Chapter 3

Unable to bear watching them hold each other any longer, Riley got up and left the restaurant. She drove into the night, the neon lights outside her windows blurring as tears streamed down her cheeks. She wiped them away, but more kept coming, no matter how hard she tried.

She'd thought she'd gone numb long ago. Apparently, it could still hurt.

Just then, a white figure suddenly darted out from the side of the road.

Bang!

Riley slammed on the brakes, her whole body jolting as she looked up to see someone thrown into the air in front of her car before landing heavily on the pavement.

Was that Lily?!

She scrambled out of the car and ran toward the fallen figure on trembling legs. Sure enough, Lily was lying on the road, a horrifying pool of blood spreading beneath her.

"Lily!"

Xavier's furious roar came from behind her. He rushed over like a madman and scooped the unconscious Lily into his arms, turning a murderous glare on Riley.

"Was killing my entire family not enough for you people? Why do you have to go after her too?!"

Riley shook uncontrollably. "I didn't... She ran out in front of my car..."

Xavier refused to listen. Carrying Lily, he climbed into another car that had just pulled up. His eyes red with rage, he barked one final order before leaving.

"Take her to the hospital and make her kneel outside the emergency room to atone for what she's done!"

Two bodyguards seized Riley and roughly shoved her into another vehicle.

At the hospital, Xavier stood at the far end of the corridor outside the emergency room, his entire body rigid with tension. He looked like a blade drawn from its sheath, ready to strike at any moment.

Riley was forced to kneel on the cold floor. Her knees ached terribly, but she didn't dare move.

"If anything happens to her, Riley, I'll make you pay with your life."

His voice was ice-cold, every word cutting into her heart. She kept her head lowered as tears fell silently onto the floor.

Tick. Tock.

Time dragged on until, finally, the light above the emergency room went out.

The doctor emerged and removed his mask, his expression grave.

"Mr. Parker, Miss West suffered kidney damage in the accident. She urgently needs a kidney transplant, or her life will be at risk."

Xavier's expression changed instantly. "Then find a match! Now!"

The doctor nodded. "Miss West has type B blood. We'll need a donor with a compatible blood type."

Xavier's gaze shifted to Riley.

"She's the same blood type as Lily. Test her."

Riley's head snapped up, her entire body trembling as she stared at him.

He wanted her to give Lily one of her kidneys?

She tried to flee, but the bodyguards immediately restrained her. Xavier approached and looked down at her without a trace of warmth in his eyes.

"Riley, you owe me this, and you owe Lily too. You don't get to say no!"

Tears blurred her vision as she shook uncontrollably.

"Xavier..." Her voice broke. "Are you really going to do this to me?"

He gave no answer. Instead, he turned to the doctor and ordered coldly, "Get the surgery arranged. Now!"

Before Riley was wheeled into the operating room, Xavier signed the surgical consent form as her husband.

Lying on the operating table beneath the blinding surgical lights, Riley found herself drifting back to the past.

When they were fifteen, Xavier had carried her on his back for three blocks to the hospital because she had a fever. At eighteen, he'd been so distressed when she cut her finger while preparing food that he'd never allowed her into the kitchen again. At twenty, he'd stayed awake all night applying ointment to her skin when an allergic reaction left her covered in rashes.

There had been a time when even the slightest discomfort on her part was enough to bring tears to his eyes. If he could have taken her pain upon himself, he would have done it without hesitation.

"Riri, I'll always protect you. I'll never let you get hurt again."

Yet now, the man who had personally sent her to the operating table was that very same Xavier.