~THREE~

~Arya~

"...look way more pretty in that dress than she ever could," he was saying. The woman tipped her head back, her curls dangling behind her as she laughed.

“I know. Your wife can never match up to me. It’s good that you see it.” She ran her hand down the skirt of the dress. “I can’t wait to walk down the aisle to you in this.”

Clutching my phone, I watched them from the door frame. Who was this woman, and why was she in my wedding dress? The same outfit I wore on the happiest day of my life. 

Edgar reached for her face and caressed her cheeks, his eyes filled with adoration. It was just the way he had looked at me earlier. 

“Very soon, we’ll be able to announce her relationship to the world,” she continued. Her soft, velvety voice filled the room as she leaned into his touch. “We have been sneaking around for so long.”

He took her hand in his. “Very soon, Lina. We will go public with our relationship very soon. That’s exactly why I planned this vacation. Now that the paperwork for the transplant has been finalized, we can finally get this over with and make that clueless wife of mine disappear off the face of the earth.”

The transplant! It was real? He knew about it. He was responsible. His betrayal slapped me right in the face. I clamped my hand over my mouth in shock, unable to believe that those words came from Edgar. The evidence was right before me, there was nothing to dispute it. He was a man I'd given up everything for, yet he repaid me by cheating on me, by taking advantage of my trust and signing my organs off to another woman illegally.

Lina trailed her fingers on his bare chest, drawing imaginary circles on his skin.

“As for our wedding, don’t you think using this dress is a bit too much? I can always get you any dress you want. This belongs to Arya."

“No. I saw her in this dress and made up my mind to have it too. I snatched her man, I'm about to snatch her kidneys, what’s the big deal about taking a mere dress for myself?”

I had never crossed paths with her before today, yet she spoke about me with so much contempt and malice in her voice, like I was an arch enemy. If anybody had told me that my perfect husband would choose to betray me in the worst way possible, I would have laughed it off the way I did the texts I had received earlier.

The texts. Did the sender know about this and try to warn me through those messages? I had to think fast. I had to slip out before they noticed that I was standing right there. They were dangerous enough to traffic organs. Who knew what they would do if they found out that I was into them. I made to leave, but my legs didn’t budge.

When I finally snapped to my senses and started to slip away, he caught me. “Arya,” he called sharply, causing me to freeze in my tracks. Lina leaped away from him in alarm. He got out of bed, his eyes widened. “How long have you been standing there?”

Long enough to know that you plan to get rid of me, I screamed in my head.

My heart thumped in my chest. “I just got here," I replied. I was supposed to make him believe I was telling the truth, but my shaky voice wasn't doing anything to help. He took a step towards me, and I shot my hand out in fear, “Don’t… come near me.”

“Why are you even here?” he questioned. “How the hell did you find me?”

There was no remorse in his tone. Rather, he was speaking as if he had the right to commit adultery without caring about my feelings.

He stopped, pointing to Lina who was watching our exchange with an indifferent demeanor. “This isn’t what it looks like. Don’t jump to conclusions without hearing what I have to say, I can explain.”

“Explain what?” A bitter chuckle escaped my lips. “I’m not blind, Edgar, I saw and heard–” I stopped myself just in time. Edgar arched his eyebrows, his expression unreadable. He started to advance towards me, and I took a step back.

“You heard,” he stated. “You know everything.”

“I didn’t hear anything.” A shudder coursed through me. The feeling of betrayal was replaced by pure fear, for a good reason. This wasn’t the man I married. The man before me looked like nothing but a psychopath who I had to escape from.

“Who let you in here?” He was closing in on me. I retreated, trying to put as much distance between us as I could.

“Stay back,"I screamed. I grabbed a flower vase and raised it above my head, aiming for him. He raised his hands up in surrender, a sick smile playing on his face.

“Let us talk things out, Arya. Lina here needs your kidney to stay alive. She survives on weekly dialysis sessions. Don’t be selfish, just give her one.”

“I want the two she has,” Lina spoke up, her voice flat. My eyes darted from her to Edgar in bewilderment.

“You’re despicable?” I spat, tears pooling in my eyes and threatening to spill. “How could you, of all people, choose to do this to me. You’re my husband, yet you’re out here planning my death?”

“He was tired of the marriage.” Lina again. I shook my head.

“That doesn’t justify what you did.”

“Fine,” Edgar blurted out, his hands falling to his sides. “You want the truth? I’ll give you that. You suffocate me, Arya. Everywhere I go, I'm reminded of how you’re the better one. You built the company, you hold too much significance. I am the man, yet you get acknowledgements instead of me.”

I dropped the vase to the floor as he rambled on. The glass shattered, shards flew in every direction. I was in my own world, trying to make sense of what Edgar just said to me. He felt inferior? That was his reason for plotting to kill me? How could he be so inhumane?

“You could have told me,” I muttered weakly. “A conversation was all we needed. We could have talked about it.” He didn’t have to resort to infidelity and murder.

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, I found Lina. She gives me peace. She’s all I need. But now that she’s sick, I just need your help to save her. You can do that much, right? I got you tested and you’re a match for her, her life is in your hands.”

His audacity sickened me. He had put such an elaborate plan in place, even went as far as getting me tested. How could I have been so ignorant of what was going on right under my nose?

I picked up a shard of glass and waved it at him. “I won't give anybody my kidney. Edgar Sinclair, consider your life ruined. I will destroy you and make sure you both rot in jail for the rest of your lives. You can continue your love story there.”

That said, I threw the shard at him. He let out a curse as he ducked to avoid it. Taking advantage of his distraction, I made a beeline for the door, but I wasn't fast enough. Lina closed in on me and yanked my hair back. She dragged me back to the center of the living room and pushed me to the floor. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” she gritted, her eyes filled with fury. “You don’t really think I'll let my donor pull out of the deal like this, do you?”

“I didn’t make any deal with you,” I spat, resting my weight on the heels of my palms as she squatted in front of me. “I don’t even know who you are.”

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Edgar go into the room. Lina’s lips curled up in a smirk. She raised her hand to my face, brushing stray strands that stuck to my skin. “You and I go way back.” Without giving me the chance to ponder on her words, she went on. “I’ve watched you for a long time now. You’re married to the man I love, it isn’t strange that I was a bit curious about his wife.” 

Edgar returned, clutching a syringe filled with a strange substance. He wagged it in the air as he stalked towards me. “I didn’t think I would ever resort to this, Arya,” he let out with a tinge of regret in his voice. “But you left me with no choice. I really wanted to make your demise as painless as I could.” 

I scrambled to my feet, eyeing the syringe in his hand warily as I took a step backward. “What are you doing?” I blurted out in a panic. “Edgar? It’s me, your wife.”

My words fell on deaf ears. He backed me up into a wall and stabbed my neck with the needle. Frantic, I let out a loud scream. I knew it was pointless, the hotel suites were probably soundproofed, but I had to try. 

“Don’t fight it,” Edgar whispered as I sank to the floor with my back against the wall. “It will cause more harm than good if you do.” 

I complied, against my wish. No matter how much I tried to move my limbs, they didn’t budge. The substance I'd been injected with was effective, and in a couple of minutes, I lost control of my lids too. They fluttered shut  despite my struggles to remain aware of my surroundings. Exhausted, I gave in. I let the darkness envelope me as Edgar and Lina watched on like vultures ready to consume a carcass.