第4章

"Sorry for the trouble, Derek. I'll handle it."

Nathan came over with a fawning smile.

"Sis, that's enough.

"Go to the hospital with Derek. His mother's life is at stake.

"Keep your word. I won't let you disgrace the Mercer family!"

I stared at him.

The man who kept calling me his sister now wore the face of a schemer.

The warm, attentive brother I had known was gone.

Derek stood to one side with his arms crossed, sneering.

"You hear that? Even your own brother has spoken.

"Come on, Sis. You signed the agreement and took the money. Now you have to go to the hospital and donate the kidney.

"Don't be afraid. I'll go with you.

"The Mercers value integrity, and Mom and Dad did too. If you cause trouble, you'll be cut off for good."

Nathan put an arm around my shoulders.

I shook him off, my expression turning cold.

"Then I'll live on my own.

"The money went into your account.

"Nathan, you took it, so you can donate your own kidney."

A month earlier, I had decided to donate a kidney to the man who had saved my life.

Knowing that recovery would take a long time, I planned a trip before the surgery.

Nathan knew all of that.

Before I left, he invited me to drink with him. I remembered being drunk when he put a document in front of me and asked me to sign it.

He said it concerned the estate our parents had left us.

Nathan's expression changed, and he raised his voice.

"The money went into my account, but I withdrew it in cash and gave it all to you!

"You said you were afraid the payment would be traced back to you, so you asked me to pass it through my account."

He appealed to the people around us as if he had suffered a terrible injustice.

"Everyone, tell me if this is fair. I helped my sister, and now she's turning on me!

"Serena, were you planning to ruin me from the start?"

Before I could answer, Vivian spoke.

"I can testify.

"When Serena lived with us, she told me she planned to use her brother to make a fortune and then disappear. She said they had no real bond anyway.

"Serena has always stolen money. That's why my parents finally gave up on her!"

My head rang.

After Vivian returned to the Ashfords, Richard and Claire Ashford, the parents who had once doted on me, slowly changed.

At first, they dismissed her accusations. Then they began to doubt me. In the end, they looked at me with nothing but disappointment and disgust.

By the time Nathan and Vivian finished speaking, the crowd was furious.

They shouted for someone to tie up the vicious woman and take her away.

Even the young man who had shielded me stepped back, his eyes full of contempt.

Hand after hand closed around me.

I fought with all my strength, but there were too many of them.

Derek easily bound my wrists, and someone stuffed a piece of clothing into my mouth to gag me.

He dragged me toward the car, grinning in triumph.

Vivian suddenly squeezed close and whispered into my ear, "Serena, I am going to destroy you.

"Mom and Dad give me only $300 a month, but they give you $3,000. Why?

"Once they take that kidney out of you, I get $1.5 million for free.

"And when that powerful man in New York finds out you deceived him, he'll make the rest of your life a living hell.

"I looked into him. They call him the Devil of New York!"

She let out a shrill laugh.

Nathan spoke.

"Serena, don't blame me.

"Vivian and I grew up together. If I don't help her, who will?"

Rage burned inside me.

I wanted to tear them apart with my bare hands.

But several people had me pinned so tightly that I couldn't break free.

Derek kicked me into the black car. Just as the door was about to close, I saw a Mercedes-Maybach racing toward us with a convoy of police cars.

Derek glanced at the license plate, and every trace of color vanished from his face.

Trembling violently, he collapsed to his knees.