Home / He Chose My Sister Over Our Daughter / Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

All Chapters of He Chose My Sister Over Our Daughter: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

21 Chapters

Chapter 1

My six-year-old daughter lay unconscious after a car hit her. My husband, Ethan, was a surgeon, but he insisted on doing my sister's surgery first."Ethan, she can't feel her foot, and it keeps getting colder." I hurried after him just as he finished changing into his scrubs and held out the transfer recommendation from the ER doctor, Avery Grant. "She was crying in pain a moment ago. Now she doesn't react when I touch her. Please, will you just take a look at her?"Sweat dampened Ethan's collar. He scanned the page without once looking at our daughter on the ER gurney."I've already assigned a doctor to her. Don't put her through a transfer now. She'll stay here and wait for treatment."I could hardly believe what I was hearing.An hour earlier, Bayview Medical Center had been hosting a community health fair. I'd gone to the entrance to get the water bottle Lily had left behind when an out-of-control car charged into the pedestrian area. By the time I ran back, my sister, Vivian Parke

Chapter 2

Lily woke while I was sitting by the bed, straightening the clothes on her stuffed bear.Her left hand moved under the blanket, felt the thick layers of bandages, then reached toward where her left lower leg should have been. She froze. A long moment passed before she spoke, her voice hesitant. "Mom, where's my foot?"I moved closer to the bed and explained it a little at a time, using the words the doctors had suggested.Lily was quiet for a moment, looking down at her empty right sleeve, then at the bear in my hands."Can I still sew new clothes for the bear?""We can learn other ways to do it. Whatever you want to do, I'll try it with you.""Can I still be a doctor like Daddy?"I held her cold left hand and ran my thumb over an old scratch on the back of it. A month earlier, Lily had stayed up late making a little white coat for that bear with a children's sewing kit. Once she learned to tie a knot, she insisted on waiting up to show her father. Her eyes kept closing, but she kept t

Chapter 3

For the next six weeks, I cared for my daughter, investigated how she'd been hurt, gathered evidence, and prepared the divorce paperwork.Ethan paid what insurance didn't cover, but he never came to see her after that. I assumed Vivian had him wrapped around her finger again. And then one day he had a huge gift box delivered.Inside was a toy that required two hands. You had to hold one side down to turn the other.Disgust rose in me. I put the box away, went to the door, and called him."How could you care so little about your own daughter! Sending her a toy like that is humiliating!""Claire, you need to see a therapist. You haven't been yourself lately. Vivian and I picked it out together. It's the doll every little girl wants right now. Don't let your emotions blind you to people's good intentions." Ethan sighed into the phone. "Once Lily has recovered a little more, you won't react so strongly to everything. We'll put the divorce on hold for now."What doll! The gift wasn't a doll

Chapter 4

Friday morning, before the car arrived, the custom birthday cake was delivered to the living room.The relatives and friends my mother had invited came in one after another, along with a few of Ethan's colleagues. She saw the suitcase in the entryway and told me to put it away, because it looked bad in front of guests."We're leaving the moment the car arrives." I went on checking Lily's bag and left the suitcase where it was.Vivian hung a toy stethoscope around Owen's neck and steered him over to Ethan."Owen, you have something to say to Daddy, don't you?"Owen wrapped both arms around Ethan's waist, looked up, and loudly called him Daddy.Lily had been touching the buttons on the bear's coat. At that word her hand stopped.Ethan didn't correct him. He bent down to the boy's level."What did you want to tell me?"Owen held up the stethoscope and announced that when he grew up he was going to be a surgeon too, at the same hospital as Ethan."Good. When you get to college, I'll teach

Chapter 5

At St. Anne's Children's Hospital, the doctors treated Lily's wound again. She kept crying from the pain, and I leaned down so she could see me."Mom's here, sweetheart. Hang on just a little longer. I'm staying right here."Only after she fell asleep with my sleeve in her fist did I let myself sit down. The doctor scheduled a follow-up and told me to watch for fever and worsening pain. Her admission to the rehab center would have to wait.I had to get her out of that house. Ethan was covering the hospital bills, but renting an accessible apartment, moving, and hiring help all meant immediate expenses. The property hadn't been divided yet, and I didn't have much in savings that I could access right away.For years, I had lent part of what I earned to my mother for repairs on her house, and the rest went to my sister's mortgage and Owen's expenses. Every time I thought about stopping, my mother asked how I could abandon my own widowed sister.Ethan messaged to say he would pay, and that

Chapter 6

That weekend, I went to the police station at the scheduled time and watched the security footage they'd saved from the accident.On the screen Lily is in the pale dress she wore that day, standing safely inside the line of bollards. Owen runs toward the road and she puts out a hand, as though to call him back.An out-of-control car suddenly enters the pedestrian area. Vivian immediately grabs her son and pulls him behind her.A second later she takes hold of Lily's right arm and shoves her hard, sending her forward and to the side.Lily falls beyond the protection of the bollards and lands between the car and Vivian."Stop it there."I had the officer rewind it and watched it again. My sister already had Owen behind her, and yet she put out her hand and pushed Lily out.My daughter could have gone home that day without a scratch.Lily had cried in her hospital bed, trying to explain, but Ethan had accused me of teaching her to lie. I rushed into the bathroom, braced myself against the

Chapter 7

The papers scattered across the floor.I grabbed the nurse and asked where Lily had gone. A man had claimed to be her father, she said, and Lily had called him Daddy. Before she could verify who he was, he'd already carried her toward the elevators.I called Ethan and had the nurse call security at the same time. The phone rang for a long time before he picked up."Lily is at home. Come back and we'll talk.""She has a checkup today! Bring her back right now!""I am a top surgeon. I can look after her! There's no need to drag her back and forth. Come home first."He hung up. I called the police and gave the dispatcher Ethan's name, a description of his car, and the destination he'd just confirmed. I also asked hospital security to save the footage.The nurse agreed to keep the wheelchair for me. I ran to the parking lot. The sight of the empty car seat in the back of my car sent a jolt of panic through me, and I drove straight to the old house.When I pushed the door open, Lily was cur

Chapter 8

Vivian carried Owen downstairs and set him down beside the sofa. The moment Ethan saw the boy bent over, he let go of me.Owen was doubled over with his hands on his stomach. Vivian said the pain had come on suddenly and he'd already vomited twice. She thought it was something he'd eaten.Ethan crouched beside him at once and asked careful questions about where it hurt and when the pain had started. He took a tissue and wiped the mess from Owen's mouth. When Owen whimpered that he felt awful, Ethan softened his voice and patiently helped him explain what hurt.Lily's hand, the one that had just clutched her father's shirt, hung in the air for a moment. Then she slowly drew it back against her chest.Ethan put my phone on the cabinet. I reached for it, but Vivian snatched it first."Give that back to me! You take Owen to the hospital. I'll take Lily. No one has to wait."Vivian put it on top of the cabinet and turned to Ethan. "She wants to take Lily away. Once she and Noah are living t

Chapter 9

I ran with the stretcher, holding my daughter's hand, saying her name over and over. "Lily, we're at the hospital. Answer me."Ethan caught up and cradled her left hand. Not long before, that little hand had clutched his shirt. Now it lay limp in his palm."Sweetheart, it's Daddy. Daddy's here."She didn't respond.The staff pushed the doors of the resuscitation room open and told us to stand back. He tried to follow them in, and only when they stopped him did he let go of her."She was calling for me a little while ago. How did this happen?"The doors closed. He turned to me, his voice urgent. "What happened on the way? She could still talk at the house. Claire, tell me!""She was waiting for you. You told her to hold on a little longer, so she kept holding on."He froze.I didn't want to look at him any longer. I braced myself against the wall by the door. Every time someone came out, I thought they had news about Lily, but the nurses only told me to sit and wait.He took out his pho

Chapter 10

I was folding clothes in the hospital room when Rachel sent me a local news clip. In the video Vivian was standing outside Bayview Medical Center holding Owen's medical paperwork and complaining about how she'd been treated. "David gave his life saving someone. I'm raising a child alone. All I want is a little understanding from the family. But my sister is determined to destroy two families."She started crying and Owen stood on tiptoe to wipe away her tears. I glanced at my sleeping daughter and turned the sound down.Rachel asked whether I wanted to respond."We can explain what happened. Don't publish photographs of her wounds, and don't let reporters near her. She's frightened enough."A few days later Ethan's lawyer, Paul Turner, received the complete footage, and we held a video meeting with both lawyers. Vivian insisted on joining, saying she wanted to explain herself face to face.As soon as the video call connected, Vivian called out Ethan's name. "Do you remember how David a

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