surgery on me yourself! I have a surgical scar on my side right now!"

"I suggest you do not make false accusations against this hospital, Miss Lambert," Dr. Patel warned sternly. "If you persist, our legal team will file a defamation lawsuit against you. Have a good day."

He hung up.

I stared at the phone in sheer horror, they had erased me, they had completely wiped my name from the hospital database and substituted Benjamin’s name on my medical charts!

"Emi, what did he say?" Mia asked, grabbing my hand.

"They altered the records," I rasped, my knees buckling as I sank onto the edge of the bed. "They erased my name. Dr. Patel lied right to my face and threatened to sue me if I spoke out."

"Look at the papers in your hand!" Mia urged, snatching the folder from me. "You have the original physical copies. We can use these!"

"Yes... I'll take pictures and send them directly to the press…"

Before I could hit the camera app, a text message notification flashed across the top of my screen. It was from Gerald.

“I’m sure you’ve heard the news by now, Emilia. Don’t do anything stupid, it’s just corporate strategy, you know you donated the kidney and I know it, but my mother and our board members don’t need to know, Benjamin is my fiancé now, and this narrative secures our family’s stock value. If you try to expose anything, you’ll be making a fatal mistake, the Whitmore Group fully controls your father’s specialized cancer therapy program. One word from me, and his funding is revoked, his experimental treatments are canceled, and his hospital bed is given to someone else. Think carefully, you can stay quiet, or you can watch your father die, choice is yours.”

My phone slipped from my limp fingers and hit the floor.

Mia scooped it up, scanning the text, her face turned bright red with pure rage. "That ruthless bastard! He's blackmailing you with your father's life!"

"He has me trapped," I choked out, covering my face as sob after sob tore through my chest. "If I expose him, he kills my dad. If I stay quiet, he steals my body part and ruins my reputation. What am I supposed to do?!"

"Emi, don't cry," Mia pleaded, wrapping her arms around me. "We’ll figure something out…"

"I need to get out of here," I gasped, tearing myself away from her and grabbing my coat.

"Where are you going? You're in no state to be alone!"

"I just need air! I need a drink before I go insane!" I yelled, fleeing out the door before she could stop me.

I took a cab across town to an exclusive, underground cocktail lounge, a dark, velvet-draped establishment where no one from Gerald's corporate circle would ever recognize me.

I sat at the far end of the marble bar and ordered double shots of whiskey, one glass, two glasses. Three, four... I drank until my chest burned and my mind went blissfully numb.

When the alcohol hit full force, my head began to throb, and my vision blurred. I stumbled off the bar stool, desperate to find the restroom. My legs felt like lead as I navigated down a long, dimly lit hallway framed with gold leaf and dark mirrors.

I pushed open a heavy brass door, stumbled into a private stall, and threw up everything in my stomach.

When I finally pulled myself together, rinsed my mouth at the sink, and turned to leave, a massive, towering figure blocked my exit, I nearly collided with his chest.

The man was broad-shouldered, incredibly tall, and dressed in a tailored charcoal suit with the top buttons unbuttoned, he had sharp, piercing silver eyes, messy dark brown hair, and an aura of pure, dangerous authority.

"What the hell are you doing in the women's bathroom, you creep?!" I slurred, glaring up at him with drunken hostility. "Get out!"

The man raised an eyebrow, looking down at me with cool indifference.

"I'm talking to you!" I yelled, swaying on my feet. "You billionaires think you own every space you walk into! Can't you read the sign on the door? Are you blind?!"

He let out a slow sigh, raising a long finger to point at the brass plaque mounted beside the doorway.

"You might want to take another look, sweetheart," he said, his deep, gravelly voice sending a strange shiver down my spine. "You're standing in the private executive men's suite."

My eyes darted to the plaque. ‘Executive Men's Lounge.’

Blood instantly rushed to my face, turning my skin scalding hot. I snatched my clutch off the counter, trying to salvage what little dignity I had left.

"Well, the sign should be bigger!" I snapped stubbornly, staggering slightly. "Whoever designed this club made the lighting ridiculous! It's not my fault your private bathroom is poorly labeled!"

"Right," the man murmured, a faint, mocking smirk tugging at his lips. "Definitely the club's design fault."

"Stop mocking me!" My voice cracked, tears unexpectedly stinging my eyes again. "My life is ruined, my kidney was stolen, and I don't need some arrogant stranger laughing at me in a bathroom! Just move out of my way!"

I tried to shove past him, but the world tilted violently upside down, my knees gave out completely, and darkness rushed into the edges of my vision.

"Whoa..!"

Before my face hit the floor, two powerful arms caught me flush against a solid chest, he pulled me tight against his body, his grip unyielding.

"Easy, wildcat," his deep voice echoed in my ear as he lifted me effortlessly into his arms. "I've got you, darling."

The darkness swallowed me whole.