Chapter 4

Evelyn's POV

Marcus freezes when he hears what I said.

He's staring at me, searching my face for something. But I've already closed my eyes.

"What are you talking about?" He scoffs, but his hand still grabs the gurney rail. "When this is over, I'll give you ten million. You earned it."

He pauses. "And that necklace you wanted? I'll get it for you once Lily's better."

Mom's voice cuts in, sharp with irritation. "It's just a kidney. You're not gonna die. Quit being so dramatic. Lily's waiting!"

Dad nods. "Yeah. The faster we finish this, the faster we can get back to normal."

Marcus lets go of the rail and starts to turn away.

I open my eyes and look at his back. "Don't bother. Save it for someone who'll actually get to use it."

He turns back like he's about to say something, but the nurse is already wheeling me toward the operating room.

The door swings shut behind me. Everything goes quiet.

The overhead lights blaze white, burning into my eyes.

"Heart rate's elevated. Blood pressure's way too low." The anesthesiologist frowns at the monitor. "Patient's severely underweight and her vitals are weak. Are we sure she can handle surgery?"

The surgeon flips through my chart. His frown deepens. "There's something off with her head CT..."

"Doesn't matter." Another voice cuts him off. "Mr. Sterling said the recipient comes first. Miss Lily's already prepped and waiting. Let's get started."

I almost laugh.

So even my life gets decided like this. Just another item on his to-do list.

Cold anesthesia flows into my veins. I can feel my consciousness slipping away, one layer at a time.

When the scalpel cuts through my skin, something in me suddenly lets go.

The headache. The heartache. The exhaustion. All of it just... disappears.

I'm floating.

Looking down, I see a woman on the operating table, her face drained of all color.

That's my body.

"Donor's heart stopped!"

"Get the defibrillator!"

"No blood pressure. She's hemorrhaging—"

The doctors' panicked voices echo around me, but I'm just watching. Calm.

It won't help. My brain already shut everything down. The tumor plus the surgery trauma. This is the ending I chose for myself.

The green wave on the monitor goes flat.

"Time of death, four thirty-five PM."

The doctor drops the paddles. A nurse picks up the phone with shaking hands and dials Marcus.

I drift through the wall into the waiting room next door.

Marcus is standing there, waiting for news that the surgery's finished.

His phone rings. He glances at it and picks up, annoyed.

"Yeah?"

"Mr. Sterling, we have a problem. Evelyn, she—"

"What now?" He cuts her off. "Tell her to quit the act and get off that table. I don't have time for this. Tell her to go back to her room."

"Mr. Sterling—"

He hangs up. Turns to his assistant. "Grab some flowers. Lily'll want them when she wakes up."

I'm floating right in front of him. Less than an inch away.

I reach out to touch his face. My hand passes straight through.

"Marcus," I whisper, even though I know he can't hear me. "I'm done pretending. This time it's real."

He shivers slightly and tugs at his collar. "Why's the AC cranked so high?"

He doesn't know that's his dead wife trying to hold him one last time.

My body gets wheeled out under a white sheet, heading for the morgue.

Across the hall, the OR door opens and they bring Lily out. Mom, Dad, and Marcus crowd around her immediately.

"Lily! How are you feeling?"

"Surgery went perfectly! Doctor said it's a perfect match!"

"Our baby girl's finally healthy again!"

One side of the hallway is filled with laughter and celebration. The other side is silent and dark.

Nobody even glances at the lonely gurney sitting there.

They take Lily home and book plane tickets to the Maldives.

Nobody knows that Lily never got any transplant at all. After they removed my kidney, a doctor just threw it away.

The illness. The surgery. All of it was a setup she paid doctors to stage.

All so I'd disappear completely and she could have everything to herself.

A few days later, they're back from the Maldives.

Marcus notices the house feels empty. My bedroom door is shut tight. No sound coming from inside.

He pulls out his phone and calls me. No answer.

Then he calls the hospital.

"Hi, this is Marcus Sterling. Is my wife still there? Evelyn Sterling?"

Silence on the other end for a few seconds. "Mr. Sterling, Evelyn passed away. We tried calling you. You didn't believe us, so her body's been in the morgue."

"That's ridiculous!" Marcus interrupts. "She can't possibly—"

"Mr. Sterling." The voice goes cold. "Come see for yourself if you don't believe me. She's in the hospital morgue."

The line goes dead.

"What's going on?" Dad asks.

"Nothing." Marcus grabs his keys. "I'm going to the hospital to find her."

He speeds to the hospital. The doctor leads him down a long corridor without saying a word. They stop at the morgue.

A gurney sits in the corner.

On top of it, a figure covered by a white sheet.