Chapter 1
When my sister's kidneys suddenly failed, I begged my fiancé to help pay for her transplant.
Instead, he walked away and married Helena Rush.
Just as I was feeling desperate, Darren Hurley proposed to me. He even brought in the country's top doctors to save my sister. I was moved, and prayed that my sister's surgery went well.
But in the end, my sister died.
Through my grief, Darren held me close, promising to love me for the rest of my life.
Four years later, I overheard a conversation that shattered my whole world.
"Mr. Hurley, you secretly switched your wife's sister's kidney match to save Miss Rush's sister. If your wife ever finds out, that's murder," the doctor said.
Darren said, "I couldn't just watch Helena cry over her sister. I'd do anything just so Helena isn't sad.
"As for Alicia, I'll stay by her side for the rest of our lives. That's my way of making up to her."
My vision blurred with tears.
The marriage I once thought was my salvation turned out to be nothing but a carefully laid trap.
And my husband's promise to stay by my side hid a truth more devastating than betrayal.
*****
"Mrs. Hurley, is everything okay? Are you feeling sick?" asked a passing nurse.
I stood in the hospital hallway, my eyes swollen and red from crying. It drew the nurse's attention.
This hospital was privately owned by the Hurley Group—the very same place my sister, Bonnie Landry, was transferred to for her kidney transplant all those years ago.
Back then, Landry Group got taken over by the Rush Group, and we went bankrupt in the end.
Facing a mountain of debt and the total ruin of our family business, my parents just couldn't handle it—they took their own lives by jumping off a building.
As I was rushing Bonnie to the hospital, her kidney failure suddenly deteriorated. She needed a transplant as soon as possible.
The perfect kidney match was already lined up, but after the bankruptcy, we couldn't scrape together the money for the operation.
My fiancé, Gordon Shepard, didn't just break off our engagement at that critical moment—he refused to lend me a single cent to save Bonnie.
Darren Hurley from the Hurley Group was the only one who stepped up. He paid Bonnie's medical bills and had her transferred to this private hospital. He promised me the doctors here were top-tier specialists in kidney transplants—if anyone could save Bonnie, it was them.
But right after Bonnie got out of surgery, her body started violently rejecting the new kidney.
I'd never forget that day. My parents' deaths had already devastated me, but seeing Bonnie lying there, white as a sheet, her heart stopping eventually—it was more pain than I could bear.
Darren handled my family's funerals and everything after. He vowed he'd marry me, love me for a lifetime, and always be there for me—taking the place of the family I'd lost.
Back then, overwhelmed by grief, I thought he really was the anchor for my future, and the light I clung to, believing it could drive out all the darkness.
But now I finally realized the truth. His light was never for me. Darren only ever cared about Helena Rush.
"Alicia, what brings you here? Got your checkup done? Why are your eyes all red and puffy?" Darren asked, walking up to me.
He wrapped his arms around me, gently blowing over my swollen eyes, his actions tender.
I hesitated for a moment, then nudged him away and looked down. "A bug flew into my eye just now. I was rubbing it for ages before it finally came out," I replied.
Darren tapped my nose, his eyes doting. "Silly girl, there are doctors all over this place. Why not just let one of them handle it for you?" he remarked.
"By the way, did you get your test results back? Let me see your kidney report," Darren added.
The doctor, Samuel Farley, standing nearby handed over a report and started, "Mrs. Hurley's—uh, oops, wrong one. Here, this is yours. Mrs. Hurley's kidneys are in great shape. No issues at all."
As Samuel hurriedly grabbed back the first report, I could see Helena Rush's name written on it.
A sinking feeling settled in my chest. Did Helena get her kidneys checked at this hospital too?
Darren looked over my test results, zeroing in on the section about my kidneys.
Seeing how intense he was, my whole body went cold. Something clicked in my mind—the Rush family had always carried a hereditary kidney disease.
"Dr. Farley, does this data match up with that one?" Darren asked, turning to Samuel.
Samuel mumbled a vague yes.
Darren let out a sigh of relief.
"Is something the matter?" I asked, feigning curiosity.
Darren's features softened; he looked like he was in an especially good mood.