Chapter 2

If I hadn't already gotten my hearing back, I probably would've been so moved by him that I'd have agreed to the surgery without a second thought.

I met his gaze, my eyes unwavering. "I'm not getting the surgery."

Rory's gentle smile stiffened, and a flash of irritation flickered in his eyes.

He gave my cheek a half-hearted pinch, as if silently telling me I was being dramatic.

I was just about to say something when the door swung open.

Doctors swarmed in, with two pinning down my shoulders and limbs while another clamped a mask over my mouth and nose, flooding me with anesthetic.

There was no pain, but sinking gradually into unconsciousness felt far more hopeless.

As my eyes closed, the last bit of love I had for Rory vanished for good.

When I opened my eyes again, it was already the next morning.

As the anesthesia wore off, a sharp stinging in my lower back made me gasp, the pain catching me off guard.

Rory looked like he'd been by my side all night. His eyes were red and tired, and his chin was covered in rough stubble.

When he saw me in pain, hurt flashed on his face, and he spoke slowly, his voice soft and worried. "Madge, you're finally awake. I've got some good news and some bad news for you."

Rory acted like it was hard to bring himself to say it, dragging it out on purpose.

I forced an awkward smile. "So, the good news is I can hear again. What's the bad?"

Rory's eyes locked on mine, and all at once tears streamed down his face. "Your kidneys failed. They had to take one out. But you don't need to worry, I swear I'll do whatever it takes to get you a healthy one."

I couldn't help but give a bitter little smile.

Raising my hand, I brushed away his tears and said softly, "I get it. Why don't you rest for a while?"

Rory looked absolutely exhausted, and before long he dozed off right beside me, fast asleep.

I watched him for a moment, making sure he was really asleep before I picked up his phone.

He never seemed to guard anything from me—his phone didn't even have a passcode, but all his messaging apps were locked. The password was Mona's birthday.

I opened up their chat, and saw they'd been messaging practically the whole night.

Rory had bombarded her with voice notes—half of them were telling Mona there's nothing to be scared of when it comes to the operation, and the rest was him nagging her nonstop about all the things to watch out for after surgery.

Whenever he brought me up, it was always just a throwaway line. [She's not gonna die.]

Three years' worth of chat messages—he hadn't deleted a single one. Every little thing about Mona, Rory made sure to save it all.

Even the most random daily snapshots were neatly filed away in an album called "The Love of My Life."

Even though I'd braced myself, seeing all this still hit me where it hurt.

I let out a bitter little chuckle at my own misery and kept scrolling through his saved memories.

But then, it was that last medical report that shattered me completely.

It was dated ten years ago. That was when I'd just earned my wings as a pilot.

And on my very first pilot physical, Rory had secretly tagged the file. [Best candidate as a donor for Mona.]

All the color drained from my face as silent tears rolled down my cheeks. 'So my fate was set in stone all the way back then,' I realized.

For Mona, Rory had been setting this up from the start. Even when Mona was perfectly healthy, he was already making plans for her, just in case.

And I was nothing but the sacrificial offering for their so-called love.

If this is how things have turned out, I should just hand them exactly what they want.

When my fellow pilots heard I'd undergone surgery, they showed up at the hospital to visit me the very next day.

During their visit, Rory kept up his usual act of gentle care.

He fussed over the bowl, blowing on the oatmeal until it was just right, then fed me slowly, one spoonful at a time, as if I were made of glass.

All my squadmates gushed about how lucky I was to have landed such a caring husband.

I didn't want to blow his cover in front of everyone, so I forced a smile and went along with it.

About half an hour later, my partner, Jerry, pulled out a file folder.

Rory frowned. "What's that?"

Jerry gave a small smile. "Just some documents from Madge's last classified mission—need to confirm a few details."

Since he wasn't cleared to see classified stuff, Rory had no choice but to let go of my hand.

Rory reminded me. "If you don't feel well, tell me. Don't push yourself. Your body's still healing—we can't afford any setbacks."

Seeing him so concerned, I couldn't help but wonder if everything yesterday was just a bad dream.

But the sharp pain in my lower back was there to remind me that it was all real.

Once Rory left, Jerry plopped herself right onto my hospital bed. She hurriedly lifted my shirt. "Hey, does it hurt at all?

"We already had a donor kidney lined up for you, but to sell the story, we actually had to give you a real incision."