Chapter 3

I turned the wheel and headed back to my place in Aoritand.

It was 70 miles. I cried so hard that I could barely see the road. It took me three hours to get home.

My best friend, Grace Wilson, was waiting at the door, holding a cake, her face full of anticipation. "You're back already? So, how did it go? Caleb must be thrilled after he found out you're pregnant, right?"

Today was Caleb's birthday, and I planned to tell him about the baby.

My transfer finally got approved, so I could apply to move back to Boriton. So right after work, I couldn't wait to head straight to Boriton.

I wanted to tell him face-to-face that we were having a baby, that we could finally end the long-distance struggle, and that from now on, we wouldn't have to spend weekends apart anymore.

But fate had other plans. I walked right into a scene so ugly. It felt like I was trapped in a nightmare, one I couldn't wake up from.

I stared at Grace, my eyes stinging as tears threatened to spill. The calm facade I'd been desperately holding together finally crumbled. "He cheated on me with the girl he gave his kidney to."

Grace stood there stunned for a few seconds, then her eyes were even redder than mine, burning with rage.

The next moment, she was tearing up as she started cursing Caleb.

I completely broke down and threw myself into her arms.

Grace watched everything between Caleb and me unfold over fifteen years, starting when we were ten.

When Caleb couldn't afford the SAT fees and was about to give up, I stole my dad's bank card for him. My dad beat me so hard that my back was streaked with blood.

I spent twenty days straight pulling all-nighters to ace the project, so I'd have the results to apply for a transfer back to Boriton.

During the six months Caleb was studying abroad, I had a fracture and was stuck in the hospital, but I kept it from him.

Every time, Grace would call me stupid out of concern, always asking if it was really worth it.

I'd always tell her it was. Caleb had been through so much. I was all he got. I wanted to do even more for him, to make up for everything he'd suffered.

She knew I loved Caleb more than I ever loved myself.

So now, Grace was bawling her eyes out, snot and tears everywhere, cursing Caleb between sobs.

She called him blind as a bat, a heartless bastard, and swore she hoped he'd rot in hell for what he did.

I was crouched by the toilet, sobbing and throwing up. "I'm getting a divorce. I won't bring the bastard Caleb's child into this world. I hope Caleb rots in hell."

*****

It was three in the morning. I huddled in the corner of the couch, staring at the neon outside as it blinked restlessly in the darkness.

Grace couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. She leaned her head against my shoulder and drifted off to sleep, tears wet on her lashes.

I used to believe that a good relationship needed fireworks, moonlight, roses carried across mountains and rivers, and a million tough moments with ten thousand times hugging and crying together.

But now I realize that real love was all about decency.

Suddenly, the door swung open. It was Caleb. "Kiki, you've got it wrong. Emily is only my patient."

Guys always had a hero complex. They acted like they were some kind of god, always itching to save someone.

Caleb's eyes were red as he told me, "When I first saw Emily, I couldn't help but feel for her.

"She was only twenty, struggling with poverty and illness. Acute kidney failure hit her hard, and because she couldn't afford treatment, she had to give up, even though it broke her heart."

His voice was thick with heartache as he spoke.

But he had no idea that while he was talking, there was only one thing running through my mind.

She reminded him of himself at ten, the boy abandoned after his parents' divorce, unwanted and starving, the one I used to sneak food and money to, so he could survive.

When he looked at her, he was really seeing the boy he used to be. So he gave her his kidney without a second thought, like when he was a kid, and I gave him food.

"So what happened after that?" I finally spoke, my voice steadier than I expected. "Did you fall for her because you felt sorry for her? Was it all about letting someone on the edge of death feel loved?

"Caleb, you're a doctor, not a god. You don't have to burn yourself up to save someone else."

"And what about me?" I stared at him. "What am I to you?"

Because I was too complete, too tough, too independent to ever need saving. So I could be the one sacrificed, abandoned for his so-called grand love.

I sank into the couch, biting back every word I wanted to say.

Outside, the neon lights kept flashing, red, green, yellow, as they had been hours ago. But I knew there was no going back.

Caleb was still standing at the entryway, looking like he'd been through hell, his eyes full of exhaustion.

He was waiting, waiting for me to understand, waiting for me to forgive him, waiting for me to fall apart and run into his arms, saying, "It's okay."

"You don't need to explain yourself to me," I heard myself say. "I can't even try to understand you. Let's divorce."

Caleb froze. He hadn't expected me to be so resolute. The hope in his eyes faded away, and his shoulders slumped.

Then he took a deep breath, looked up, and his eyes were cold as ice. "Kiki, how can you be so heartless?

"All I wanted was for her to leave this world without regrets. Is that so wrong? All you ever care about is love and romance. Is a human life really that worthless to you?"

I was stunned.

Honestly, I thought I'd run out of tears today.

At least I kept my dignity intact. From the moment I saw Emily Reed posting about their perfect relationship on social media, to standing there at the scene of the crash, watching them together, I stayed calm. I didn't lose control.

I even tried to convince myself that being betrayed wasn't the end of the world. It only showed my love was wasted on the wrong person.

I was only twenty-five. I could always start over.

But the tears still came, all because of that ridiculous accusation from Caleb.

They fell like pearls off a broken string, no matter how hard I tried to stop them.

"Heartless?" I could hear the tremor in my voice. "Yeah, if I were really heartless, I should've let you starve back when you were ten."

Caleb's expression shifted.

"Caleb, anyone else can judge me, but of all people, you have no right." My tears blurred my vision. The harder I tried to wipe them away, the more they kept coming.

Caleb watched me cry, wanting to come closer, but he hesitated.

His gaze was so conflicted that I couldn't make sense of it. Then he finally spoke. "Kiki, Emily's surgery failed. She needs a kidney."

For a moment, it felt like my heart stopped. Even my tears froze in place.

"Could you help her? Please," Caleb continued.

The world went quiet.

"Are you out of your mind?" I didn't even notice when Grace woke up, but suddenly she stormed over and slapped Caleb right across the face.

She was sobbing and cursing him out. "You're nothing but a mooching leech. You should've died in Emily's bed. Wasn't she supposed to be dying? How did she still have the mood to post your bedroom antics online?

"Go piss in a cup and take a good look at yourself. If Kiki hadn't taken pity on you, you wouldn't even have the right to stand here and talk to her."

Caleb held his face, totally stunned, and couldn't get a single word out.

I looked at him and let out a sneer. "You're disgusting."

I stood up and walked over to him. "Caleb, you make me feel like everything I've been through these years was nothing but a joke."

I didn't give him a chance to say another word. "You have another kidney. Go ahead and donate that one to her. Let's get divorced tomorrow. Don't make me despise you any more than I already do."