Chapter 1
It had been ten years since Lily Sanders donated her kidney to Simon Shaw, and now a high fever was threatening her life.
Simon sat by her hospital bed and cried. His face was soaked with tears. "Lily, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have to go through this."
His eyes were full of love and pain, and he took care of her day and night. Every morning when she woke up, there were fresh lilies on her nightstand—her favorite flowers.
He drove all over the city to find the pastries she liked, and he even dressed up as a teddy bear to make her laugh.
She stayed in the hospital for a week and lost ten pounds.
Simon did everything himself during that time. He trimmed her nails and helped her bathe. He got so exhausted that he got sick too, but he still came to her room with an IV drip attached to his arm.
He got down on his knees and proposed to her, and he promised he would never marry anyone else.
Lily was surrounded by flowers and balloons. She put on the seven-carat diamond ring, and in one day, she became the happiest woman in Riverside City.
Everyone in the hospital was jealous of her. "Mr. Shaw treats you like you're the most precious thing in the world. I've never seen a man go this far for anyone. Once you're better, you'll have the perfect life."
Lily thought so, too.
But then the night before her surgery, Simon got a phone call. His face showed a kind of panic she had never seen before.
*****
"Lily, Vanessa got divorced. Her ex was abusing her, and she needs me right now." Simon's voice was tight with urgency. "I already found the best doctor for you. Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
Lily had heard him call out Vanessa Newton's name in his sleep countless times during their three years together. His first love. The woman who still owned pieces of him.
She opened her mouth to say something, but Simon was already walking away without looking back.
They wheeled Lily into the operating room alone.
The anesthesia hit her system, and everything started to blur. She felt like she was falling into a dream that stretched on forever. In it, Simon held her hand and promised her the most beautiful wedding, swore he'd love her always.
In it, Simon held her hand and promised her the most beautiful wedding, swore he'd love her always.
Then the dream shifted. Simon walked away from her and slipped a wedding ring onto another woman's finger.
Lily jolted awake. The surgical lights burned her eyes, and she squeezed them shut against the sharp ache.
The surgeon's voice cut through the haze. "Patient's hemorrhaging. Someone needs to get the consent form signed now."
A nurse rushed out and came back seconds later, her face tight with panic.
"Doctor, there's no one outside. I called Mr. Shaw, but he's not picking up."
The surgeon looked stunned. "Try again. Mr. Shaw cares about Ms. Sanders too much to ignore this."
Lily's chest tightened. The anesthesia was wearing off, and a dull pain spread across her abdomen.
Simon had lied to her. He'd promised he'd take care of her, that he'd never leave her behind.
The doctor's words stabbed into her like a blade, proving what she'd always feared—Simon didn't love her the way she thought he did.
"What do we do? He's still not answering!" The nurse kept calling and calling. Each time, the line just rang and rang with that endless busy tone.
He'd promised he'd come right back, but he was still with Vanessa.
Lily's heart sank lower with each unanswered call.
Her lips felt cracked and dry. She forced the words out, her voice barely a rasp. "I'll sign it myself."
The medical staff in the operating room froze for a second, then quickly handed Lily the pen and consent form.
She forced herself upright and signed her name. Through the glass window, she could see the empty hallway outside, and tears finally spilled down her cheeks.
The surgery ended, but Simon never came back.
Without a nurse to help her, she had to do everything herself. Every trip to the bathroom meant dragging her body down the hall, limping and gritting her teeth against the pain from her incision.
Her chest tightened. She couldn't help remembering how Simon used to take care of her, how gentle he'd been.
But then she passed by a hospital room and heard familiar laughter.
Lily stopped dead.
Through the door of the VIP room, she saw her boyfriend—the one who'd been missing all day—sitting by a hospital bed with a bowl of soup in his hands. He was feeding the woman lying there, and his expression was so tender it made her stomach turn.
She didn't need to look closer to know who it was. Vanessa.
Who else could pull Simon away from her with just one phone call?
Vanessa's voice drifted out, playful and sweet. "You're worrying too much. It's just a little scrape. I didn't need to be admitted."
Simon's face lit up like he'd found something precious he thought he'd lost forever. He gripped Vanessa's hand tight, like he was holding onto treasure.
"I was scared," he said softly. "Scared I'd lose you again."
Tears hit the back of Lily's hand, hot and stinging, but she felt hollow inside. Numb.
His first love gets divorced, and he abandons his girlfriend right before surgery to rush to her side.
His first love felt scared and needed company, so he ignored eighty calls from the hospital.
His ex-wife got a scrape on her hand, and suddenly that mattered more than the girlfriend who just donated a kidney for him and was lying in a recovery room alone.
Lily had spent ten years building up this love in her heart, brick by brick. And now it all came crashing down in one moment. Her heart shattered right along with it, breaking into pieces she didn't know how to put back together.
She'd wanted to cry, to scream, to make a scene. But the moment she learned the truth, she went eerily calm instead, like something inside her had just shut off.
Lily didn't look at the happy couple in the hospital room. She grabbed the hot water kettle and walked back to her own room, one slow step at a time.
She pulled out her phone and opened the chat she'd pinned but never used. Her fingers moved across the screen.
[You were right. He's not worth it.]
Then she called her brother, Michael Sanders, her voice breaking despite her best efforts. "Michael, I messed up. Can you help me fake my death? I want to come home."
Silence stretched on the other end, followed by a long, heavy sigh. "I'm glad you finally see it. I'll come get you in five days."