Chapter 3

That evening, the kindergarten teacher called me out of the blue, "Mrs. Grant, Mr. Grant picked up Lily early this afternoon. Did you know about that?"

My head started buzzing.

"Who did you say picked her up?" I asked.

"Mr. Grant. He said you weren't feeling well, so he took Lily to the hospital for a check-up," the teacher replied.

I completely lost it.

When I burst into the hospital, Lily was sitting outside the blood draw room, her face pale and her eyes red from crying.

The moment she saw me, she pulled away from the nurse and stumbled straight into my arms.

"Mommy, I'm scared," Lily said.

I was shaking all over as I held her.

Edward stood off to the side, his brows furrowed.

"Relax, it's a routine blood test," he said.

I didn't hesitate. I slapped him hard across the face.

"How dare you bring Lily to the hospital without my permission?" I shouted at Edward.

The whole hallway went dead silent.

Edward tilted his head, and five red finger marks bloomed across his cheek.

Yet the first thing he said was, "Olivia's son's condition has gotten worse. We're running out of time."

I stared at him, feeling he was so unfamiliar that it was frightening.

I asked, "So you'd go as far as to trick Lily into coming to the hospital, to save Olivia's son?

"Edward, are you even human?"

Just then, a soft voice came from the end of the hallway. "Emma, please don't blame Edward. I begged him to do it."

I looked over.

Olivia was dressed in an off-white gown, her face pale as she slowly approached, holding the hand of a little boy wearing a mask.

She still looked as fragile as ever, like she'd fall over if the wind blew too hard.

When Olivia reached me, she looked Lily over in my arms, her gaze lingering with a hint of appraisal.

Then, with teary eyes, she said softly, "If there was any other way, I wouldn't have come to you two for help."

I looked at her and let out a cold laugh.

"Begging? You think dragging my four-year-old daughter here and tricking her into a blood test counts as begging for help?" I said.

Olivia's eyes rimmed with red, and her voice grew even softer. "I'm not lying. Edward said he'd talk to you and explain everything."

"Explain what?" I cut her off. "Explain who your son's real father is? Or what makes you think my daughter should pay the price for him?"

As soon as those words left my mouth, Olivia's expression faltered.

Edward moved protectively to stand between us.

"That's enough, Emma. Don't push it," he said.

I stared at him, feeling my heart turn colder and colder.

Even at a time like this, his first reaction was still to stand up for Olivia.

After I brought Lily home that night, she was tormented by nightmares until dawn.

She kept crying, sometimes sobbing that it hurt, sometimes curling up in my arms, shaking uncontrollably, whispering, "Mommy, I don't want to go to the hospital. Daddy, please don't make me get a shot."

I barely closed my eyes the whole night.

Early the next morning, I got a call from my college friend, Danielle Lane.

She worked in the diagnostics department at that private hospital, and her tone was urgent.

"Emma, are you still in the dark about this?" she asked.

My heart sank.

"Know what?" I asked.

She lowered her voice. "Edward's already had Lily tested for compatibility before. The blood sample they sent yesterday was an extra draw to supplement the previous tests."

I was stunned, completely paralyzed by what I had heard. "Wait, what?"

Danielle paused for a couple of seconds, but then she continued. "About two weeks ago, there was already a sample in the hospital system under Lily's name, and it had been screened.

"And the bone marrow transplant evaluation and the pre-surgery plan—they've already been set up in advance."

My hand holding the phone grew colder and colder with every word.

So taking Lily to the hospital yesterday wasn't some spur-of-the-moment decision.

All that talk about it being a blood test—it was a lie all along.

Edward had been working behind my back, setting everything up.

All he was waiting for was to put Lily on that operating table.

Danielle caught the shakiness in my voice and dropped hers even lower as she added, "I've sent you screenshots from the system. Keep an eye out; there's a note that's pretty odd."

"What note?" I asked.

She paused and then said, "There's a note saying the mother is emotionally unstable. If she gets in the way, the father can move forward alone."

I stared at those words, and for a moment, everything went black.

Turned out, to them, my only worth as a mother was putting my signature on a form.

If I refused, they'd bypass me entirely.

I looked at Lily, still sleeping soundly in bed, my nails digging painfully into my palm.

In that moment, a fear so overwhelming washed over me—it bordered on madness.

If I had arrived a bit later yesterday, if Lily had been a little younger, a little more trusting, would they have already taken her into that operating room?