Chapter 1

Being the healthy older twin, I was always expected to put my frail sister, Michelle Thompson, first.

So when our two childhood friends proposed, I let her subtle preference sway me toward Sean Watson.

It was a choice I would come to regret. Sean, the man I married, became my tormentor, constantly pressuring me to donate a kidney to Michelle.

Just as I reached my lowest point, Bertram Ford appeared.

He offered me an escape and promised to keep me safe forever.

We got married, but the security he offered didn't last. He grew distant and cold.

I tried to convince myself that this was just what happened in marriages, that I should learn to live with it.

But on Christmas Eve, he showed his true colors. He went from asking for my kidney to demanding I abort our child, all to make me the "perfect donor" for Michelle.

*****

"Bertram, are you out of your mind?" I cried out in the hospital, my eyes red with shock as I stared at him. "Do you even realize our baby is already six months old?"

Bertram was calm as ever. "We can always have another baby. But if Michelle doesn't get a kidney, she won't survive this winter. Cheryl, you need to get your priorities straight."

I watched Bertram standing in line at the hospital, and despair seeped into my bones. My child was my only priority.

Michelle was merely bored and eager for my humiliation, so she feigned illness. Yet Bertram, as if brainwashed, placed in her his blind faith.

But I'd let no one take away my baby's right to be born.

Without hesitating, I grabbed my bag and made a break for it, slipping out of the hospital when no one was paying attention.

When I got home, I switched off my phone and shut myself away in my room.

Before long, I heard some noise outside my door, and Michelle's overly dramatic voice drifted in.

"Bertram, I'm sure Cheryl didn't mean to leave. There must've been something urgent. Just talk to her calmly when she gets back, okay? Don't lose your temper," Michelle said, her voice soft and full of fake concern.

Michelle's gentle act only rekindled the anger that Bertram had just begun to calm.

"Michelle, quit covering for her," Bertram said sharply. "It's unbelievable. You always put her first, but she won't even help her own sister out when you need her."

"Yeah, she's been a selfish brat since before you were born, hogging everything for herself. Like she'd ever care about anyone but herself," Sean added with a sneer.

So this was how they saw me—just some cold-hearted, selfish person.

All these years, whenever it came to Michelle, I always put myself last.

Even when she was too weak to play sports, I forced myself to give up my tennis career and stayed home full-time, looking after her and everyone else.

She didn't value my loyalty, so she wouldn't get my kidney either.

I threw the door open, staring down the three of them as they froze in shock. "I'm never getting an abortion. And as for the kidney? Forget it. I'm not donating."

Bertram was so used to me always putting up with everything that he was too stunned to process what I'd just said.

"Cheryl, do you even realize how hard it is to get an appointment on Christmas Eve?" Bertram demanded.

"You just walked out without a word. Do I even matter to you as your husband?" he added.

Trying to stay calm, I repeated myself, my voice unwavering, "I said, I'm not donating my kidney."

"You have to," Sean cut in before Bertram or Michelle could even get a word out.

He stood there, all self-righteous, laying out a whole list of everything I'd ever done wrong. "You have no right to refuse.

"If you hadn't refused to give Michelle your kidney before, she wouldn't be getting worse now.

"If you'd just done it earlier, you wouldn't have to deal with this now. This is all on you," he snapped, full of blame.

Sean's self-righteous rant finally made me see his true colors. I realized that the guy I'd grown up with was nothing but disgusting underneath it all.

"Go ahead and say whatever you want. I'm never donating. Period," I shot back.

"You—" Sean was left speechless by my defiant attitude.

"I knew it. You're a total jinx," Bertram sneered. "Poor Michelle, what did she do to deserve a sister like you?"

If he'd said this before forcing me into that abortion, it would have broken me. I would have cried myself to sleep for nights on end. But now, I just didn't care anymore.

"Sean, Bertram, please don't talk about Cheryl like that," Michelle said, her voice dripping with fake concern.

"If Cheryl doesn't want to help, it must be because I did something wrong and made her upset," she added. "Maybe we should just leave."

Michelle kept playing the victim, but she didn't budge. She just stood there, milking everyone's sympathy and making herself look like the only one worth pitying.

The little sister I'd spoiled all my life turned out to be even more cunning than I ever imagined.

Just as expected, the moment Michelle played the victim, Bertram's face turned stone cold.

He snapped, "Cheryl, I know you can't bear to part with the baby, so I won't push you today.

"I'm giving you three days to say your goodbyes. But after that, you'd better not make this harder than it has to be and just come with me to the hospital. Or else, you know what's coming."