Chapter 2
Samara gritted her teeth through the pain as she signed the discharge papers at the hospital. On her way home in a cab, she noticed Kaiser with his arm around Paloma, leaving the veterinary clinic. Paloma held Buddy, the dog that now had Samara’s kidney.
Paloma gently stroked Buddy, her voice filled with relief. "Thank goodness Buddy's okay. I don't know how I'd manage if something had happened to him."
Kaiser looked at Paloma with soft eyes, brushing back her hair. "Buddy has such a devoted mom; there’s nothing to worry about."
Paloma smiled warmly, "Kaiser, thank you for giving Buddy another chance by having Samara donate her kidney. You've become Buddy's dad now."
Kaiser replied in a teasing manner, "Paloma, don't thank me. As long as you're happy, nothing is too much. We’ll take care of Buddy together."
Samara dug her nails into her palms, trying to steady her thoughts. My kidney — so Kaiser can play dad to a dog — he enjoyed it without ever asking if I was okay with this.
The urge to confront Kaiser about his true feelings stirred within Samara, yet she held back as Kaiser gingerly helped Paloma and Buddy into the car.
Standing alone, the warm autumn breeze felt like a cruel joke, leaving her heart in icy silence. What sort of man had she been sharing her life with all these years?
Dragging her weary body home, Samara heard the 'ding' of the spare phone Kaiser had left behind. When she opened it, texts from Ezra flooded the screen:
[Kaiser, are you out of your mind? Two years ago, when Paloma was grieving over her miscarriage, you slipped drugs into Samara's stew to make her miscarry too, leading to severe bleeding and permanent infertility.]
[And now you've given her kidney to Paloma’s dog. How can you even call yourself human?]
[One day, you’ll regret how you’ve mistreated her!]
Samara's hand shook uncontrollably, the chill of the messages seizing her blood. Whether Kaiser would regret his actions was uncertain, but her regret was undeniable.
She realized the man she had loved for years was nothing short of a monster. Two years ago, she had lost their five-month-old child — a fully formed baby boy.
She had blamed herself countless times for not protecting her unborn child. Discovering that Kaiser had purposefully ended his life was devastating.
Because Paloma had lost her baby, he decreed that Samara should suffer the same pain.
The bitter irony was that he had kept secret her inability to have children. Recalling the endless medications she took in hopes of conceiving, Samara felt deceived.
To Kaiser, her desperate attempts to give him a child must have seemed laughable. He kept her in the dark for two years, letting her swing between hope and despair.