Chapter 5
It was late. Annie had fallen asleep in my arms a long time ago, her breathing slow and even, her little cheeks flushed pink.
I ran my fingers through her soft hair and felt a wave of calm settle over me. She was my daughter, my one weakness, and my strongest armor. For her, I had to be untouchable.
My phone lit up on the nightstand. It was Rachel.
I slipped out of bed, tiptoed to the living room, and picked up.
"So? I heard that old witch came to see you?" Rachel sounded pissed.
"Yeah, she did." I gave her a quick rundown of what happened that afternoon.
Rachel went off on the other end.
"She actually had the nerve to show up? And beg you? That performance deserved a damn Oscar. You did the right thing. That's exactly how you handle someone like her. Give her an inch, and she'll pick your bones clean."
I let out a small laugh. "Don't worry. I'm not the same person I was three years ago."
"Good." Rachel paused, and her tone shifted. "By the way, I had someone look into Victor's situation. He's not sick. He brought this on himself."
My stomach dropped a little. "What do you mean?"
Rachel said, "After the divorce, his business kept growing, and so did his ego. About six months ago, he got into it with someone over a deal at a dinner.
"He brought guys and roughed the other person up. But the guy turned out to be just as ruthless and sent people after him. They cornered Victor in a parking garage and beat him half to death."
A hint of satisfaction crept into Rachel's voice. "Internal bleeding, multiple broken ribs. He spent over a month in the ICU before they pulled him through. Both kidneys got wrecked in the attack, and now he's on dialysis just to stay alive.
"His company went under after that. Partners pulled their money, clients bailed, and he racked up a mountain of debt. The house, the cars, all of it, gone.
"And that rich girl Linda lined up for him? The second she saw what he'd turned into, she cut him loose.
"So now he's flat broke and could drop dead any day."
I listened to all of it, and I didn't feel much of anything.
It wasn't that I wasn't shocked. None of it surprised me. It all felt inevitable, like karma had finally caught up with him.
Rachel's tone turned serious. "Aurora, I'm telling you all this because I need you to hear me. They're out of options. You and your kidney are their only lifeline, and they are not going to let this go."
"I know."
"Be careful. Desperate people do desperate things."
"I will."
I hung up and stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out at the city lights scattered across the skyline.
Victor's face drifted through my mind, the way he used to look.
He had been handsome and wealthy, the kind of man everyone envied. And now he was nothing but a broken man in a hospital bed, barely clinging to life. The world really did have a cruel sense of humor.
My phone lit up again. An unknown number was calling.
I hesitated for a second but picked up anyway.
A weak, raspy voice came through the line, broken up by labored breathing. "Aurora."
It was Victor.
Three years had passed since I last heard his voice, and somehow it sounded like a stranger's.
I said nothing.
"Did my mom come see you today?" He asked it carefully.
"Yeah."
"Don't blame her. She was panicking, that's all."
A cold laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it. "So what, Victor? I should blame myself instead? Sorry my life's going too well and it bothers your family?"
That shut him up. He broke into a violent coughing fit.
It took him a long time to catch his breath. "Aurora, I know I was wrong. Not a single day has gone by in three years that I haven't regretted everything.
"I never should've listened to my mom. I never should've let you go. Can we try again? Give me your kidney, and I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I'll do anything you want."
His voice cracked, thick with tears. He sounded pitiful, but all I felt was disgust.
"Victor." I cut him off. "There's nothing left between us. Three years ago, when you chose your mother and threw me and our child away, you killed whatever we had.
"You're not coming to me now because you regret what you did, and you're not here because you love me. You're here because you've got nowhere else to turn, and I'm the only person who can save your life.
"If you were still on top of the world, lying in that hospital bed with a line of women waiting to give you a kidney, would you have even called me?"
The other end of the line went dead silent.
My words sliced through his act like a blade, peeling back every layer of fake tenderness and exposing the selfish, ugly truth underneath.
"I heard the people who did this to you were your business rivals?" I asked, keeping my voice flat.
"Yes."
"And that fiancée of yours, the one you were about to get engaged to, she ran the second things went south?"
He said nothing.
I sneered, "Victor, you didn't end up like this because of me or anyone else. You did this to yourself, and this is exactly what you deserve.
"I'd sooner give my kidney to a stranger on the street or a lab rat before I'd ever give it to you. So go ahead and lie in that hospital bed and rot."
I hung up and blocked his number without a second thought.
The world finally went quiet.