Chapter 1
In my old life, my husband Orion Holloway forced me onto an operating table so I could give up a kidney for his so called true love, who was dying of kidney failure.
While I was bleeding out under the surgical lights, he stood there cold as stone, eyes glued to the cooler carrying her kidney. He never even looked at me.
Three years after I died, he finally learned the truth. The person who once saved his life wasn't her. It was me. He lost his mind, clutching my urn like a madman, sobbing until his voice broke.
Then I opened my eyes again. I was back at the moment I signed the consent form.
Orion was right in front of me, shoving a pen into my hand, urging me to hurry up and sign so she could live.
This time, I slapped him across the face and ripped the form to shreds.
The reporters stormed in seconds later. I had texted them ten minutes earlier.
In front of the cameras, I lifted my shirt and showed the fake scars on my stomach, crying about domestic abuse and forced organ donation.
If you love her that much, then you give her your kidney this time.
In this life, I want to watch you two tragic lovebirds rot together in the mud.
*****
The sharp smell of disinfectant hit me like a slap to the face.
I snapped my eyes open, my vision clearing from blurry to sharp in an instant.
Right in front of me was a handsome face twisted into something ugly. Orion clenched a black pen between his fingers, impatiently trying to shove it into my hand.
"Delilah, what are you hesitating for?" he snapped. "Lyra is already in the OR. She's under anesthesia, just waiting on your signature. That's your little sister. Can you stop being so damn heartless?"
His voice buzzed in my ears like a swarm of flies.
I lowered my gaze to the paper in front of me. The Living Organ Donation Consent Form.
In my previous life, this flimsy piece of paper was my death sentence.
I have Rh negative blood. So does Lyra.
When she was diagnosed with end stage kidney failure, Orion went completely unhinged, searching the world for a donor. In the end, I turned out to be the perfect match.
He stood in front of me, begged me, swore that if I saved Lyra's life, he would cherish me for the rest of his.
I was stupid enough to believe him.
On the operating table, the lead surgeon made a fatal mistake and severed my artery.
I lay there convulsing in a pool of blood. As my consciousness faded, I saw Orion burst into the operating room.
He didn't even glance at me. He just urged the doctors to hurry up and send the kidney next door, terrified Lyra might lose a single second.
After I died, my soul wandered the earth for three long years.
I watched as Orion and Lyra acted all lovey-dovey, never doubting each other, and he spoiled her like she was royalty.
It wasn't until Lyra relapsed and needed a second transplant that he stumbled across my old diary while sorting through storage. That's when he learned the truth. Years ago, when he nearly froze to death in the snow, the person who warmed him with her own body wasn't Lyra.
He clutched my urn, bawling his eyes out, crying about how wrong he'd been.
Too bad. Love that showed up late was cheaper than dirt.
"Delilah! Are you even listening to me?" Seeing me space out, Orion reached for my wrist, trying to force the pen into my grip.
That was when I finally snapped into action.
I raised my hand and slapped him as hard as I could.
The sound cracked through the silent hallway.
Orion was left dazed, his face turned to the side, five vivid red marks blooming on his pale skin.
Nurses and family members passing by stopped in their tracks, staring in shock at the scene.
"Are you out of your damn mind?" Orion shouted, fury exploding in his eyes as he raised his hand to hit me back.
I'd already expected that. I stepped back fast, grabbed the consent form off the table, and tore it apart right in front of him.
The paper ripped clean down the middle. Shreds fluttered to the floor like funeral money tossed for the dead.
"That slap was for cheating on your wife, forcing her to donate a kidney, and having the nerve to call yourself human," I yelled, every word grinding out between my teeth.
Orion laughed, but there was nothing funny in his eyes. "Forced? Delilah, you volunteered. And now you pull this crap at the last second? I'm telling you right now, you're signing today whether you want to or not."
He shot a signal to the two bodyguards lurking nearby.
They were bodyguards from the Ashcroft family, planted there to make sure I didn't change my mind.
The two brutes moved immediately, grabbing my arms from both sides.
Orion bent down, picked up the torn scraps, and sneered. "Doesn't matter. The doctor's got backups. Drag her in and hold her hand down. Make her sign."
This was the man I loved for ten years.
For another woman, he was willing to grind my dignity and my life into dust.
I didn't even bother to struggle. Instead, a strange, almost mocking smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.
"Orion," I said softly, "why don't you look behind you?"
He frowned and turned his head on instinct.
Just then, the emergency exit at the end of the hallway burst open.
"Hurry! Over there!" someone shouted.
"It's Orion Holloway, the CEO of Holloway Group!"
"And that's his wife. The one they say he's forcing to donate a kidney!"
Seven or eight reporters armed with cameras and long lenses charged forward like sharks catching the scent of blood.
In an instant, flashing lights flooded the dim hallway, turning it as bright as noon.