Chapter 1
My entire family betrayed me.
My husband Keith threatened divorce to force me into donating bone marrow to save my sister Berenice's life.
My parents slapped me across the face, screaming I owed her everything.
Thirty days in an underground lab, Keith wined and dined Berenice while I got steel needles driven through my spine daily.
When I begged Keith for help through the agony, he texted back: "Stop playing victim. Disgusting."
I died alone on day thirty. Keith arrived with divorce papers, ready for one final insult, but received a decomposing corpse crawling with maggots.
But when the truth came out, why did my loving family completely lose their minds?
Avery's POV
"Sign it, Avery. You OWE this to Berenice."
A thick stack of documents slammed into my face. The paper cut my cheek.
Keith stood before me, those gray-blue eyes now cold with disgust.
My husband was threatening divorce again, forcing me to sacrifice myself for my sister.
It was a waiver from some underground medical facility. My parents sat on the sofa, Mom spoon-feeding Berenice nutrition soup. Berenice leaned against our mother, pale and teary-eyed.
"Avery, if you don't want to, it's okay..." Berenice coughed weakly. "I know live stem cell extraction is painful, and you can't have anesthesia for a whole month... I'll be fine. At worst, I'll just die."
"Don't you DARE say that! My baby, you're not going to die!"
Mom shrieked, glaring at me.
"Avery, did you hear that? Your sister has bone marrow failure! You're sisters—you're a perfect match. It's just drawing some blood and marrow. You won't die from it! How can you be so SELFISH?"
Dad stood up, his cane hitting the floor.
"If you don't sign today, GET OUT of MY house! We don't have such a cold-hearted daughter!"
Before, I would have cried. I would have screamed and raged, overturned tables demanding to know why I always had to be the sacrifice. I would have grabbed Keith's hand, asking if he still remembered our wedding vows.
I knew what that "treatment" really was. To preserve stem cell viability, no anesthesia allowed. Thick steel needles straight into the spine, once a day, for thirty days.
That wasn't treatment. That was torture.
But now, I just watched them quietly.
They didn't know that two hours ago, I'd gotten my biopsy results from Central Hospital. Glioblastoma multiforme, stage four. Terminal brain cancer.
The doctor told me the tumor was pressing against critical nerves, making surgery pointless.
One month, at most.
That diagnosis was still in my purse.
One month. Exactly Berenice's "treatment" cycle.
"Avery, I'm running out of patience."
Keith stepped forward and grabbed my chin, nearly crushing bone.
"Berenice got sick because you stole all the nutrients in the womb. You OWE her a life! Don't sign today, and tomorrow my lawyer will serve you divorce papers. You'll leave with NOTHING."
Divorce? Leave with nothing?
I stared at this man I'd loved for seven years. He once drove through three states in a blizzard just to buy me my favorite cherry pie. Now he was using our marriage as leverage, forcing me to be another woman's living blood bag.
When did it all change?
Maybe when Berenice first faked a heart attack and collapsed in Keith's arms. Maybe when my parents kept telling him how jealous and bitter I was.
Either way, it didn't matter anymore.
"Fine."
My voice echoed in the room, hoarse but calm.
Keith froze, loosening his grip. He seemed prepared for resistance, never expecting me to agree so readily.
"What did you say?" He frowned.
"I said I agree."
I bent down to gather the documents. I flipped to the last page, uncapped my pen, and wrote "Avery Vance" on the signature line.
The pen scratched across paper in the silence.
Mom sighed with relief, forcing a smile.
"That's right, Avery. You've finally matured. This is what a good Vance daughter should do."
Berenice lowered her eyes, hiding her satisfaction.
"Thank you, Avery... I'll never forget your kindness."
Keith stared at the documents. He searched my face for hurt or defiance, but I gave him nothing. I felt nothing.
"Tomorrow morning, Dr. Stone's people will pick you up."
Keith's voice was cold.
"You'll stay at the lab for the entire month until Berenice's treatment is complete. Don't try anything clever, and don't think about running."
"Understood." I turned toward the stairs.
"Avery!"
Keith called out, irritated.
"When you come back, if Berenice recovers... I'll consider buying you that necklace you always wanted."
I stopped but didn't turn around.
That necklace had been the birthday gift I'd wanted a year ago, but Berenice had thrown a fit demanding a Cayenne as her "recovery reward." Keith bought it without question, then told me, "Avery, the necklace will have to wait. I'm over budget this month."
Now he was offering me the necklace like a bone thrown to a dog.
"Don't bother." I said quietly. "I won't need it anyway."
